ANALYSIS: Trump lost big on the first anniversary of his win

The traditional first-anniversary gift is paper.

But on the eve of the first anniversary of his election as U.S. president, voters instead gave Donald Trump a stern rebuke.

Democrats, his political rivals, swept regional elections in their best night since Barack Obama won his second term in 2012.

In Virginia, Democrat Ralph Northam was elected governor in a landslide. The nine-point margin of victory was unexpectedly wide, in a race that the polls had indicated was close.

In Loudoun County, Va., near Washington, D.C., Democrats won the night by 20 points. Compare that to 2013 when the margin was just five points.

The most socially conservative state lawmaker in Virginia was booted from office after 26 years by Democrat Danica Roem, who becomes the first openly transgender elected official in the state.

WATCH: Transgender Democrat makes history in Virginia

0:56 Transgender Democrat makes history in Virginia

Chris Hurst, the TV news anchor whose girlfriend was shot and killed during a live broadcast in 2015, beat the Republican candidate in his district.

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In total, Democrats flipped 14 seats in the state general assembly.

Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia Center for Politics summed up what happened in a tweet. “A backlash to Trump and Trumpism, pure and simple,” he explained.

The blue wave swept state and local races in New Jersey, North Carolina, Florida and Maine, too. It’s hard to see the results as anything but a repudiation of Donald Trump – bigly.

The president’s personal approval rating continues to be abysmal, at just 36 per cent according to a new poll for CNN and support for impeachment is at a record high of 49 per cent.

No doubt Republicans in Congress are growing worried about what it all means for the mid-term elections looming exactly one year from now when they too might be taken to task for the president and his actions.

On the generic question of “who would you vote for” on a congressional ballot, Democrats have a 10-point lead over Republicans nationally.

Suddenly losing control of the House of Representatives is a real worry for Republicans.

It turns out that Trump’s own popularity with Republican voters does not translate to candidates down the ballot (Barack Obama had the same problem too) leaving the party rudderless and in turmoil as pro- and anti-Trump factions duke it out.

WATCH: Virginia’s new governor declares Democrats ‘are back by popular demand’

1:00 Virginia’s new governor declares Democrats ‘are back by popular demand’

Anecdotally, it seems some frustrated Republicans actually voted for Democrats on Tuesday, while Democrats were able to mobilize their base by playing up dissatisfaction with Trump.

The problems for Republicans don’t stop at the White House. Even with control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the party has still been unable to pass health-care reform, tax reform or much else of substance.

Meanwhile, the president is struggling to keep his own promises. Trump’s travel ban was struck down by the courts, his promised infrastructure program is nowhere in sight, and the Russia probe looms large and out of his control.

Voters are growing frustrated by this — after all, they were promised big things by Trump.

In his victory speech last November, Trump used the word “great” 22 times. “I will not let you down. We will do a great job. We will do a great job,” he promised.

One year later the wheels are spinning, but the car isn’t going anywhere.

Now Republicans have to regroup and rebuild and come up with some sort of strategy if they want to avoid another trouncing in 2018.