Episode 5: 2025 Election Reaction, with Michael Pruser & Zachary Donnini

The 2025 election is in the books! Decision Desk HQ had all the results and a livestream to cover the vote as it came in. But now it’s time to start making sense of what happened and what it could mean moving forward. To do that, DDHQ Chief Elections Analyst Geoffrey Skelley welcomed two of his DDHQ colleagues, Director of Data Science Michael Pruser and Data Scientist Zachary Donnini, to discuss their initial takeaways from the 2025 contests.

The crew examined the broad pro-Democratic swing that occurred across most of the country. Almost every locality in Virginia swung left as Democrats cruised to double-digit wins for governor and lieutenant governor, and they even managed to win the attorney general’s race despite their nominee’s various problems. In New Jersey, Democrats rebounded from big GOP gains in 2024 to restore their large margins in many ethnically and racially diverse communities in North Jersey. And in New York City, Zohran Mamdani won the mayor’s race by turning out his core supporters and winning over many rank-and-file Democrats.

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