Dems Score Big Blue State Wins

3 Martini Lunch

Radio America

Politics, Society & Culture, Daily News, News Commentary, News

4.6 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2025

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Hillsdale College Radio General Manager and Radio Free Hillsdale Hour host Scot Bertram fills in for Jim on Wednesday’s 3 Martini Lunch. Join Scot and Greg as they break down Democrats’ bigger-than-expected wins in Virginia and New Jersey, Zohran Mamdani coasting to victory in New York City, and several ballot initiatives that mostly went the wrong way.

First, they dig into Virginia, where Democrat Abigail defeated Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears by nearly 15 points, outperforming every major poll. That landslide also helped rage texter Jay Jones win the attorney general’s race by six points, while Democrats picked up 13 seats in the state legislature. In New Jersey, Democrat Mikie Sherrill beat Jack Ciattarelli by 13 points. The wins were not shocking, but the margins were, and Scot and Greg break down what those results mean heading into 2026.

Next, they come to grips with Zohran Mamdani winning the New York City mayor's race by taking comfort that Andrew Cuomo won't be mayor. They also highlight some very ominous indications of what's to come from Mamdani's victory speech. Dems will undoubtedly try to mimic his smiley socialism in some parts of the country next year. Are Republicans ready to fight it?

Finally, they analyze key ballot measures across the country, including strong conservative victories in Texas protecting parental rights and requiring proof of citizenship to vote. But not all results went the right way, as Gavin Newsom’s gerrymander gimmick passed easily in California, and Colorado voters approved a tax hike on the wealthy to fund free school meals.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the three martini lunch.
0:04.8	Grab a stool next to Greg Carumbus of Radio America and Jim Garrity of National Review.
0:10.5	Three martini's coming up.
0:13.0	So glad you're with us for the Wednesday edition of the three martini lunch.
0:17.0	Jim Garrity is away.
0:18.5	And yes, this was scheduled.
0:19.9	He's not depressed as a result of the
0:22.3	election results last night. So we'll be getting into all of that in just a moment. Instead of
0:28.9	Jim today, we're happy to have Scott Bertram, general manager of WRFH Radio Free Hillsdale on the campus
0:34.5	of Hillsdale College 101.7 FM. He's also the director of the Hillsdale College Podcast Network and hosts many of those
0:41.3	podcasts, including the Radio Free Hillsdale Hour.
0:44.4	Scott, how are you?
0:45.6	Well, Greg, I'm in black in morning.
0:49.4	And it was not intentional, but it worked out for this purpose.
0:52.6	Yeah, not a good election night.
0:54.0	We'll be taking a
0:54.9	look at Virginia in some depth and then also what happened in New York City. As well, some ballot
0:59.4	measures. Republicans did get a couple of those in Texas, but for the most part, bad news on that front
1:04.5	as well. Yeah, and don't forget the all-important Hillsdale City mayoral election, which we can
1:10.1	touch on for a good 15, 20 minutes later on, too. Was that a humdinger? Did that come down to? There's about a thousand total votes, and the candidates were separated by 60. Oh, that is pretty tight. That is pretty tight. Although in terms of percentage, it's a six point win, which sounds big. And then you're looking, oh, it's like 60 votes.
1:33.2	Well, as I'm thinking about this, Scott, I'm thinking about our Chicago Bears, who so far this season have done a little more of something than we're used to. It's called winning.
1:39.1	And so sometimes after we see these wins, they take the cameras in the locker rooms.
	...

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