Top of Mind Thursday – November 6, 2025: Bouncing Back and Forth

Tuesday’s election day in the US brought mostly predictable results.

When one party is predominantly in power, the other tends to gain momentum in the next election. No Congressional seats were up for grabs this off-year, but there were gubernatorial slots in NJ and VA, a major redistricting proposal in California, and the mayorship of New York City at stake.

Not surprisingly, all of these elections went to Democrats. The entities involved were in mostly blue states (VA has ping-ponged back and forth in recent years). Voters are frustrated with continuing high prices on daily staples, the potential impact of tariffs on imported goods, a weakening job market, and the impact of the federal government shutdown—which now appears to be the longest in history with no immediate resolution in sight.

New York City was an interesting phenomenon. While Zohran Mamdani was the de facto Democratic candidate, the race at one time included two other Democrats running as independents, plus a Republican.

In an area where voter registration for Democrats outnumbers that of Republicans by nearly 6:1, Mamdani captured just a fraction over 50% of the vote (for a ratio of just slightly over 1:1). Mamdani generated great enthusiasm in the Gen Z population (who loved his promises to deliver just about everything in life for free), but was also likely helped by the fact he was running against a slew of unattractive opponents.

Many people in NYC are rightfully concerned about key aspects of Mamdani’s platform. It’s not at all clear how he could deliver on his campaign promises of free, free, free, and his blatant antisemitic comments frighten many New Yorkers—some of whom are already making plans to leave the city.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the high of campaigning gives way to the realities of governing. Most likely, we will see a bounce back towards the center. However, there is always the possibility that things get too far out of hand before that happens.

The game only continues when the ball stays in the field of play. Sending it way into the stands brings everything to a standstill and doesn’t do any of us any good.

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