Virginia’s race for attorney general was thrown into the spotlight after revelations that Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jonessent texts in which he fantasized about murdering a fellow lawmaker and their children. Jones is facing off against Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares, who is seeking reelection.
New Jerseyans will also select their next governor between former Republican Rep. Jack Ciatterelli and Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill.
New York City will decide its next mayor with three candidates left in the race: Democrat Zohran Mamdani, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who is running as an independent — and Republican Curtis Silwa.
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Who is Abigail Spanberger? Meet the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor
Abigail Spanberger campaigns at a Korean restaurant in Fairfax, VA, before the elections.
Former Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, will compete against Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R-VA) for Virginia governor in the Nov. 4 election.
The onetime lawmaker outraised her opponent by more than $3 million in April despite accusations from the lieutenant governor that her alleged knowledge of former President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline is a “national security issue.”
Republican gubernatorial candidate and current Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears speaks during a news conference on the steps of the Virginia Capitol Building, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, in Richmond, Va. (Mike Kropf/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP)
Earle-Sears, who serves in her position alongside Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA), is the first black woman to be elected to a Virginia statewide office and the commonwealth’s first female lieutenant governor.
In Democrats’ fight to hold on to their razor-thin 51-49 majority in the state House, the party is running candidates in all 100 districts for the first time in recent history. Republicans are battling to keep rivals from flipping GOP-held seats, particularly in districts former Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris won last year.
Here’s a rundown of the closest races to watch, based on the Virginia Public Access Project’s “VPAP Index,” which classified 10 districts this year as competitive.
Kiley, a former high school English teacher whose district would be carved up under the new map, described the redistricting battles sweeping across the country as “a direct attack on democracy” and said that they set a dangerous precedent, trampling on the will of the people and increasing the risk of election errors.
“For Democrats, it’s all about getting the result they want, which is to take power away from California voters and concentrate it in their own hands,” he told the Washington Examiner. “In order to do that, they have completely thrown out the window all of the established timelines for an election, the established voter protections that we have, and they’re trying to rush this thing through in an unprecedented way, in a way that is bound to lead to errors.”
Democratic candidate for governor of New Jersey Mikie Sherrill responds to questions during the first general election gubernatorial debate with Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli. Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. (AP Photo/Noah K. Murray)
Rep. Rebecca Michelle “Mikie” Sherrill (D-NJ) won the Democratic gubernatorial primary in New Jersey on Tuesday, setting her up for a November contest with Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli.
Sherrill has represented New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District since 2018, but she is looking to replace term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy (D).
Former assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli speaks after the first Republican debate Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. (AP Photo/Mike Catalini, File)
HASKELL, New Jersey — Former Trump critic Jack Ciattarelli is the Republican nominee for New Jersey governor, winning the GOP primary after receiving the president’s “complete and total endorsement” in the race.
After two unsuccessful gubernatorial runs in 2017 and 2021, Ciattarelli has embraced the “Make America Great Again” agenda while also looking to appeal to a broad spectrum of voters with issues that have previously been successful for Garden State Republicans.
“Three generations of Ciattarellis have lived here in New Jersey, three generations since the time my grandparents arrived from Italy, and all three generations have achieved their American dream, right here in New Jersey,” Ciattarelli told a group of supporters Sunday in Haskell, New Jersey.
Former Democratic Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger in Henrico County, Virginia, on Nov. 25, 2024, left, and Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in Richmond, Virginia, on Jan. 25, 2022. (AP Photo)
Virginia is one of two states, the other being New Jersey, that have marquee gubernatorial races this November and will give some insight into how voters are evaluating President Donald Trump’s second administration.
The commonwealth’s off-year elections have been widely seen as a bellwether for the following year’s midterm elections.
Democrats, led by gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger, are hoping to flip all three statewide races after Republicans surged back into power in 2021, led by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Virginia voters have historically voted for the party out of power in the White House for governor.
A collage of the top Virginia election candidates in 2025. Pictured are former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, Attorney General Jason Miyares, former state Delegate Jay Jones, and John Reid.
Virginia residents are casting ballots in a handful of days for myriad closely watched races from the governor’s office to the House of Delegates, as Republicans and Democrats battle to tilt the balance of power in the state.
The GOP hopes to capitalize on a political trend toward red in the Old Dominion that they believe was sparked by a shift toward President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. Democrats are looking to stave off such inroads, eyeing possible flips that would save them their narrow majority in the General Assembly and oust Republicans from the governor’s mansion as voters head to the polls for the 2025 election on Nov. 4.
