Voters on Tuesday will be casting ballots in U.S. state and local elections with an injection of presidential-level politics, including a pair of competitive races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, the mayoral race in the nation’s largest city and a ballot measure in California that Democrats are counting on for next year’s elections to determine control of Congress.

The off-year elections have drawn President Donald Trump ’s attention, and no race has attracted as much lip service or social media opinions from Trump as the mayor’s race in his hometown of New York City.

Though local issues are a major factor in Tuesday’s contests, the winners take on an outsize role in a year when Trump has battled with governors and mayors as he’s deployed National Guard troops and immigration agents across cities and states. For Democrats, the offices offer a chance to push back on the president’s agenda, while Republicans see it as an opportunity to support his aims.

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Miyares appears in a social media video with a voter who says he cast his ballot for Miyares and for U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic candidate for governor. The voter, identified only as Dave, says he typically votes for candidates from both parties.

Miyares said he appreciated the man’s vote as he seeks another term but didn’t speak up for Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, his party’s nominee for governor.

The two leading candidates in a special election to fill the 18th Congressional District seat in Houston that’s been vacant most of this year since the death of Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner stood nearly side by side outside a community center Tuesday asking voters for their support.

Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards greeted voters as they drove into the parking lot of the Acres Homes Multi-Service Center in northwest Houston.

Standing by the parking lot’s entrance on a hot and sunny day, both candidates passed out campaign flyers as voters rolled down their vehicles’ windows and briefly talked to Menefee and Edwards before parking their cars.

Edwards told voters she would represent the congressional district to “bring home economic opportunities, education, housing and health care.”

Menefee’s wife, Kaitlyn, handed out flyers and told voters her husband as county attorney had “fought Trump and won before. He’ll do it again.” Menefee would then come up to drivers, shake their hands and ask for their vote.

A steady stream of voters trickled into the vote center at the public library in Norco, California on Tuesday morning.

Tyler Ziemann, a 39-year-old firefighter, said he voted against the only state measure on the ballot — a proposal to redraw California’s maps to add five Democratic U.S. House seats in response to President Trump’s redistricting moves in Texas.

“I think that it’s a power grab,” said Ziemann, adding he doesn’t typically vote in line with just one political party. “They’re just trying to redraw district lines in their benefit, and it should just be done the way we’ve always done it.”

The Southern California equestrian community of about 25,000 people is lined with riding trails and strip malls and known as “Horsetown USA.” It’s one of a cluster of inland cities in a congressional district represented by Republican Ken Calvert that could be affected by the measure known as Prop. 50.

Amy Leos, a 50-year-old Republican from Norco, said she voted against it. “I feel like voting ‘yes’ would be setting up even more of a blue state,” Leos said.

While Trump lost Virginia and New Jersey last fall, there were significant shifts to the right in both states. In New Jersey, Trump’s 16-percentage-point loss in 2020 shrank to less than 6 percentage points in 2024.

Those shifts were fueled by Trump’s increasing popularity among traditional Democratic loyalists: labor union members, Black men, Hispanic voters and younger people. Democrats are particularly vulnerable in New Jersey, which has among the largest percentage of labor union households in the nation.

If those pro-Trump trends continue this week, Democrats could be in trouble.

But Trump isn’t on the ballot, of course. And the Trump coalition — especially lower-propensity voters — hasn’t typically shown up in the same numbers in nonpresidential years.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate cast her ballot in the closely watched contest in Montclair, New Jersey, accompanied by her husband, Jason Hedberg, and two of their four children Tuesday morning.

“I think I’m going to do quite well today,” she told reporters afterward.

Asked about Election Day bomb threats at several New Jersey polling places, Sherrill said she was told none of them was credible and state voters wouldn’t be deterred.

“Obviously this is an attempt to suppress the vote here, and I don’t think New Jerseyans take very kindly to that kind of tampering in our election system,” she said.

Her opponent, Republican Jack Ciattarelli, cast his ballot during early voting last week in Bridgewater.

The president didn’t set foot in Virginia or New Jersey to campaign with Republican gubernatorial candidates Winsome Earle-Sears or Jack Ciattarelli, but both contests will likely be viewed as a referendum on Trump’s job so far.

The president endorsed Ciattarelli in New Jersey’s governor’s race but held only a pair of tele-town halls on his behalf, including one Monday night. Trump also did a Monday night tele-town hall for Virginia Republican candidates, but he didn’t mention Earle-Sears, speaking mostly in favor of the GOP candidate for attorney general.

Earlier in the campaign, Trump gave Earle-Sears only a half-hearted endorsement, saying he supported the GOP candidate for governor though he didn’t use her name. Earle-Sears was nonetheless a fierce defender of Trump and his policies, just as Ciattarelli was in New Jersey.

Back in June, voters in New York City’s Democratic primary had the option to select up to five candidates by order of preference under a system known as ranked-choice voting. This time around, they can only pick one. That’s because the ranked-choice system, approved by ballot measure in 2019, only applies in primaries — not in the general election match-up.

Still, in a memorable moment from last month’s debate, the candidates were asked how they would fill out their ballots if the ranked-choice system were in effect. Cuomo and Sliwa both said they’d only rank themselves, while Mamdani said he’d rank himself first followed by Sliwa. “Oh, please,” the Republican replied, deploying a bit of Gen Z slang, “don’t be glazing me here, Zohran!”

Stephanie Uhl, 38, is currently working without pay for the Defense Department under the government shutdown and said of the Republican Party’s support for tariffs and the current risk to SNAP benefits, “I hate what they’re doing to the economy.”

“I can afford (it) just fine, but it bothers me that it affects so many other people, and they don’t care,” she said after casting her ballot at the Aurora Hills Library in Arlington.

Uhl, who describes herself as caring more about issues than party, said she voted for former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger for governor, but couldn’t bring herself to vote for Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, after learning of the violent references he made to other Virginia lawmakers in text messages made public last month.

Tuesday offers a test of two very different Democratic philosophies on display from candidates: toeing a moderate line or fully embracing far-left progressivism. But it also presents a scenario in which both, or neither, could be successful — making drawing conclusions going forward more difficult.

The party’s candidates for governor, New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, have focused largely on the economy, public safety and health care, distancing themselves from some of the Democratic Party’s far-left policies.

A growing collection of Democratic leaders believe the moderate approach holds the key to the party’s revival after the GOP won the White House and both congressional chambers last year. Tuesday could be a key indicator of whether they’re right.

Election Day comes in the midst of a federal government shutdown that’s already spanned more than a month. Both parties in Congress blame each other, and there’s no end in sight.

Will it matter?

Virginia is home to more than 134,000 federal workers, many of whom have been furloughed or are being forced to work without pay. New Jersey has nearly 21,000 federal employees, according to the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, out of a total of more than 2 million such government employees nationwide.

Either number is more than enough to swing a close election.

At the same time, millions of people may be losing critical food assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, offering voters another urgent reason to express their displeasure.

“Many Mamdani voters will be furious that you came from behind by stoking what they will see as Islamophobia, with recent ads and appearances on conservative media,” said host Brian Lehrer in an interview on WNYC radio.

Cuomo at first insisted Lehrer had it “upside down.” “I am all about unifying,” he said, touting his record as governor and accusing Mamdani of being the divisive one.

But Lehrer continued to press Cuomo, who has been criticized for failing to speak out against bigoted attacks on Mamdani from some allies.

Cuomo responded that he’s met with members of “the Muslim community” and said he wants to make them a “big part” of his administration and appoint them to senior positions.

The Republican mayoral candidate and animal rights activist tried to bring a cat with him into the polling place when he voted in the 2021 city election, but was rebuffed.

On Tuesday, he settled for a cat tie and held a book about cats, “Pawverbs For A Cat Lover’s Heart,” while wearing his signature red beret at a school in the Bronx as he accompanied his wife, Nancy.

“And you know animals throughout the city will be partying hearty because they’ll have a friend both in Gracie Mansion and in City Hall,” he said.

Sliwa had cast his ballot earlier during early voting.

Nearly 20% of Chester County voters were left off the original poll books provided to polling locations, according to county officials.

Voters registered as anything other than Republican or Democrat were missing from poll books, including those registered with the Green Party, with the Libertarian Party, with another party or without party affiliation. It amounted to about 75,000 registered voters out of roughly 385,000 in the county.

County election officials became aware of the problem just after polling places opened and were “actively deploying” supplemental poll books to 230 polling locations, according to county spokesperson Rebecca Brain. There will be a formal review.

A majority of voters in Chester County, about an hour’s drive west of Philadelphia, backed Democrat Kamala Harris over Republican Donald Trump in last year’s presidential election. Voters on Tuesday were weighing in on local offices, as well as on members of Pennsylvania’s highest court. Three Democratic justices on the state Supreme Court were running in retention elections, in which voters give a “yes” or “no” on whether they serve another term.

Third-party voters were offered a provisional ballot if their name wasn’t in the poll book Tuesday morning.

The seat in the 18th Congressional District has been vacant since the death of Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner in March. Turner was only months into his first term after serving as Houston’s mayor.

Sixteen candidates are on the ballot in the heavily Democratic district. The biggest names include Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and Amanda Edwards, a former Houston City Council member. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote Tuesday, there will be a runoff.

Democrats accused Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of delaying the special election after Turner’s death to protect the GOP’s slim majority. Abbott has said Harris County officials needed more time to prepare for the election.

Confusion has lingered because many of the district’s residents will vote in a different district next year under a redrawn map demanded by President Trump in an effort to increase the number of GOP seats.

One thing on voters’ minds heading into Election Day in the two states holding elections for governor was the rising cost of energy bills.

The parties were split on the solutions they were pitching to voters.

The Democratic candidates embrace clean energy options like wind and solar. Meanwhile, the two states’ Republican nominees are more closely aligned with the policies of President Donald Trump, who’s called climate change a “con job” and promotes more traditional energy sources like gas and coal.

▶ Read more about how the campaigns tackled energy costs

The former New York governor cast his ballot at a high school shortly after 10 a.m., talking and shaking hands with people at the polling location while surrounded by TV news cameras.

Wearing a suit and white shirt with no tie, he stooped over a privacy booth as he marked his choices before leisurely strolling toward an exit and making a brief stop to talk with supporters in a hallway.

The Department of Justice said last week it would send federal election observers to California and New Jersey, following requests from their state GOP officials.

The election monitors will be in six jurisdictions: Passaic County, New Jersey, and Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Riverside and Fresno counties in California.

Some leading Democrats in the states were critical of the move, which they said could intimidate voters.

▶ Read more about the election poll watchers

The self-described democratic-socialist said he would not cave to any threats by the president to withhold money from the city.

“I look forward to fighting for every single dollar this city is owed,” he told reporters Tuesday morning. “I look forward to utilizing every single tool at my disposal as the next mayor of this city to fight for the people of it. That means using the courts. That means using the bully pulpit. That means ensuring that we actually follow the letter of the law.

“But I will not be intimidated by this president,” he said.

Cuomo said President Trump telling Republicans to vote for him over Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa “could be very helpful because if they don’t vote for Sliwa, they would vote for me.”

Trump endorsed Cuomo, the former Democratic governor of New York who’s running for mayor as an independent, on Monday.

Cuomo said Trump “is pragmatic” and is telling Republicans the “reality of the situation, which is, if you do not vote, Mamdani is going to win.”

The Republican president opposes Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, who’s ahead in the polls.

Cuomo said voters should look beyond political party and vote for him to save New York City from Mamdani.

“It’s about saving the city, and that’s not being overly dramatic,” Cuomo said on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” which is one of Trump’s favorite TV news programs.

In Virginia, the attorney general’s race grabbed the national spotlight following reports that Democrat Jay Jones had texted a Virginia delegate in 2022 messages suggesting the then-Republican House Speaker should get “two bullets to the head.” Before the scandal, he was seen as the race’s likely winner. The Republican incumbent has focused much of his campaign on the resurfaced texts.

In Pennsylvania, voters will cast Yes or No votes on whether to retain three justices of the state’s Supreme Court 5-2 Democratic majority. Partisan control of the court could play a role in the 2028 presidential race because justices might be asked to rule on election disputes in one of the country’s battleground states.

Detroit, Pittsburgh, Jersey City and Buffalo will elect new mayors, while incumbents in Atlanta, Minneapolis and Cincinnati seek another term.

Polling sites opened at 7 a.m. Voters will decide whether to approve partisan U.S. House maps favoring Democrats.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic allies say the measure is a tool to counter a Trump-backed plan in Texas to help Republicans gain more congressional House seats next year.

The Department of Justice said it will send election watchers to voting centers in Los Angeles, Orange, Kern, Riverside and Fresno counties. California’s attorney general vowed to fight any disruption.

Millions of people had already cast their votes ahead of election day. As of Monday evening, 29% of ballots had been returned.

California’s polls close at 8 p.m.

The Democrat kicked off his busy Election Day morning schedule by voting with his wife, Rama Duwaji, at a local school.

He held a brief news conference outside afterward, wearing an “I Voted” sticker on the left lapel of his dark gray suit jacket.

“We are on the brink of making history in our city. On the brink of saying goodbye to a politics of the past,” he said.

He then embarked for several TV and radio appearances.

New Jersey law enforcement and election officials responded swiftly after threats were made against several polling locations as voting began in one of two states that will be electing new governors.

Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, who serves as the state’s top elections official, described them as emailed bomb threats targeting polling places in seven counties but said law enforcement determined there are no credible threats at this time.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said some polling locations had already reopened to the public, while voters at others were being directed to nearby polling locations to cast their ballot. Law enforcement officers “have worked swiftly to secure these polling locations and ensure the safety of every voter,” he said.

Bomb threats also disrupted voting across several battleground states during last year’s presidential election.

Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Democratic U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger are looking to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

The winner is set to become the first female governor in the state. An Earle-Sears’ victory would turn her into the first Black female governor of any U.S. state.

Spanberger is a former CIA case officer turned Congresswoman, and Earle-Sears is a Marine veteran.

▶ Read more about Virginia’s gubernatorial race

In the first off-year general election of Trump’s second term, we are watching high-profile races for Virginia and New Jersey governor, New York City mayor and a proposition in California to redraw the state’s congressional map.

The results of these contests and others on Tuesday’s ballot will signal how voters are feeling about Trump’s agenda and about how Democrats are responding to it.

More than half of the states will hold contests on Tuesday.

▶ Read more about the races with national implications to be decided on Election Day