The New Blue Wave?

Voters across America went to the polls yesterday, and Democrats are celebrating.

In one of the most closely-watched campaigns in the country, Democrat Ralph Northam ended a bitter race for governor with Republican Ed Gillespie after securing victory by a margin of 54 to 45 percent. In addition to winning the governor's office, Democrats in the Old Dominion State also overwhelmed Republicans in local legislative races, flipping the Virginia House of Delegates from red to blue. 

In New Jersey, Democrat Phil Murphy beat Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno in the race for New Jersey governor. The Garden State had been led by a Republican, Chris Christie, for the last eight years. In Maine, voters turned out to support a popular Democratic policy — Medicaid expansion — which is being viewed as a win for Obamacare. 

Overall incumbent mayors across the country fared well — voters in Boston, New York, and Detroit re-elected their mayors. It was also a day of firsts: Danica Roem in Virginia became the first transgender person to be elected to a state legislature. She beat Delegate Robert Marshall, a 13-term Virginia incumbent who called himself the state's "chief homophobe." Marshall is also the lawmaker who authored the state's anti-trans "bathroom bill."

In Charlotte, North Carolina, voters elected Democrat Vi Lyles, the city's first black female mayor, and Hoboken New Jersey elected the state’s first Sikh mayor, Ravi Bhalla.

Additionally, Andrea Jenkins made history on Tuesday after she won her election for the Minneapolis City Council. She's the first openly transgender black woman to be elected to public office in the U.S. Chris Hurst, who was the boyfriend of Alison Parker, the TV journalist killed by a gunman during a live broadcast in 2015, beat GOP Rep. Joseph Yost in a Virginia legislative race. Hurst is a gun violence prevention advocate, while Yost was endorsed by the NRA.

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Larry Krasner, a career civil rights attorney who has sued the Philadelphia Police Department 75 times, was elected on Tuesday as the city's district attorney. 

One year after President Donald Trump's election, what should we make of these results? For answers, The Takeaway turns to Michael Pope, a reporter at Virginia Public Radio, and Nancy Solomon, managing editor for New Jersey Public Radio.

This segment is hosted by Todd Zwillich.