An election poster sits on a bar counter

 

An election poster sits on a bar counter at the venue for Democratic candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani's election night rally in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, U.S., November 4, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

New Jersey and Lieutenant governor

U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill, Democratic gubernatorial candidate for New Jersey and Lieutenant governor-elect Dale Caldwell react on stage at her election night rally after U.S. media projected that she won, in East Brunswick, New Jersey, U.S., November 4, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar 

Wining governor Richmond, Virginia

Democrat Abigail Spanberger walks onto stage with her family before giving her victory speech over Republican Winsome Earle-Sears in Virginia's race for governor in Richmond, Virginia, U.S. November 4, 2025. REUTERS/Jay Paul

Celebrates with her family after winning

Democrat Abigail Spanberger celebrates with her family after winning Virginia's race for governor. REUTERS/Jay Paul 

NYC NEW mayor Zohran Mamdani

Democratic candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks after winning the 2025 New York City Mayoral race, at an election night rally in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, U.S., November 4, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

Zohran Mamdani with his mother Mira Nair

 Democratic candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani waves next to his mother Mira Nair onstage after winning the 2025 New York City Mayoral race, at an election night rally in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, U.S., November 4, 2025.

Democrats sweep first major elections of second Trump term

WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Democrats swept a trio of races on Tuesday in the first major elections since Donald Trump regained the presidency, elevating a new generation of leaders and giving the beleaguered party a shot of momentum ahead of next year's congressional elections.

In New York City, Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old democratic socialist, won the mayoral race, capping a meteoric and unlikely rise from an anonymous state lawmaker to one of the country's most visible Democratic figures. And in Virginia and New Jersey, moderate Democrats Abigail Spanberger, 46, and Mikie Sherrill, 53, won their elections for governor with commanding leads, respectively.

"If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him. And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power," Mamdani told a raucous crowd of supporters. "So Donald Trump, since I know you're watching, I have four words for you: turn the volume up."

Tuesday's contests offered a barometer of how Americans are responding to Trump's tumultuous nine months in office. The races also served as a test of differing Democratic campaign playbooks ahead of 2026, with the party locked out of power in Washington and still trying to forge a path out of the political wilderness.

That said, the midterm election is a year away, an eternity in the Trump era, and opinion polls show the Democratic brand remains broadly unpopular, even as Trump's own approval rating has declined. The most closely watched contests on Tuesday also unfolded in Democratic-leaning regions that did not support Trump in last year's presidential election.

Perhaps the biggest practical boost to Democrats on Tuesday came out of California, where voters approved a plan to redraw the state's congressional map in the party's favor, expanding a national battle over redistricting that will shape the race for the U.S. House of Representatives.

The winning candidates on Tuesday could reenergize and inspire more engagement from Democratic voters, many of whom have clamored for fresh faces at the vanguard of the party. Turnout in the New York City mayoral race was the highest since at least 1969.

All three Democratic candidates emphasized economic issues, particularly affordability, an issue that remains top of mind for most voters. But Spanberger and Sherrill hail from the party's moderate wing, while Mamdani used a viral video-fueled insurgent campaign to present himself as an unabashed progressive in the mold of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Mamdani, who will become the first Muslim mayor of the biggest U.S. city, outlasted former Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, 67, who ran as an independent after losing the nomination to Mamdani earlier this year. Cuomo, who resigned as governor four years ago after sexual harassment allegations that he has denied, portrayed Mamdani as a radical leftist whose proposals were unworkable and dangerous.

Mamdani has called for raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy to pay for ambitious left-wing policies such as frozen rents, free childcare and free city buses. Wall Street executives have expressed concern about putting a democratic socialist at the helm of the financial capital of the world.

Republicans have already signaled they intend to present Mamdani as the face of the Democratic Party. Trump has incorrectly labeled Mamdani a "communist" and vowed to cut funding for the city in response to Mamdani's ascension.

Item 1 of 14 Democratic candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani reacts after winning the 2025 New York City Mayoral race, at an election night rally in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, U.S., November 4, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

Democratic candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani reacts after winning the 2025 New York City Mayoral race, at an election night rally in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, U.S., November 4, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

In a social media post on Tuesday night, Trump blamed the losses on the fact his name was not on the ballot and on an ongoing federal government shutdown.

TRUMP LOOMS OVER RACES

Spanberger, who beat Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, will take over from Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin in Virginia. New Jersey's Sherrill defeated Republican Jack Ciattarelli and will succeed Democratic Governor Phil Murphy.

Both Sherrill and Spanberger had sought to tie their opponents to Trump in an effort to harness frustration among Democratic and independent voters over his chaotic tenure.

"We sent a message to the world that in 2025 Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship," Spanberger said in her victory speech. "We chose our Commonwealth over chaos."

Trump gave both candidates some late-stage grist during the ongoing government shutdown.

His administration threatened to fire federal workers — a move with an outsized impact on Virginia, a state adjacent to Washington, D.C., and home to many government employees. He froze billions in funding for a new Hudson River train tunnel, a critical project for New Jersey's large commuter population.

In interviews at Virginia polling stations on Tuesday, some voters said Trump's most contentious policies were on their minds, including his efforts to deport immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally and to impose costly tariffs on imports of foreign goods, the legality of which is being weighed by the U.S. Supreme Court this week.

Juan Benitez, a 25-year-old restaurant manager and self-described independent voting for the first time, backed all of Virginia’s Democratic candidates, citing his opposition to Trump’s immigration policies and the government shutdown he blamed on the president.

For Republicans, Tuesday's elections served as a test of whether the voters who powered Trump's victory in 2024 will still show up when he is not on the ballot.

But Ciattarelli and Earle-Sears, both running in Democratic-leaning states, faced a conundrum: criticizing Trump risked losing his supporters, but embracing him too closely could have alienated moderate and independent voters who disapprove of his policies.

Reporting by Joseph Ax in Washington, Maria Tsvetkova in New York and Tim Reid in Stafford, Virginia; Additional reporting by Bo Erickson, Jasper Ward, Jonathan Allen, Costas Pitas, Ismail Shakil, Andrea Shalal, Kanishka Singh, Ashraf Fahim, Julia Harte and Andrew Hofstetter; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Howard Goller

Trump hits H-1B visas with $100,000 yearly fee

US President Donald Trump on Friday ordered an annual $100,000 fee be added to H-1B skilled worker visas, creating potentially major repercussions for the tech industry, where such permits are prolific.

The new measure, which could likely face legal challenges, was announced alongside the introduction of a $1 million "gold card" residency program that Trump had previewed months earlier.

"The main thing is, we're going to have great people coming in, and they're going to be paying," Trump told reporters as he signed the orders in the Oval Office.

H-1B visas allow companies to sponsor foreign workers with specialized skills --- such as scientists, engineers, and computer programmers -- to work in the United States, initially for three years, but extendable to six years.

The United States awards 85,000 H-1B visas per year on a lottery system, with India accounting for around three-quarters of the recipients.

Large technology firms rely on Indian workers who either relocate to the United States or come and go between the two countries.

Tech entrepreneurs -- including Trump's former ally Elon Musk -- have warned against targeting H-1B visas, saying that the United States does not have enough homegrown talent to fill important tech sector job vacancies.

"All the big companies are on board," said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who joined Trump in the Oval Office.

Trump has had the H-1B program in his sights since his first term in office, but faced court challenges to his earlier approach, which targeted the types of jobs that qualify. The current iteration has become the latest move in the major immigration crackdown of his second term.

According to Trump's order, the fee will be required for those seeking to enter the country beginning Sunday, with the Homeland Security secretary able to exempt individuals, entire companies, or entire industries.

The order expires in a year, though Trump can extend it.

The number of H-1B visa applications has risen sharply in recent years, with a peak in approvals in 2022 under Democratic president Joe Biden.

In contrast, the peak in rejections was recorded in 2018, during Trump's first term in the White House.

The United States approved approximately 400,000 H-1B visas in 2024, two-thirds of which were renewals.

Trump also signed an order creating a new expedited pathway to US residency for people who pay $1 million, or for corporate sponsors to pay $2 million.

"I think it's going to be tremendously successful," Trump added.

Tesla's market price suddenly dropped

 Elon Musk's electric car maker Tesla has seen its market value fall by 49 percent in just a few months. JPMorgan analysts say they have found no comparable event in the history of the automotive industry. Such an event is "unprecedented."

The analysts wrote that they cannot find any precedent in the history of the automotive industry where a brand has lost so much market value in such a short period of time. They also noted that the closest comparable examples may be the events of 2012 and 2017, when sales of Japanese and Korean cars fell sharply due to diplomatic tensions with China. Source: Business Insider

However, those events were limited to a specific market. But Tesla's sales decline in 2025 is not limited to any specific country or region.

In a report published on Wednesday, JPMorgan analysts cut their price target for Tesla shares by 41 percent to $230.58 from $135. They also forecast Tesla's first-quarter 2025 deliveries at 355,000 units, down 8 percent from the first quarter of 2024.

According to analysts, there are two main reasons behind Tesla's dramatic decline - a decline in global sales and branding issues caused by the company's CEO Elon Musk's involvement in politics.

It was once thought that Musk's support for Donald Trump would benefit Tesla. Tesla was the only electric carmaker whose stock price rose after Trump's victory in the November election. It was thought that Musk's close relationship with the Trump administration could benefit Tesla from government spending cuts. But now that idea is changing. New analysis suggests that Musk's work with the Trump administration may actually have a negative impact on Tesla's market demand.

JP Morgan analysts wrote that Musk's work at the Department of Government Efficiency has created controversy in the country. Politically, the right is pleased with it, while the left is angry. However, in the end, this controversy is hurting Tesla's sales.

Tesla's market capitalization has fallen by about 49 percent from December to last Wednesday. While the company's market value was $1.54 trillion at the end of 2024, it has now fallen to $777 billion. That is, Tesla's market value has fallen by $763 billion in about three months.

In the past few weeks, protests have taken place in front of Tesla showrooms in various cities in the United States; there have also been incidents of vandalism in several places. Trump has said in Tesla's favor in this incident that he will consider declaring the culprits 'domestic terrorists'. Not only brand image, some analysts have also expressed concerns about Musk's political involvement. According to them, Musk is unable to focus on managing Tesla due to political activities. JP Morgan analysts also said that Musk bought Twitter (now X) at a time when both the price and sales of Tesla's cars were on the decline.

Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a report on Monday that the main reasons for the decline in Tesla's shares are the slow pace of sales, a brand image crisis and a lack of confidence in the market. However, they still consider Tesla's shares a potential investment. No comment was received from Tesla on this matter. Although the share price has fallen by half, Tesla is still the world's most valuable car company. After Tesla, Toyota is followed. Their market value is $ 292 billion.