Tuesday night’s elections offered Democrats a much-needed shot in the arm while also underscoring competing visions within the party over how to move forward heading into next year.

Moderates won big in New Jersey and Virginia, electing Democrats Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger as governor in their respective states. Meanwhile, progressives had a massive night in New York City, where democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani easily fended off a challenge from former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The election results are proving to be a Rorschach test of sorts for Democrats in determining the best direction forward for their party as they seek to flip the House and make gains in the Senate next year.

The center-left Third Way released a memo Wednesday praising aspects of Mamdani’s campaign. But it warned that “Mamdani’s policy ideas, and the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) which he has failed to repudiate, were drawn from the far left and are deeply unpopular in the red and purple places Democrats must win to retake Congress and the White House.”

The group’s comments come amid an ongoing debate within the party over how to make inroads with voters across the country after devastating losses in 2024. And while Tuesday’s resounding victory for Democrats will put to rest some of........

© The Hill