A year after Donald Trump’s election, Sacramento Democrats finally smiled | Opinion
As the last few seconds before 8 p.m. ticked away, the crowd counted down:
“3…2…1…”
The television screens tuned to CNN at a downtown Sacramento bar flashed the news within seconds. California’s Prop. 50 redistricting measure was expected to pass and the roar that went up was deafening.
Amid all the joy, the night also contained another emotion that has been somewhat foreign to Democrats for the past year: Hope.
This crowd had good reason to be excited and hopeful. By the time the polls closed at 8, Mojo’s local Tap and Kitchen, in the heart of downtown Sacramento, was full of members from the Young Democrats of Sacramento County and the Sacramento Central Labor Council. At least a hundred or more people were gathered at the restaurant to celebrate Prop. 50’s big win at an Election Night party hosted by Sacramento-area Assemblymember Maggy Krell.
Many of those in attendance had spent the last few weeks and months knocking on tens of thousands of doors across the Sacramento region, urging voters to get their ballots in and vote “Yes” on Prop. 50, the redistricting measure that passed Tuesday night by nearly 30 points. Many of them were, to reclaim the pejorative, having fun “libbing out.”
But the jubilant mood on this Election Night in California was bolstered even further by the sheer abundance of liberal and progressive wins across the nation; a clear sign that the Trump Administration’s unpopular policies have crossed a breaking point for many Americans.
In addition to Prop. 50’s success in California, Democrats in Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania either held on to or flipped important races, including two governor seats. And in New York City, 31-year-old progressive Zohran Mamdani won the mayoral race — becoming that city’s first Muslim mayor.
“People want to fight back, but we are not fighting against something, we are fighting for something,” Fabrizio Sasso, executive Director of the Sacramento Central Labor Council, told the crowd through a microphone. “This energy needs to go on to next year!”
Evan Cragin, president of the Sacramento County Young Democrats, said he believes people are fed up with Trump’s policies and this election was a bellwether for people who want to “reject the Trump Administration and its overreaching, fascist policy choices.”
“The fact that (Prop. 50) was called right at polls closing is a big statement that we reject the current administration,” he said. “Voters can see that (Republicans) don’t care about the issues that affect everyday, working people, and frankly, I’m pissed off that our most vulnerable people … are actively being attacked by this administration.”
Big names gather to celebrate
The Young Dems and Labor Council volunteers were joined by a who’s who of Sacramento politicians, including gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, and state Sen. Angelique Ashby who said that the evening was “a mandate from the country to reject what’s happening.”
“This isn’t the world we want to live in and we’re pushing back,” she said.
Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, said she was “so excited (she) could barely stand it… It’s been a long time since we had some big wins.”
Other officials at the party included U.S. representatives Ami Bera and Doris Matsui, former Sacramento mayor Darrell Steinberg, current mayor Kevin McCarty, and current city council members Lisa Kaplan, Caity Maple, Karina Talamantes (who is married to Sasso), Roger Dickinson, Mai Vang and Eric Guerra.
“Every action has a counterreaction,” said Steinberg, “and tonight is the beginning of that counterreaction… I think it is the beginning of a national turnaround.”
Vang, who is a progressive running against Matsui for Congress next year, said she was particularly inspired by Zohran Mamdani’s win on Tuesday in the New York City mayoral race. “All across America and here in California, voters showed that they are ready to fight back against this administration,” she said. “They’re tired of the same old politics that (have) failed working people. The fight to win back the House starts now.”
Finally, some good news
Over the last year, the world has felt like a lonely place for those who oppose President Donald Trump and his administration’s divisive policies.
We have seen our government shut down, our neighbors and friends attacked at protests or disappeared off the streets by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and our children going hungry as supplemental nutrition programs have been terminated — while the president refurbishes White House bathrooms and tears down the East Wing to make way for a new ballroom.
Tuesday was, perhaps, the first night in nearly a year that there was a glimmer of hope in the fight against those policies. Across the nation, Democrats and progressives saw huge wins by listening to their communities and fighting for them. Tuesday proved that Trump is deeply unpopular across the nation, and the GOP will pay the price at the polls for enabling him.
There is still a long road ahead to the 2026 midterms, and ultimately, the 2028 presidential election. But having hope and excitement for the future again feels like the ultimate win.
This story was originally published November 5, 2025 at 11:03 AM.
