Democrats hit back and a winning message - four election night takeaways

After sealing decisive wins in the New York mayoral election and governor races in Virginia and New Jersey, it is clear the Democratic Party will be buoyed by a big election night on Tuesday.

It is a far cry from the scenes after last year's presidential election, when the party was left searching for answers after Donald Trump and the Republicans scored a hugely dominant victory.

The results also mark a year until vital midterm elections. So with the picture of the night becoming clearer, here's what we've learned from the results.

1. Democrats get their energy back

The Democrats notched key victories as they swept the first major elections of Trump's second term.

There were joyous celebrations at the various candidate headquarters, a stark contrast to the downbeat scenes after the party's bruising 2024 defeat.

Abigail Spanberger won in Virginia, flipping the governorship from Republican, while Mikie Sherrill was elected governor in New Jersey. Both won decisively, securing more than 56% of the vote.

In New York City, Zohran Mamdani beat independent Andrew Cuomo and became the first candidate to pass one million votes since 1969.

• FOLLOW LIVE: Updates and analysis after election night

Barack Obama's former deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told the BBC that Mamdani had "changed the electorate" by urging young people and immigrants to vote.

"He most importantly built a movement," he said.

The series of decisive victories may well boost a party that has at times struggled to counter President Trump's rapidly-enacted second term agenda, and rebound from its 2024 defeat.

"The Democrats are back and we're winning," said Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin on Wednesday. "We've got the momentum going into the midterm elections."

Of course, much could change before those 2026 elections and there is no guarantee the same patterns seen on Tuesday will play out again.

2. Cost of living a winning message

Pledging to bring down the cost of rent, food and childcare was at the core of Mamdani's left-wing campaign, but it was also a winning issue for the more moderate Democrats elsewhere.

Sherrill in New Jersey and Spanberger in Virginia both made tackling the high cost of living front and centre in their governor campaigns. And it was seemingly top of voters' minds, too.

Exit poll data from the major US networks indicated that in all three races the most important issue for voters was the economy and affordability.

And tellingly, according to exit poll data from the BBC's US partner CBS News, a majority of voters who named the economy as their most important issue voted for the Democratic candidate in New York, New Jersey and Virginia.

It may well give the party a message to coalesce around ahead of the crucial midterm elections next year - and pose a challenge for Republicans to counter.

"I can't see into the future, but I see Republicans losing the House if Americans are continuing to go paycheck-to-paycheck," Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene told Semafor recently.

"It's clearer than ever that affordability needs to be the centrepiece of the Democrats' message going into the midterms," political communications expert Andrew Koneschusky told the AFP news agency.

"The affordability message cuts across demographics and highlights a major vulnerability for Republicans," he said.

3. A stark shift in the Latino vote

When Trump scored his decisive victory over Kamala Harris last year, he racked up huge support from Latino voters who had been a key part of the Democratic voter base for decades.

Trump saw a huge 14 percentage-point increase in support from that demographic compared to the 2020 election, according to exit polls. No Republican presidential candidate had ever won a higher percentage with Latino voters.

And while he wasn't on the ballot on Tuesday night, there were some potentially concerning signs for his Republican Party. The winning candidates for governor in Virginia and New Jersey both had wide leads of around 30% with Latino voters, according to exit poll data.

There are interesting shifts, too, when examining the results more closely.

Passaic County in New Jersey - which census data shows is almost half Latino - is often cited by analysts as a bellwether for Trump's support among those voters. He won it by 3 percentage points in 2024, yet Sherrill won it by 15 on Tuesday over her Republican opponent.

Mike Madrid, a Republican political consultant who specialises in Latino voting trends, suggested the cost of living and messaging around the economy again played a key role.

"No poll taken anywhere in the country in the past month has anything other than the economy as the top issue for Latinos," he said.

4. Democratic differences were on display

In liberal New York, Mamdani ran as a democratic socialist who will tax millionaires and corporations to the tune of $9bn (£6.9bn), in order to pay for policies such as free childcare and buses.

It was a different story, however, in the governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia, where Republicans have had far more electoral success in the past.

In those states, the two Democratic candidates were establishment-backed moderates who emphasised pragmatic policies more likely to appeal to voters less liberal than those in New York City.

The night itself illustrated the broad differences in the party between its left-wing and centrists, and raised questions over how it will approach elections and candidate selection in the future.

Koneschusky suggested Democrats needed to field candidates who reflect the specific electorate, rather than taking a "one-size-fits-all" approach.

"In some cases, that may mean fielding progressive candidates. In other cases, it may mean moderate or centrist candidates," he said.

New York City comptroller and Mamdani ally Brad Lander echoed this point, telling the BBC's Nada Tawfik that Democratic leadership must acknowledge different things will work in different parts of the country and they should allow the primary process to play out.