Democrats' hopes for 2026 boosted by California vote

Democrats head into next year's elections with a fighting chance to win back the US House of Representatives, after victories that showcase sharply different visions of the party as it seeks to claw back some power in a Washington dominated by Republican President Donald Trump, reported Reuters. The most critical win for Democrats' House hopes came in California on Tuesday, when voters approved a ballot measure to allow state lawmakers to adopt a new congressional map that could net the party as many as five new seats, offsetting a comparable move in Texas to benefit Republicans in a nationwide battle over redistricting.

Republicans are eager to seize on New York City's mayor-elect — democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, a state representative with a sweeping progressive agenda — who Trump and his allies will seek to portray as the face of the Democratic Party in the November 2026 midterm elections that will determine control of the U.S. Congress for the final two years of Trump's term.

But two moderate Democrats elected governor, former Representative Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Representative Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, were also catapulted onto the national stage after winning their states by sizable margins, presenting contrasting versions of the party. Tuesday's highest-profile contests occurred in Democratic-leaning territory that will play little role in the races that will determine control of Congress.

"I don't think we can use tonight as a total painted picture of what the next election cycle's going to be," said Antjuan Seawright, a South Carolina-based Democratic strategist. "So I think we have to make sure we continue to motivate, educate and galvanize the constituencies that came out tonight to make sure we keep them in the Democratic column."

Republicans hold a 219-213 majority in the House and a 53-47 majority in the Senate. To win the Senate, Democrats would need to defend seats in highly competitive states including Georgia, Michigan and Minnesota while also making inroads in Republican-held states including Florida and North Carolina.

But the president's party historically loses House seats in the midterms. Democrats won the House majority in 2018, Trump's first midterm election, netting 41 seats that first brought Spanberger and Sherrill into office. They used their power to conduct oversight on Trump's administration and twice impeached him. "I think it's vastly more important that moderates won in big states that often elect Republican governors than it is that a far-left candidate won in NYC," said Matt Bennett, vice president of Third Way, a Democratic centrist think tank.

In the lead-up to 2026, however, Trump has urged state lawmakers in Republican-led legislatures to redraw their congressional maps to maximize House Republicans' ability to maintain control of the chamber by minimizing the number of competitive battleground districts. States typically create new maps each decade to reflect new census data.

California's ballot initiative, Proposition 50, was a direct response to Republican-led Texas' redrawing of its congressional map to net as many as five more seats for Republicans.

"Passing Prop 50 is a big win for (California Governor Gavin) Newsom and Democrats in neutralizing Texas, but the partisan fight is far from over," said Kate Maeder, a California-based political strategist at KMM Strategies. "These five pickup seats, we're still going to have to fight for them. Not all five can be taken for granted, but we definitely have an advantage now." The top Democrats in Congress, both from New York, have maintained an arm's-length distance from Mamdani. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries withheld his support until October 24, the day before early voting began, and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer didn't endorse Mamdani and declined to tell reporters on Tuesday whether he voted for him.