Nov. 4 (UPI) — Voters throughout the nation are heading to the polls Tuesday on an Election Day that may see new governors in New Jersey and Virginia, and a redesigned congressional map in California.
Virginia is about to vote in its first feminine governor as Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, go head-to-head.
Democrats are hoping a win by Spanberger will additional push the state blue forward of subsequent yr’s midterm elections, ABC Information reported.
“It is just in Virginia and New Jersey that we’ve got statewide elections the place we are able to show to the remainder of the nation — when given, when we’ve got a possibility to make a change at dwelling in our state, we are going to take it,” Spanberger stated at a latest marketing campaign rally.
“We all know the stakes of this election, and we all know what we’re for. We’re for a governor centered relentlessly on decrease prices on housing, healthcare and vitality.”
Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa (R) speaks whereas collaborating in a mayoral debate with Unbiased candidate former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on October 16 in New York Metropolis. Pool Picture by Angelina Katsanis/UPI
President Donald Trump, in the meantime, has not formally endorsed Earle-Sears, however on Monday he urged Virginia Republicans to “get out and vote,” based on The Washington Publish.
“Get out and vote for these unbelievably nice Republican candidates up and down the road,” he stated in a phone name with supporters.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks to the media in Los Angeles on July 16. His plan to redraw California’s congressional map to favor Democrats is up for a vote Tuesday. File Picture by Jonathan Alcorn/UPI
If elected, Earle-Sears can be the primary Black girl to function governor in any state.
New Jersey can be poised to elect a first-time governor, deciding between Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, and Jack Ciattarelli, who’s operating his third gubernatorial race.
President Donald Trump walks throughout the South Garden of the White Home in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. He took social gathering in tele-rallies supporting Republican candidates Monday night time. Picture by Francis Chung/UPI
The historically blue state had a bigger share of purple voters than typical within the 2024 election, and Trump misplaced the state by 6 factors, down considerably from the almost 16 factors he misplaced by in 2020.
Trump has endorsed Ciattarelli, however hasn’t campaigned for him in individual. Trump did participate in a phone rally on Monday night time, MSNBC reported. He is additionally put his weight behind the Republican in a number of Fact Social posts, together with one geared towards Lakewood, N.J.’s Orthodox Jewish inhabitants on Sunday.
“Your votes on this Election will save New Jersey, a State that’s close to and pricey to my coronary heart,” Trump wrote.
“You’ll rue the day you voted for” Sherrill, he added.
Hours into voting Tuesday, officers shut down polling stations all through New Jersey and moved voting to new election websites after receiving bomb threats by way of e mail. Regulation enforcement stated the threats involving polling locations in Bergen, Essex, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Passaic Counties weren’t credible.
Former President Barack Obama, in the meantime, has campaigned in assist of Sherrill, talking at a rally in Newark on Saturday.
“When you meet this second, should you imagine change can occur, you’ll not simply elect Mikie Sherrill as your subsequent governor, you’ll not simply put New Jersey on a brighter path, you’ll set a wonderful instance for this nation,” he stated, based on the New Jersey Monitor.
On the West Coast, maybe probably the most consequential poll measure up for vote within the nation, Californians will determine whether or not to undertake a brand new congressional map. Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed the redistricting in retaliation to a brand new map in Texas that favors Republicans.
Proposition 50 would redraw the congressional map to make 5 districts extra Democratic-leaning, probably neutralizing the results of the brand new Texas map. Democrats throughout the nation, together with Obama, have supported Newsom’s plan as a solution to counteract Republican gerrymandering in predominantly purple states.
“Now we have an opportunity not less than to create a stage taking part in area within the upcoming midterm elections,” Obama advised Prop 50 supporters on a marketing campaign name.
California Republicans, nevertheless, accused Democrats, themselves, of gerrymandering, with Rep. Kevin Kiley calling it a “plague on democracy,” based on ABC Information.
“I feel it takes energy away from voters, undermines the equity of elections and degrades consultant authorities.”
Different key races and points that can be determined Tuesday embody:
New York Metropolis’s mayoral race pits Democrat Zohran Mamdani in opposition to Republican Curtis Sliwa and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, now operating as an Unbiased.
Pennsylvania voters will vote whether or not to retain three Democratic justices on the state supreme courtroom for brand new 10-year phrases. The courtroom’s 5-2 Democratic majority could possibly be at stake.
Voters within the Houston space will vote in a particular election to fill the U.S. Home seat for Texas’ 18th Congressional District. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee died in 2024 and the winner of the seat within the 2024 normal election, former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, died three months into workplace.
Tuesday’s race is a major, which can ultimately go right into a runoff.