Nov. 4 marks the death knell for the old guard 

Politics is not an exact science. The results of some elections are hard to read. But not last week’s. 

The results from the four major races on Nov. 4 — a governor’s race in Virginia and New Jersey, a mayor’s race in New York City, and an initiative campaign in California — leave no doubt.

Add in lesser-known, but still important, down-ballot results — two Democrats elected to the Georgia Public Service Commission; three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices retained; two new Democrats elected to the Mississippi state Senate; and expansion of Democratic control of the Virginia House of Representatives — and their meaning resonates even more loudly and clearly. There is no way President Trump or his MAGA supporters can explain away or spin it otherwise.  

This off-year election was, first and foremost, a complete repudiation of Trump. It was the first time voters had an opportunity to vote thumbs up or thumbs down on Trump 2.0, and they clearly did not like what they saw. In exit polls, many voters said they felt they’d been betrayed. Trump promised to cut the cost of groceries, and he didn’t. He seemed to be spending more time on the golf course or entertaining foreign dictators than working for average Americans, and they resented it. He lost big-time. 

Nov. 4 was also an unmistakable statement of what’s important to voters. In their ads, Trump and Republicans tried to make it an election about immigration, crime or trans. That didn’t work. Almost every pre-election poll and exit poll showed there was one issue paramount in voters’ minds: the cost of living — groceries, rent, utilities, eggs, gas. And that’s the issue Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey, and Zohran Mamdani in New York City made the centerpiece of their winning campaigns: affordability. 

But for winning Democrats and losing Republicans, there was one other unmistakable lesson from last week’s election returns. It’s a lesson both parties will ignore at their own peril. And that lesson is this: It’s long past time to pass the torch to a new generation of leadership. 

It doesn’t matter that Spanberger and Sherrill are centrists and Mamdani a self-described “democratic socialist.” All three of them represented just what voters were looking for. They’re tired of the pablum offered by fossils of both parties. They’re hungry for a new, younger generation of leadership: new blood, new energy, new faces, and bold, new ideas.

No matter how good a job you’ve done in elected office, there comes a time (definitely by the age of 75, if not before) when you’ve worn out your welcome. When it’s time to step aside and pass the baton. Sadly, that’s a lesson Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and President Joe Biden never learned, and their refusal to step down will forever tarnish their reputation. It’s also a lesson Donald Trump seems to ignore, as he teases running for a third term in 2028 — when he would be 82.

Too many politicians still don’t get it. With an average age of 58.9, according to NBC News, this is the third oldest Congress since 1789. Fifty Democratic members of the House are over 70, including D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton who, in declining health at 88, still insists she’s running for reelection. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), at 92 the oldest member of Congress, has already filed papers with the FEC to run for reelection in 2028. 

And talk about tone deaf. Totally ignoring the lessons of Nov. 4, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) recruited Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) to challenge Republican Susan Collins in 2026. Mills may have been a good governor, but she’s 77 years old. If elected, she would be the oldest freshman senator ever. Seriously, in all of Maine, couldn’t Schumer find someone younger?

If not from Spanberger, Sherrill and Mamdani, politicians from both parties should learn a lesson from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who, on her own, made the tough decision to pass the torch to the next generation. She did this not once, but twice — first in 2022, when she stepped down as Speaker and endorsed Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and second time, last week, when she announced she would not seek reelection in 2026.  

Pelosi set the example other senior politicians should now follow. The message to them from Nov. 4 voters is clear: Thanks for your service, but we don’t want you around anymore. We want a new generation of younger leaders. Please, get out of the way.  

Bill Press is host of “The Bill Press Pod.” He is the author of “From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.”