Holy wow - the wins this week have been OFF the CHARTS! With the historic blue wave on Election Day, free school lunches for kids being passed in Colorado, and free childcare offered in New Mexico, the planet has been coming together in community and solidarity like never before.
Let's dive into the global and historical wins we've been witnessing this week.
NEW YORK:
• Zohran Mamdani's victory makes him NYC's first Muslim and South Asian mayor, and at 34, the youngest in over a century. Not to mention, he'll be working with an all-female transition team!
• New York City crossed 2 million voters for the first time since 1969 - the highest mayoral election turnout in over 50 years.
• Two Democratic candidates flipped seats from red to blue in Ulster County, New York, defeating Republican incumbents, with one winning by just 36 votes.
• Both Syracuse and Albany, New York elected their first Black mayors EVER in their histories.
NEW JERSEY:
• Mikie Sherrill becomes only the second woman ever elected governor of New Jersey, following Christine Todd Whitman who served 1994-2001. It's been over 20 years since New Jersey had a woman governor!
PENNSYLVANIA:
• Democrat Christina Vogel flipped the county executive seat in Erie County, PA, a crucial swing county that often predicts statewide results.
• Downingtown, PA, elected Erica Deuso, their first openly transgender mayor!
• Democrats completely flipped the Luzerne County Council, taking full control of this longtime Republican stronghold.
• Democrats in Bucks County ousted the Republican district attorney, county sheriff, recorder of deeds, controller, AND won all four county judgeship elections.
CONNECTICUT:
• Democrats flipped party control of 27 TOWNS in Connecticut from red to blue. Not seats, not districts - entire TOWNS changed hands.
MASSACHUSETTS:
• Boston's progressive mayor Michelle Wu easily won re-election, securing her mandate for transformative policies.
VIRGINIA:
• Democrats flipped Virginia's HD 66, unseating a Republican incumbent who had held that seat since 1989 (When Reagan was still president!). This happened in Spotsylvania County, which the speaker called "a miracle" given how conservative it is.
• Maynie Var was elected as the first Chinese American legislator in Virginia's history!
• Democrat Abigail Spanberger became Virginia's first-ever female governor!
• State Senator Ghazala Hashmi was elected lieutenant governor, becoming the first Muslim woman to win statewide office in ANY U.S. state, not just Virginia.
NORTH CAROLINA:
• Wilmington, North Carolina, now has an all-Democratic city council with four women leading the city!
SOUTH CAROLINA:
• EVERY Republican seat in Georgetown, South Carolina was taken by Democrats - a complete sweep of local government.
GEORGIA:
• Democrats flipped TWO seats on Georgia's Public Service Commission, winning by massive margins of 17 and 21 points respectively. The Public Service Commission controls utility rates and clean energy policy for the entire state.
• Atlanta elected a non-binary Democratic socialist to the City Council!
MISSISSIPPI:
• Democrats flipped two seats in the Mississippi State Senate and one in the State House, ending the Republican supermajority in the Mississippi Senate. In MISSISSIPPI, one of the reddest states in the nation.
TEXAS:
• Three MAGA members of Cy Fair Independent School District's board, including the president AND vice president, were thrown out by progressives, flipping a 6-1 GOP majority to a 4-3 Democratic majority.
MICHIGAN:
• Detroit elected Mary Sheffield, the first woman (and BLACK woman) as mayor!
MINNESOTA:
• St. Paul elected its first woman and first Hmong American mayor, Kaohly Her, alongside an all-female city council!
KANSAS:
• Democrats flipped the Wichita school board from a 4-3 Republican majority to a 5-2 Democratic majority, completely reversing control.
COLORADO:
• Democrats flipped the school board in conservative Douglas County, CO, one of the wealthiest and most Republican counties in the state.
And nationally, with Spanberger and Sherrill's wins, there will be an all-time record of 14 women serving as governors at the same time, starting in January.
Suburban Moms Stand Up at ICE Facility: 14 moms from Chicago's western suburbs put their bodies on the line, jumping barricades at the Broadview ICE detention center and getting arrested to protest immigration raids. These women, who stated "people that look like us need to use their privilege to protect immigrant families", staged this direct action to amplify what's happening in Chicago and mobilize their communities. This is the kind of fierce allyship we need right now.
Miss Universe Contestants Confront Misogyny: Miss Universe Mexico Fatima Bosch was publicly berated and threatened with elimination by a male pageant director in Thailand who tried to silence her, prompting other contestants to walk out in solidarity and Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum to praise her for raising her voice. The incident sparked global outrage about misogyny in beauty pageants, with Bosch declaring "we are empowered women, and this is a platform for our voice, and no one can shut our voice."
School Meals Funding in Colorado: Voters approved two ballot measures that will permanently fund Colorado state's universal free school meals program. The measures ensure every Colorado kid gets free breakfast and lunch regardless of family income.
New Mexico's Free Childcare: New Mexico became the first state in the nation to offer completely free childcare to all families regardless of income, using state vouchers to cover both public and private childcare fees. This is the blueprint for the future we're building - when states recognize that childcare is infrastructure and make it universally free, they're acknowledging that supporting families (especially mothers) is essential for a functioning society.
EU Committee Backs Abortion Rights: The European Parliament's Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality endorsed the "My Voice, My Choice" citizens' initiative for safe and accessible abortion with a 26:12 vote. Slovenia's 8 March Institute, which spearheaded the initiative with over 1.1 million signatures, celebrated this as proof that reproductive rights bring people together across political divides.
Buddhist Monks Walk for Peace: About two dozen Buddhist monks from Fort Worth, Texas began a 110-day, 3,700-kilometer pilgrimage to Washington DC, walking through 10 states while following ancient monastic customs of eating one meal daily and sleeping outdoors. The monks are promoting peace and mindfulness during what they call "a world filled with uncertainty and restlessness," with support from Texas Governor Greg Abbott and local Muslim legislators.
With suburban moms risking arrests, beauty queens walking out in solidarity, monks walking thousands of miles for peace, and the wave in the US flipping from red to blue, we're witnessing a global realignment toward justice, compassion, and collective power.
The patriarchy wants us isolated, exhausted, and hopeless. But this week proved that when we organize, show up for each other, and refuse to let them divide us, we win on all fronts.
How will you shift this week?
