NOTE: This piece first appeared on NYNewsPress.com.
By Richard Luthmann
Blue State Blowouts Were No Surprise to the GOP
Democrats claim they notched big Election Day victories in reliably blue states this week. Granted, there were double-digit blowouts in high-profile races in Virginia and New Jersey. Democratic candidates Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill easily won gubernatorial races, far outpacing their Republican rivals.
The orthodox political rule is that anytime you get to 10 points or more, it’s a “blowout.”
But to Republicans, none of this came as a shock.
“It’s all basically blue states,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), dismissing any notion that these results signal a national trend.
GOP leaders had openly tempered expectations, with House Speaker Mike Johnson saying earlier in the day that Democrat radicals were likely to win these deep-blue contests.
The Democrats’ account suggests that the strong results were a referendum on President Donald Trump’s performance, citing high turnout and voter frustration with rising costs. In New York City, turnout surged to levels not seen in decades as progressive upstart Zohran Mamdani won the mayor’s race.
Republicans insist these blue-state victories are confined to Democratic enclaves and do not reflect the broader American mood.
And they’re right.
Democratic base voters were merely energized on their home turf.
“Democrats win when they’re expected to win. This is not surprising,” one political insider said of the outcome.
To the GOP, the night’s results simply “weren’t a big surprise” – as Johnson put it – and certainly no mandate from Middle America.
President Trump is prepared for 2026 and the fight for America, posting on Truth Social: “And So It Begins.”
And So It Begins: Socialists Take the Helm as ‘Regular’ Democrats Ousted
The elections underscored a dramatic power shift toward the Democratic Party’s left flank. In New York City, 34-year-old city Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani – a card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America – defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo to become mayor. Mamdani rode a wave of progressive enthusiasm, campaigning on free public transit, rent freezes, and other far-left giveaways.
His victory over Mr. Cuomo, a pillar of the party establishment, sent a clear message: the “regular” centrist Democrats are out, and the socialist wing is in charge.
“They’re terrified the Marxists are taking over their party, and the evidence today may show that is true,” warned Speaker Johnson as Mamdani surged ahead.
Indeed, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) – Congress’s premier progressive firebrand – championed Mamdani’s campaign from the start, hailing his grassroots “coalition of working-class New Yorkers” as the future of the city.
With AOC’s endorsement and Senator Bernie Sanders at his side, Mamdani toppled the old guard and made history as the city’s first Muslim mayor.
Even some Democrats are uneasy about this lurch left. Centrist party strategists privately fret that elevating figures like Mamdani and AOC will tarnish the Democratic brand in heartland America. Those tensions surfaced during the primary when moderate Democrats openly worried about Mamdani’s impact on the party’s image.
Former Gov. Cuomo himself lamented that Mr. Trump’s attacks branding Mamdani a “communist” were alienating voters.
“New Yorkers call him a socialist, but that turns off a lot of New Yorkers,” Cuomo said during the campaign.
In the end, however, left-wing activists proved they now hold the reins in coastal Democratic politics. Mamdani’s triumph over a storied establishment name like Cuomo symbolizes the passing of the torch. The Democratic Party’s face is increasingly that of AOC and Mamdani – young, uncompromising ideologues – rather than the centrist old guard.
As one Republican operative quipped, Democrats are embroiled in a “Sanders’ socialists vs. Schumer’s favorites” civil war for control of the party’s soul – and on Tuesday night, the socialists clearly prevailed on their home turf.
And So It Begins: Trump Pounces on the ‘Communist’ Surge
President Trump and Republicans wasted no time weaponizing the Democrats’ leftward march. Even before Election Day, Mr. Trump blasted Zohran Mamdani as a “Communist” and warned he would withhold federal funds from New York City if the socialist won. In a fiery Truth Social post, the president declared that under a “Communist” mayor, the city would have “ZERO chance of success” and face “complete and total disaster.”
Trump called the socialist newcomer unfit to lead.
Once Mamdani prevailed, Republicans immediately moved to tie the new far-left mayor around the necks of Democrats everywhere. The National Republican Congressional Committee rolled out ads in dozens of swing districts within hours of Mamdani’s win.
“A radical left earthquake just hit America. The epicenter: New York,” the narrator intones. The spot blasts Mayor-elect Mamdani for “building his movement on defunding the police and abolishing ICE”, sneering, “They call it progress. We call it chaos.”
Over images of Mamdani alongside Democratic leaders, the ad concludes: “This is the future House Democrats want, and your city could be next. Stop socialism. Stop Democrats.”
GOP officials are practically giddy at the prospect of running against what they see as a Democratic Party led by “radicals.” Mamdani, who campaigned in multiple languages including Arabic, has become an instant bogeyman on the right.
“Just a couple of decades after 9/11, the leading candidate for NYC mayor is campaigning in Arabic. The humiliation is the point,” scoffed Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) in a social media broadside as Mamdani surged.
Republican pundits and politicians are already tagging the Queens socialist – along with AOC – as the new face of the Democrats. Conservative media have highlighted Mamdani’s anti-Israel rhetoric and Muslim faith, suggesting an alarming tilt toward “radical Islam” in Democratic ranks.
The line of attack is clear: paint the entire Democrat Party as out-of-touch extremists beholden to socialist, “anti-American” agendas. House Republicans even coined a term for the rising leftist bloc, dubbing them the “Communist Squad” in a flurry of fundraising emails after Tuesday’s results (a play on AOC’s progressive “Squad”). Mr. Trump’s allies believe figures like Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez are political gifts – ready-made villains they can spotlight in every ad and stump speech.
“The Democrats, the radicals, are handing us exactly what we need,” one Trump campaign adviser crowed privately. With Trump himself amplifying the “communist” label at every turn, the GOP is unified in making the 2026 midterms a referendum on the Democrats’ socialist drift.
And So It Begins: Republicans Eye Midterm ‘Red Wave’ in 2026
Emboldened by these developments, Republicans now see a red tsunami forming for the 2026 congressional midterms. GOP strategists argue that Democrats have veered so far left in their blue enclaves that a national backlash is inevitable. They point to polling that shows most Americans remain wary of socialism – U.S. adults are still far more likely to view capitalism favorably than socialism – and predict voters will rebuke a “Socialist Democrat” party in swing districts.
Already, the GOP’s House campaign arm is linking vulnerable Democratic incumbents to New York’s new mayor. The NRCC’s post-election ads plaster Mamdani’s image alongside frontline Democrats and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (who endorsed the socialist mayor) under the slogan “Stop socialism. Stop Democrats.” This aggressive strategy comes as Republicans hold a narrow 220–215 majority in the House.
With redistricting battles breaking in their favor – GOP-drawn maps in states like Texas and Ohio are adding several red-leaning seats – Republican leaders are confident they can not only defend their turf but expand their majority.
“National Republicans are focused on retaining control of both chambers,” one party official said, noting that President Trump himself will be heavily involved in midterm campaigning.
Internally, party analysts are projecting gains of 10 to 15 House seats next year, anticipating that dozens of districts will flip once voters associate Democratic candidates with the specter of “socialism” and “chaos” emanating from New York.
History suggests the president’s party often struggles in midterms, but Mr. Trump’s team believes 2026 will break the mold. Republican messaging will tie every Democrat to the “Marxist takeover” of their party and the unpopular policies of the far left.
“Our base will remind voters: you need to get out and vote to give the President a full four years,” explained a GOP operative, emphasizing turnout for President Trump’s agenda.
Red-state Republicans, for their part, are eager to contrast their conservative governance with what they call “communist” policies in places like New York and California. The expectation is that red states will grow even redder, while swing-state moderates recoil from the Democrats’ leftward shift.
Even Democrats concede the new maps and messaging pose hurdles – one California Democrat admitted the party’s embrace of figures like Mamdani “could hurt our ability to reach moderates” on economic issues. For the first time in many election cycles, Republicans see a potent combination of structural advantage and cultural resonance.
The spectre of “socialism” – personified by Mayor Mamdani and championed by AOC – may prove the perfect foil to galvanize voters in middle America. As the dust settles on the blue-state elections, the GOP is already on offense, framing 2025’s results not as a defeat, but as the prelude to a roaring comeback.
“Blue states went socialist,” a jubilant Trump advisor said, “Now the rest of America is going to answer by going red.”
