Undaunted Leaders

Many outstanding candidates, one daring governor

I enjoyed an embarrassment of riches when choosing the Undaunted person of this epic week. Virginia-Gov. Elect Abigail Spanberger waged a near-perfect race, clobbering her opponent by 15 points, and pulling the rest of the ticket (including 13 House of Delegate pickups) into office on her voluminous coattails. New Jersey-Gov. Elect Mikie Sherrill embarrassed pollsters who saw the race as nip and tuck, rolling up a 13-point win. Both defied the pundit narrative that Democrats had permanently “lost” young people and Hispanic voters.

Certainly, New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani ran an historic race, demonstrating brilliant social media skills, electrifying younger voters, and showing Democrats (no matter their ideological profile) how to run on affordability and against the oligarchy (including the most corrupt and cruelest among them, Donald Trump). Mamdani’s victory speech was inspirational and witty (to Trump: “Turn the volume up”; to Andrew Cuomo: “Let tonight be the final time I utter his name”). The thrust of his remarks could be a model message for many candidates:

And while we cast our ballots alone, we chose hope together. Hope over tyranny. Hope over big money and small ideas. Hope over despair. We won because New Yorkers allowed themselves to hope that the impossible could be made possible. And we won because we insisted that no longer would politics be something that is done to us. Now, it is something that we do. …

New York will remain a city of immigrants: a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and, as of tonight, led by an immigrant.

So hear me, President Trump, when I say this: To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.

But when it comes to political daring, foresight, strategy, and undaunted grit, California Gov. Gavin Newsom beat Trump at his own game and changed the 2026 landscape. He saw Trump’s Texas power grab for what it was—a desperate attempt to rig the midterms that Republicans know will be a disaster if they are held to account for the chaos, cruelty, and corruption they have enabled.

Despite skeptics and many Democrats tut-tutting about adhering to norms (even when Republicans have burned the rule book), Newsom was determined to counteract Trump’s Texas gambit. When few thought there was an adequate response to Trump, he (along with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi) championed and put on the ballot Prop. 50. He gave Californians an opportunity to balance out Trump’s 5-seat grab in Texas with a new California map that could give Democrats five new seats of their own.

The results were spectacular. Prop. 50 won by almost 30 points with robust turnout for a ballot with a single item on it. The “Yes” vote won every demographic group (aside from Republicans and conservatives). It was especially popular among younger voters.

Newsom celebrated the win in a press appearance Tuesday. “What a night for the Democratic Party. A party that is in its ascendancy,” he began. “A party that is on its toes, no longer on its heels. From coast to coast, sea to shining sea,” he said. “But it was not just a victory tonight for the Democratic Party, it was a victory for the United States of America, for the people of this country, and the principles our Founding Fathers lived and died for.”

Newsom warned that Trump’s efforts to rig the elections “carry to this day,” citing his effort to “militarize our streets” and change maps in more states. Stressing that the Prop. 50 campaign was a “90 day sprint” to win, he recalled that Trump sent his shock troops to the Prop. 50 kick-off event and again on Tuesday to Dodger Stadium to intimidate voters. None of Trump’s tactics succeeded. (Republicans have filed suit to try to undo the Prop. 50 victory.)

Although Newsom relished in taking on Trump (“after poking the bear, this bear roared”), his tone was sober and serious, his message direct. He urged other states to join the fight, promising Democrats could effectively end the Trump presidency as soon as “Speaker Hakeem Jeffries” is sworn in.

“We need the state of Virginia,” he said. “We need the state of Maryland. We need our friends in New York, in Illinois, in Colorado — we need to see other states, with their remarkable leaders, that have been doing remarkable things, to meet this moment head-on as well.”

Newsom has gotten well-deserved credit for skewering Trump on social media and defying his efforts to abscond with California’s national guard. But in fighting fire with fire and taking up the challenge to preserve Democrats’ hopes for a midterm victory, he showed Democrats around the country how to fight—and win.

In his undaunted, unafraid, unparalleled effort to thwart Trump’s election chicanery, he has earned the appreciation of his party and of pro-democracy forces from coast to coast. We salute him—and the courageous victors throughout the country on Tuesday—who reminded us that the fight for democracy is not lost. If Democrats win back the House majority in 2026, Newsom will enjoy a large share of the credit.

I would be remiss if I did not mention yesterday’s announcement about Nancy Pelosi’s retirement. Her love letter to San Francisco announcing she would not run for re-election reminds us of her devotion to her adopted city, which she has represented so ably for decades. Since her announcement, I have talked about her legacy with two veteran reporters, Lynn Sweet and Susan Page, in addition to hearing reflections on the Speaker Emerita from her former comms director, Ashley Etienne. Mayor of Oakland Barbara Lee joined the inimitable April Ryan on The Contrarian to extol Pelosi’s legacy of tough love on this yesterday’s episode of “The Tea.”

The Contrarian will have much more to say about this political giant, among the most powerful female politicians in history and one of our greatest speakers of the House. For now, we can say unequivocally that no one better personifies the title of “Undaunted” than the woman who delivered the Affordable Care Act, saved the ACA, passed the rescue bill to spare the economy in 2008, championed human rights and AIDS patients, fought tirelessly for LGBTQ+ and women’s rights, defended the Capitol during Jan. 6, insisted on remaining there to finish certifying the electoral college and assuring Biden’s passage to the presidency, assembled the bipartisan Jan. 6 commission, shepherded through (on the narrowest of margins) President Biden’s remarkable domestic agenda, and time and again stood up to the odious Donald Trump. She has been an avid mentor to so many of our great leaders, including Governor Newsom. We close out our week imbued with gratitude for her service.