Zeus: Eggs, electricity, Gavin Newsom and the new climate investor play

Romp by Democrats in local elections provides roadmap for 2026

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom meets with attendees during a campaign event for Prop. 50 on Nov. 1 in Los Angeles. AP Photo: Ethan Swope.

Turns out eggs are still important. After 10 months of troops, tariffs, Trump, narco-terrorists, and indiscriminate bombing, Americans who could vote on Election Day went back to what really mattered: their pocketbooks. And that means a lot for electricity and climate change in the big mid-term campaigns next year.

Of the five big local elections on Tuesday night, three were primarily about electricity costs, which as our columnist Bill Sternberg pointed out last month, have become the eggs of the new term. Read Will electricity be the eggs of 2026?

Democratic victories for governor by Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, as well as Democratic wins for seats on the Public Services Commission in Georgia, all focused on the voter priority of keeping electricity costs low amid an arms race to build data centers for AI technology.

The big mayor’s race in New York City and the redistricting referendum in California — widely seen as a test of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s popularity ahead of a possible presidential run in 2028 — also have dramatic energy and climate implications.

The one thing all the races have in common is that for the first time energy costs have risen to the level of a priority for Americans, as public battles over green energy vs fossil fuels begin to spill on to household electric bills. In this regard, the Democrats might have President Donald Trump to thank for changing the debate from one about climate change, which has never pulled at the polls, to one about energy security.