In the 2025 elections, voters across the United States supported candidates and measures promoting renewable energy, affordable transit, and controls on rising energy costs. These results signal pushback against President Donald Trump's policies rolling back climate action. Key wins included mayoral races in New York and gubernatorial contests in New Jersey and Virginia.
Tuesday's elections marked a strong showing for climate-focused policies, with voters prioritizing affordability and clean energy nationwide. In New York City, Zohran Mamdani secured a landslide victory in the mayoral race, called just 35 minutes after polls closed, drawing over two million voters—the most since 1969. At 34, Mamdani will become the city's youngest mayor in more than a century. Endorsed by the Sunrise Movement, his campaign emphasized free mass transit and greening public schools. "Zohran was talking about climate action in a way people could understand, and people were able to see the impacts of this climate action in their everyday lives," said Denae Ávila-Dickson, the group's communications and political manager. Dan Jasper of Project Drawdown noted that Mamdani’s transit proposal "is not as sexy as something like solar. But these are the exact type of policies we’re going to need to actually address climate change, because it addresses people’s standards of living."
In Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu's City Council allies retained their seats, bolstering her green new deal agenda. Georgia saw Democrats Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson win two seats on the Public Service Commission—the first since 2007—upsetting Republican incumbents amid outrage over six utility bill increases in three years and rising household costs exceeding $500 in recent years. "I think for a lot of folks who have felt powerless over rising utility bills... they can finally breathe a sigh of relief knowing that potential change is coming," said Charles Hua of PowerLines.
New Jersey Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill pledged a "state of emergency on energy costs" on her first day, planning expansions in rooftop solar, battery storage, and nuclear capacity. In Virginia, Abigail Spanberger's gubernatorial win included her "Affordable Virginia" plan to make data centers cover their electricity— in a region hosting 13 percent of global capacity—while expanding wind, solar, and home weatherization.
California voters approved Proposition 50, enabling Democrats to redraw congressional districts for 2026 midterms, potentially gaining five seats. Governor Gavin Newsom framed it as a message to Trump: "No crowns, no thrones, no kings. That’s what this victory represents. [It] is a victory for the people of the state of California and the United States of America."
Local measures also succeeded, such as Mecklenburg County's 1 percent sales tax hike for $20 billion in transportation, allocating funds to rail, buses, bike lanes, and sidewalks, and Ellensburg, Washington's 0.02 percent tax for buses, approved by 65 percent. Political scientist Leah Stokes described the results as a "repudiation of the idea that Americans don’t care about energy or climate." Sara Schreiber of the League of Conservation Voters called it a "decisive rejection of the Trump Administration’s ban on clean energy." Jasper added, "‘Climate action equals affordability’ seems to be the winning message of the day."