Democratic election wins send Trump and Republicans - a message: Americans blame them for government shutdown

One year and a day after Donald Trump won a second term as president - and on the 35th day of the US government shutdown, which has tied a record for the longest in history - the Democrats swept to victory in key races across the county.

- BY BRUCE WOLPE Non-resident Senior Fellow, United States Study Centre, University of Sydney

President Trump

Democratic candidates won the governorships in the states of Virginia and New Jersey, while Zohran Mamdani became New York City's next mayor.

The Democrats may have just become the winners of the fight to reopen the government, too.

Sixteen years ago, thenPresident Barack Obama was staggered by Republicans winning the governorships in Virginia and New Jersey in the 2009 elections.

The message was indelible: voters wanted to put a check on Obama and his wideranging agenda, from health care to global warming. Many Americans wanted him to cool his jets, including on what would become his signature achievement, Obamacare.

The following year, in the 2010 midterm elections, the Democrats lost more than 60 seats and their majority in the House. For the next six years, Republicans had a veto over whatever bills Obama wanted Congress to enact.

With Democrats now winning the governorships in those two states, Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have just been sent the same message: you need to be checked, too.

Going into Tuesday's elections, Trump's approval rating in one major poll was just above 40%, and his disapproval rating just under 60% - the highest it's been since the January 6 2021 attack on the Capitol.

Independent voters, who swung Trump's way in last year's election, are now disapproving of his performance by a 69-30% margin.

Trump's leadership of what he calls the "hottest country in the world" is falling short in voters' eyes on a number of key issues: inflation, management of the economy, tariffs, crime, immigration, Ukraine and Gaza.

The US government has also been shuttered since October 1. Government agencies have been closed to the public, and hundreds of thousands of government employees are going without paychecks, while thousands of others have been laid off.