Democrats are already seeing some small victories in under-the-radar races in the beginning of 2025, with the party hoping they can maintain that energy heading into November as they look to flip the Virginia governor’s mansion and hold off GOP opponents in other elections.

The party flipped a state Senate seat in Iowa last month, while a Democrat recently ousted a conservative mayor in Norman, Okla. Meanwhile, in New York, Democrat Ken Jenkins won a county executive seat, improving on the party’s November performance there. And last month, the Democrats retained their control over a Loudoun County, Va.-area state House and Senate seats after the party underperformed in November.

The victories continue a trend the party has seen for multiple cycles in which it has won big in off-year elections where President Trump wasn’t on the ballot. But some in the party argue more needs to be done in order to turn out voters ahead of the first major high-stakes races following Trump’s victory in November.

“I would describe most of these races as simply Democrats holding serve, with the big exception of an Iowa state Senate race where Democrats flipped a district that Trump had won by roughly 20 points,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor at Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.

In the Westchester County executive race, Democrat Ken Jenkins handily defeated his Republican opponent 64 percent to 36 percent after President Trump improved his standing in the county from 2020 to 2024.

Trump himself even got involved in the race, urging Republicans to turnout in a post on Truth Social earlier this week.

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