The Choice: We CHOSE Democrats! We CHOSE Democracy!
A decisive Blue Wave in the November, 2025 elections!
Issue #953 The Choice, Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Over the last week or so, between celebrating my 75th birthday, fighting moderate flu symptoms (thank you, annual flu shot!), and watching fast-moving events locally and nationally, our We Are Speaking posting regimen has been slightly different. Starting next Monday, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled weekly posts: two Today in Black History and three Choice articles.
As some of you know, I have been interested in politics since I was a young child. My maternal grandmother grew up in Jim Crow Alabama, and when she moved to Detroit after the death of my grandfather to watch my sisters and me after school, she dragged five-year-old me behind her block after block after block registering people in her neighborhood to vote.
In 1960, soon after I turned 10, my father took me with him to the polls to vote in the presidential election. Some of you remember the old-school voting booths with the privacy curtain; when it was time to open the curtain, which also registered the votes, my father let me pull the lever to open it. So my “unofficial” first time vote was for Senator John F. Kennedy for president. I’ll always remember that.
Ever since then, I’ve watched and worked for elected officials at all levels.
After the historic “No Kings” marches a few weeks ago, where over 7 million Americans turned out, many people asked, “What Now?” I think we got an answer on Tuesday.
Former long-serving House of Representatives Speaker Tip O’Neill (D-MA) famously said, “All politics is local…” so let’s start with my beloved hometown of Detroit, Michigan.
Mary Sheffield, the current president of the Detroit City Council, overwhelmingly won the contest for mayor, beating her opponent, Rev. Solomon Kinloch, the pastor of the very large Triumph Church. After having a white mayor for the last 11 years, both of this year’s mayoral candidates were Black. I truly believe that, as Trump was railing against “Democrat-run cities,” he never mentioned Detroit because we have a white mayor. The unofficial results were 78% for Sheffield and 22% for Kinloch. Ms. Sheffield will become the very first woman mayor of Detroit since its founding in 1701.
Speaking of mayoral races, Democratic Socialist and Muslim immigrant originally from Uganda (meaning he is an African American!), current two-term State Assemblyman Zohran Kwame Mamdani, decisively won the race in New York City. He beat former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo 50.4% to 41.6%, and was laser-focused on his message of making New York City affordable for all. Mr. Mamdani, who just turned 34, isn’t even old enough to run for president. He will be the first Muslim and the youngest person in about 100 years to be the mayor of New York City. The voter turnout in NYC was the highest since 1969. Zohran Mamdani is the only child of Oscar-nominated director Mira Nair, who directed the movie “Mississippi Burning.”
In Cincinnati, OH, Democratic incumbent mayor Aftab Pureval handily defeated Republican Cory Bowman, the half-brother of VP J.D. Vance. The results were 78.23% for Pureval to 21.77% for Bowman.
Moving on to the gubernatorial races, former President Barack Obama and current Maryland Governor Wes Moore proved to be important and successful surrogates for the Democratic candidates in New Jersey and Virginia. Trump and the MAGA Republicans worked very hard to defeat the Democratic candidates; bomb threats were called into several polling places in New Jersey.
In New Jersey, Democrat Mikey Sherrill soundly defeated her Republican opponent, Jack Ciattarelli, who was on his third try to become governor. The unofficial results of the race, which was considered close until Election Day, were 56.2% for Sherrill versus 43.2% for Ciattarelli. White voters in New Jersey voted Republican at 53%, while non-white voters voted Democratic at 77%. Fifty-one percent of men voted Republican, and 62% of women voted Democratic.
In Virginia, where many people work for the currently shut-down federal government, Democrat Abigail Spanberger defeated Republican Lt. Governor Winsome Earl-Sears, 57.5% to 42.3%. Spanberger will be the first woman to serve as Virginia's governor. Virginia governors are limited to just one four-year term.
The Democratic candidate for attorney general, Jay Jones, defeated the incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares.
In another historic Virginia statewide election, Democrat Ghazala Hashmi was elected as the incoming Lt. Governor, becoming the first Muslim woman in history to win a statewide election. She won with 55.6% of the vote to 44.2% for her Republican challenger.
Also in Virginia, in the House of Delegates for the Commonwealth, where the Democrats already had a majority, their majority surged from 51 seats to 64 (one race is still undecided as of 11 pm ET), flipping several seats from red to blue.
In Maine, a ballot referendum about Absentee Voting and Voter ID restrictions that would have severely limited voter access was soundly defeated 64% to 36%. A second ballot question, the “Red Flag Law,” that seeks to strengthen gun laws, won decisively, 63% to 37%.
In Pennsylvania, Supreme Court justices must run for “retention” every ten years. Republicans worked hard to defeat the three Democratic justices on the ballot, but those justices won their retention elections hardily, keeping the Pennsylvania Supreme Court with a Democratic majority until 2030.
Alvin Bragg was re-elected as the District Attorney of Manhattan.
In both Minnesota and Mississippi, the Senate Democratic Majorities were expanded Tuesday night. A Mississippi House seat was also flipped from red to blue.
And then there’s California, where “Prop 50,” the ballot initiative to redistrict the state’s congressional seats, and where there was “no human” on the ballot, was approved overwhelmingly. The results were 63.8% “Yes” versus 36.2% “No.” A little over three months ago, Trump told Texas Governor Greg Abbott that he needed to “find 5 additional House seats,” so Abbott started unusual mid-decade redistricting efforts with the Texas legislature. So, California Governor Gavin Newsom immediately launched a high-profile initiative that brought the issue directly to voters. According to some Democratic strategists, not only will this initiative expand the number of potential Democratic candidates in the U.S. House, but it may also flip several current Republican seats to Democrats.
When Governor Newsom spoke after the race was called, soon after the polls closed, he issued a very important warning to Democrats and Independents heading into the 2026 midterms. Newsom reminded people that Trump and the Republicans will pull out all the stops and will cheat with abandon to win the 2026 elections, including voter intimidation and the seating of 2020 election deniers in state election boards.
Although the Democrats won decisively across the country on Tuesday night, Newsom said the “fight” would continue starting on Wednesday, November 5.
Our Choice: Celebrate our wins, but start fighting even harder from now until November 2026 in all local, state, and national elections.
If you like us, REALLY like us, please click the little heart “Like” button at the top of this post!
Buttons:
Heart: Like Bubble: Comment Arrow Up: Share Arrows Circle: Restack
If you like us, REALLY like us, please click the “Like” button at the top of this post!
Your “Likes” mean a LOT to us! We appreciate your support!
Buy Pam a cup of Colombian Coffee!
Engage with us and our posts on Substack Notes, where we publish new content almost daily.
Our October 2025 subscriber goals are 150 new free subscribers and 75 new paid subscribers! You can help us reach our goal!
We Are Speaking is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Follow Pam on Bluesky, the best “X” alternative.
Follow Keith on Bluesky, the best “X alternative.
Independent Authors and Creative Professionals: Check out my valuable books and courses on Branding and Marketing just for you via Pam Speaks 2 You.
