MEMO: The DGA’s Landslide Victories in Virginia and New Jersey are the Path Forward for Democrats in 2026

TO: Interested Parties
FROM: DGA Executive Director Meghan Meehan-Draper
DATE: November 10, 2025
SUBJECT: The DGA's Landslide Victories in Virginia and New Jersey are the Path Forward for Democrats in 2026

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The Democratic Governors Association delivered the first two massive wins of the second Trump Administration with Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger's and Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill's historic victories in Virginia and New Jersey this year.

These wins were no accident: we had two incredible candidates who focused relentlessly on affordability and were backed by record investments from the DGA and its allied groups.

The DGA was the largest outside spender in both races - investing over $10 million in Virginia and the DGA-backed Greater Garden State spent over $30 million in New Jersey.

Our record-breaking fundraising allowed the DGA to make these unprecedented investments early, setting the stage for the Spanberger campaign to define the terms of this race from the jump. Greater Garden State's reservations at the start of the general election on TV, digital and streaming allowed us to get the best bang for our buck in a crowded media environment in the most expensive gubernatorial race in New Jersey history.

This was especially important as national Republicans spent $25 million in New Jersey and $10 million - including dumping $4 million in the final week - in Virginia, which is roughly what they spent in 2021.

Read more to see how the Dem Govs playbook offers Democrats the best path forward and why the DGA is well positioned to go on offense in our 36 critical governor's races in 2026.

Landslides in Virginia and New Jersey

After successfully protecting every Democratic-held governorship in 2024, the DGA entered the 2025 cycle focused on making history by holding New Jersey and flipping Virginia.

Both Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill were strong candidates with national security backgrounds and bipartisan records of getting results. They outlined a positive vision for working families and made the economy and plans to lower costs central to their campaigns.

Spanberger's 15-point win is the largest margin of victory for any Democratic governor in Virginia since 1961.

• Nearly every single county voted more Democratic than it did in 2024.
• Spanberger's coalition included "dissatisfied rural voters who have supported Donald Trump," as she flipped counties that Trump won like Spotsylvania and Nelson, along with many that carried Governor Youngkin in 2021, including Stafford, Surry and Radford.

Mikie Sherrill received over 56% of the vote - a higher share than our big win in 2017, and all 21 counties shifted in favor of Democrats compared to 2024.

• In South Jersey, she flipped Gloucester and Atlantic Counties, suburban white working class areas that voted for Ciattarelli in 2021 and Trump in 2024. She also won Morris County, which voted for Trump last year.
• Sherrill completely reversed Republicans' 2024 gains in Hudson County, home to Jersey City, winning by 50 points - 20 points better than Harris.

Relentless Focus on Affordability

These gains were driven by both Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill going on offense on the economy and affordability. This lane was wide open because people are hurting after Trump broke his promise to bring down costs.

• In Virginia, Spanberger made her plans to lower the cost of health care, housing and energy core to her campaign. She launched her campaign talking about lowering costs before Trump's reelection. Democrats spent over $12.5 million on TV ads and over $4.5M on digital ads focused on affordability. Examples of ads from Spanberger for Governor are here, here, and here.
• In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill used the "find a way or make one" ethos she learned as a Navy helicopter pilot to run on affordability, including declaring a state of emergency on Day One to freeze utility rate hikes, and proposals to cut costs and red tape for businesses. Democrats spent over $24 million on TV ads and over $3.6M on digital ads focused on affordability. Examples of ads from Sherrill for Governor are here, here, and here.

In addition to running on plans to lower costs, Spanberger and Sherrill flipped the script and put their GOP opponents on defense over the cost of living. The Sherrill campaign and the DGA-backed group Greater Garden State successfully branded Jack Ciattarelli as "High Tax Jack" (examples of ads here and here) for his votes to raise taxes at every level of government. In late October, a poll from Fox News showed Sherrill with an edge on costs and taxes.

Virginia and New Jersey Are a Big Warning Sign for Republicans in 2026

Unlike 2021, Republican candidates Jack Ciattarelli and Winsome Earle-Sears refused to distance themselves at all from Donald Trump - even when he directly attacked their states. Voters rejected their support for failed economic policies that are raising costs at every turn.

But Spanberger and Sherrill didn't just run against Trump. They successfully linked Sears and Ciattarelli to Trump's broken Day One promise to lower costs and to harmful policies like the Big Beautiful Bill that is cutting health care, jacking up utility bills, and closing rural hospitals.

This is a huge warning sign for Republicans running for office across the country next year.

• In crowded GOP primaries, Republicans are tripping over themselves to embrace Trump's harmful economic policies that voters rejected in Virginia and New Jersey.
• Nearly every Republican candidate running for governor in 2026 backs Trump's Big Beautiful Bill, including many members of Congress who voted for it like John James (MI), Randy Feenstra (IA), Tom Tiffany (WI), Elise Stefanik (NY), Byron Donalds (FL), and Andy Biggs and David Schweikert (AZ).

Earning Support from Latino, Black Voters

Most of the biggest gains we made were with voters who swung away from Democrats in 2024, including Latino and Black voters. Both Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger prioritized earning the vote of Black and Latino voters - with a major focus on affordability and education that was backed by significant targeted investments.

In Virginia, the Spanberger campaign put nearly $1.6 million behind ads reaching Black voters on Facebook, Youtube, TV and radio. Spanberger is a fluent Spanish speaker who sat for interviews with Spanish language outlets and spoke directly to voters in Spanish-language ads focused on her plans to lower costs.

• As a result, the top four biggest swings in Spanberger's direction compared to 2024 correlate exactly with the top four counties and cities with the highest percentage of Latino voters.

In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill did radio interviews speaking directly to Black voters and Greater Garden State ran digital and radio ads targeting Black voters. Sherrill campaigned hard in the state's Latino communities and held bilingual events, including a town hall on Univision. Her campaign invested $1.4 million into ads targeting Latino voters in both Spanish and English, and Greater Garden State ran multiple Spanish-language ads.

• In municipalities that were at least 60% Latino, Mikie Sherrill reversed Republicans' 2024 gains. Sherrill won back heavily-Latino Passaic County by 15 points after Trump won it by 3 points in 2024.

2025 Wins Build On DGA's Strength and Unprecedented Momentum Heading Into 2026:

After holding every Democratic-led state in 2024 despite the challenging national environment, the DGA felt confident we were "uniquely prepared to meet this moment."

These two wins reaffirm that the DGA has a battle-tested playbook to win and is in a stronger position than ever before.

In 2026, the DGA is going to lead the way again by going on offense in states like Georgia, Nevada and Iowa, along with other pickup opportunities in Ohio and Alaska, in addition to securing victories for our 11 incumbents up for re-election and holding Democratic-led open seats. Overall, with the elections of Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill, the ranks of Democratic Governors will grow to 24 - including raising the ranks of women Democratic governors to a historic ten. Democratic governors will soon represent nearly 60% of the U.S. population - including seven battleground and deep red states that Trump carried in 2024. They continue to show the best path forward for how Democrats can win and deliver, and are the strongest arm of the Democratic party.

In Trump's first term, the DGA flipped 9 states from red to blue in 2017, 2018 and 2019. This time around, we've already flipped one and we're just getting started.

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