Americans in states and localities across the country will head to the polls today to cast their vote for a variety of candidates, positions, and ballot measures.
Though Election Day 2025 is an off-year for federal politics, some of the races today could have wide-reaching effects on both future midterm elections and the 2028 presidential election.
Crucially, these are the first major elections since President Donald Trump took office—and results could be influenced by and reflect voters’ sentiments as Trump nears one year back in office.
Virginia Governor and Lieutenant Governor
In Virginia, voters will cast ballots for governor and lieutenant governor in a race that has historically been viewed as a referendum on the president’s first year in office.Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican, and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.) are running to succeed Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who cannot run for another consecutive term under the state constitution.
Virginia’s gubernatorial race always falls at the end of the first year of a president’s term. That means the race is often seen as a snapshot of voter sentiment on the president’s first year in office, thanks in part to the state’s demographic mix and proximity to Washington.
In 2021, Youngkin’s upset victory over Democrat Terry McAuliffe was seen as a reflection of voter dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden.
New Jersey Governor
Voters in New Jersey will cast ballots in a race between Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli that’s shaping up to potentially be a nail-biter.In the final poll ahead of the election, conducted by Research Co., Sherrill led by 2 percent.
Those results are roughly consistent with an earlier poll by Atlas Intel, which found Sherrill leading by 1 percent.
Ciattarelli ran for governor in 2021, narrowly losing to Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat. That means that he comes into the race this year with a name recognition advantage he didn’t previously have.
Ciattarelli has marketed himself as a “Jersey guy,” seeking to distance himself from the more controversial Washington politics of Trump’s White House.
New York City
Just across the Hudson, voters will cast ballots in perhaps the most-watched election of this year: the three-way race for New York City mayor.Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee and a self-described democratic socialist, is the frontrunner in the race, having led by double-digit margins across most of the election cycle.
In second place is former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who’s now running an Independent campaign. In third place is Republican Curtis Sliwa.
The poll found 44 percent of voters backed Mamdani, compared to 39 percent who backed Cuomo, and 16 percent who backed Sliwa.
“A vote for Curtis Sliwa ... is a vote for Mamdani,” Trump wrote. “Whether you personally like Andrew Cuomo or not, you really have no choice. You must vote for him, and hope he does a fantastic job.”
With the race already down to single-digit margins, Trump’s eleventh-hour endorsement means that the race may not be quite as easy a win for Mamdani as pollster had predicted.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court
In Pennsylvania, voters will cast ballots in a Supreme Court election—but the incumbent Democrats up for reelection aren’t facing any Republican rivals.Instead, voters will simply decide whether these justices, including Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht should remain on the bench. If they’re retained, the justices would serve another 10 years.
Given Pennsylvania’s swing state status, the state supreme court could play a vital role in election-related matters in the future.
Virginia Attorney General
Though lower profile than the governor’s race, national attention has also focused on Virginia’s attorney general race.That’s primarily due to a scandal involving text messages sent by the Democratic nominee, former state Rep. Jay Jones. Jones, who served in the Virginia House of Delegates, is running against incumbent Jason Miyares, a Republican.
In a text message to a former Republican colleague, Jones stated that if he had two bullets, he would use them on Todd Gilbert, the former speaker of the House of Delegates, instead of Adolf Hitler or Pol Pot.
Jones has apologized to Gilbert.
“Let me be very clear: I am ashamed, I am embarrassed, and I am sorry,“ he said during a debate on Oct. 16.
Miyares said Jones is unqualified to lead.
“Jay Jones has not had the experience or the judgment to serve as the top prosecutor,” he said. “We have seen a window to who Jay Jones is and the way he thinks of people that disagree with him.”
Proposition 50 and Other Ballot Measures
Voters across multiple states will also consider key ballot measures, including several of national interest.The most-watched of these will be California’s Proposition 50, which asks voters to temporarily override the state’s independent congressional districting commission to allow Democrats to flip as many as five House seats.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a leading advocate of Proposition 50, has said the measure is necessary to respond to redistricting in Texas that could allow Republicans to take up to five House seats.
If approved by voters, the new maps drawn by the California Legislature would remain in effect until 2030, at which point control would be returned to the independent commission.
Ballot measures will also be considered in other states, including Maine Question 1, which would require voters to present a valid photo ID to vote, and Texas Proposition 16, which would require that an individual be a citizen to vote.
