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SAN DIEGO -- With elections, as with individuals, appearances can be deceiving.

At first glance, Election Day 2025 appeared to be small and inconsequential. The national media were focused on a literal handful of races in this off-year election, and the coverage wrapped up early given that most of those electoral contests were on the East Coast.

There was a governor's race in New Jersey, where Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill defeated Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli.

There was another governor's race in Virginia, where Democrat Abigail Spanberger defeated her Republican opponent, Lieutenant Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.

For what it's worth, in President Donald Trump's DEI-era, where being a white male is the only identity that matters, both Sherrill and Spanberger will be their state's first female governor.

Also, in Virginia, voters picked a Democratic lieutenant governor and a Democratic attorney general.

There was also the contentious mayoral race in New York City, where the Democratic nominee, 34-year-old Zohran Mamdani, easily defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent. When he is sworn in on Jan. 1, Mamdani will become the city's youngest mayor since 1892. He will also be the first Muslim and first self-described Democratic socialist to hold the office.

And in California, voters approved Proposition 50. The successful ballot initiative was intended as a brass-knuckled countermeasure to the redistricting shenanigans that Texas Republicans dutifully carried out a few months ago at the behest of Trump.

Aside from the fact that Democrats ran the board and had a great night, Election 2025 turned out to have far-reaching implications.

Here are four:

California voters surrendered the power they had over the redistricting process, which, until Prop. 50 came along, was run by an independent redistricting commission. Now that power rests with state Democratic lawmakers, who will soon retreat to smoke-filled rooms and redraw congressional maps with the goal of creating five more Democratic districts. This is a major triumph for Gov. Gavin Newsom, who stumped for the initiative. The frontrunner for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination now has a great story to tell voters in Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina about how he fought back against Trump's power grab and won, restoring equilibrium to the House of Representatives.

The fact that Prop. 50 succeeded at the ballot box paved the way for the announcement Thursday by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., that she would step down and not run for re-election. If the initiative had failed, the first female House speaker could not have deserted her post. The optics would have been terrible. It would have looked as if the captain was quitting the team because they were behind on points. Now, Pelosi can leave with her dignity intact, knowing that the California congressional delegation to which she dedicated nearly 40 years of her life will remain dark blue for the foreseeable future.

The thumping that Democrats gave Republicans at the ballot boxes prompted Trump to admit something that he had been reluctant to say out loud: A lot of Americans blame the GOP for the government shutdown, and they're eager to register their anger and frustration at the polls. Speaking to Republican senators at a breakfast on Wednesday, Trump acknowledged that the shutdown -- which is now the longest in U.S. history -- was a "big factor, negative for the Republicans." Of course, Trump accepted none of the blame for himself and insisted that the fact that he wasn't on the ballot hurt the Republicans.

Finally, there is an interesting dynamic involving New York City and California. The Big Apple and The Golden State would seem to be simpaticos. Both are dark blue, trendsetting Democratic strongholds that continue to lure newcomers as destination places despite having their obituaries written more than once by the haters. But on Election Day, the two went their separate ways. Mamdani's election as New York City mayor represented a triumph by the people over the Democratic Party establishment, much of which didn't endorse the party's nominee. Meanwhile, in California, the passage of Prop. 50 was a victory for the Democratic Party over the people. Those are two totally different vibes.

Election 2025 was a sleeper that, in the end, packed quite a punch. Sure, it was more of a jab than a knockout. But the election did what it needed to do. It got the public's attention, stirred up both parties, and set the stage for the main event: the 2026 midterm elections.

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To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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