Democrats hit back and a winning message - four election night takeaways

After sealing decisive wins in the New York mayoral election and governor races in Virginia and New Jersey, it is clear the Democratic Party will be buoyed by a big election night on Tuesday.

It is a far cry from the scenes after last year's presidential election, when the party was left searching for answers after Donald Trump and the Republicans scored a hugely dominant victory.

The results also mark a year until vital midterm elections. So with the picture of the night becoming clearer, here's what we've learned from the results.

When Trump scored his decisive victory over Kamala Harris last year, he racked up huge support from Latino voters who had been a key part of the Democratic voter base for decades.

Trump saw a huge 14 percentage-point increase in support from that demographic compared to the 2020 election, according to exit polls. No Republican presidential candidate had ever won a higher percentage with Latino voters.

And while he wasn't on the ballot on Tuesday night, there were some potentially concerning signs for his Republican Party. The winning candidates for governor in Virginia and New Jersey both had wide leads of around 30% with Latino voters, according to exit poll data.

There are interesting shifts, too, when examining the results more closely.

Passaic County in New Jersey - which census data shows is almost half Latino - is often cited by analysts as a bellwether for Trump's support among those voters. He won it by 3 percentage points in 2024, yet Sherrill won it by 15 on Tuesday over her Republican opponent.

Mike Madrid, a Republican political consultant who specialises in Latino voting trends, suggested the cost of living and messaging around the economy again played a key role.

"No poll taken anywhere in the country in the past month has anything other than the economy as the top issue for Latinos," he said.