**Harvard Researchers Say Strong Campaigns, Effective Anti-Trump Messaging Boosted Democrats in 2025 Elections**
*The Harvard Crimson* | November 11, 2025
By Jen L. Phan, Adelaide L. D. Roger, Alexa M. Schmitt
Political scientists at Harvard have identified Democratic victories in last week’s off-cycle elections as a sign of powerful backlash to Donald Trump’s presidency. However, they caution that Democrats cannot afford to rest on their laurels ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Tuesday’s elections have fueled debates over whether Democrats can best strengthen their coalition by shifting to the center or embracing their party’s left wing. Moderates such as Sherrill and Spanberger leveraged their congressional experience along with military and intelligence backgrounds to win governor’s seats. Meanwhile, Mamdani secured the New York City mayor’s office after running an unapologetically progressive campaign.
Several Harvard faculty members noted that Sherrill, Spanberger, and Mamdani likely succeeded by running platforms centered on voters’ day-to-day concerns and maintaining strong ground games. Harvard Kennedy School professor Stephen Goldsmith, who previously served as deputy mayor of New York City and mayor of Indianapolis, said candidates’ focus on quality-of-life issues made “a really big difference.”
“People care about those issues,” Goldsmith explained. “City and state residents expect from their governors and mayors pragmatic execution of the basic foundation of government. All three of these Virginia, New Jersey, and New York candidates were individuals who were committed to improving the quality of life.”
Political analyst McKenna highlighted that Mamdani’s campaign was particularly effective at mobilizing membership-based groups to win back constituencies that had swung to the right in the 2024 elections. She pointed to an exit poll conducted by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Asian American Federation, which suggested that 20 percent of Mamdani’s voters had supported Trump in 2024.
Harvard professor Levitsky stated that last week’s elections were the strongest indication so far that Democrats were able to rebound from their across-the-board loss to Trump and his party in 2024.
*Read more at thecrimson.com.*
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