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.
Polls close in Virginia at 7 p.m., in New Jersey at 8 p.m., in New York at 9 p.m., and in California at 11 p.m.
13 hours ago
What to expect in Tuesday’s elections as reeling Democrats plot comeback
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani tries to talk to pedestrians while surrounded by reporters in New York on Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Democrats hope to get back into the win column in Tuesday’s elections, even if the party’s brand hasn’t recovered since last year’s losses.
Based on polling, Democrats have a decent shot. They are favored in the governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey. They are also heavily favored in the New York City mayoral election, in which the main alternative to their party’s nominee is former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing the primary earlier this year.
Virginia Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares has a reasonable chance to resist this blue trend, taking a slight lead in the polls since text messages revealed Democratic challenger Jay Jones’s violent fantasies about political opponents just weeks after the assassination of influential conservative political activist Charlie Kirk.
Polling stations in New York City are now closed, having closed at 9 p.m.
Over two million voters turned out, a number unmatched since 1969. Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani had a 98% chance of winning when polls closed, according to Polymarket.
The California redistricting referendum, where ballot stations are remaining open until 11 p.m. ET, has a 99% chance of passing according to betting markets.
16 minutes ago
New York City sees highest voter turnout in over 50 years
Over 2 million voters cast their ballots at polling stations across New York City on Tuesday, according to an update from the New York City Board of Elections at 8:45 pm.
The last time more than 2 million votes were counted in a New York City mayoral election was in 1969.
The race is a contest between Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. Mamdani has a 98% chance of victory according to Polymarket as polls closed.
The 1969 race was also a three-way split, and took place after the Blizzard of 1969 and the nationwide rioting following the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
26 minutes ago
At Earle-Sears election night party, disappointment as Spanberger claims victory
Inside Winesome Earle-Sears watch party in Leesburg. (Samantha-Jo Roth, Washington Examiner)
LEESBURG, Virginia — Inside a half-empty ballroom at Winsome Earle-Sears’s election night party, supporters watched in uneasy silence as Fox News projected Democrat Abigail Spanberger the winner of Virginia’s governor’s race.
Moments earlier, campaign staff had cut the audio from the live election results and turned on music when it became clear the night wasn’t going their way. When Spanberger’s name appeared on the screen, the crowd erupted in boos, some shaking their heads, others staring down at their phones. Clusters of attendees stayed at their tables, scrolling through their phones or talking in hushed tones, waiting to see Earle-Sears make an appearance.
At one table, Caroline Chopek, 72, a retired Republican activist from Fauquier County, said she couldn’t understand the outcome. “I thought I was moving to a red state 23 years ago,” she said. “[Republican Gov. Glenn] Youngkin’s done a good job, the state’s in good shape, people are getting refunds. I don’t know why people want to change that.”
Across the room, Richard Eagan, 78, a retired Army Command Sergeant Major from Mineral, took the loss with military calm. “You figure out what went wrong, start over at the grassroots, and rebuild,” he said. “That’s how you recover from any mission that doesn’t go your way.”
Boo’s coming from the crowd as Fox News projects the winner of the VA Gov race is Spanberger. pic.twitter.com/sE6Wnqe1qJ
Others spoke less about tactics and more about what they feared would be lost. Leila Longcor, 50, vice chairwoman of the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors, said the result could have real economic consequences for her community. “Without Gov. Youngkin, we wouldn’t have gotten $3 billion from [pharmaceutical company] Merck in our county,” she said. “I’m anxious all that kind of economic development will stop.”
The mood remained subdued as Spanberger took the stage on the screens, her victory speech flickering across the muted televisions while attendees absorbed the reality of a Democratic return to the governor’s mansion.
33 minutes ago
California voters weigh-in on Prop 50: ‘I am glad that California is fighting back’
A line of voters waits at a polling station in Orange County, California on Nov. 4th, 2025. (Barnini Chakraborty, Washington Examiner)
SANTA ANA, California — Lines of voters are present in Orange County around midday Tuesday to weigh in on Proposition 50. The redistricting measure would draw new congressional districts for the 2026, 2028, and 2030 elections that favor Democrats.
One voter told the Washington Examiner, “To be transparent, I am still confused a little bit on it, but I am glad that California is fighting back against [President Donald] Trump.”
Another voter in San Diego, Olivia Brielle, said she knows “two wrongs don’t make a right, but politics is a messy game too.” Brielle said she didn’t know if she would be voting in Tuesday’s special election if the fight was framed around anyone other than Trump.
“To be honest, I’m not a big fan of [Democratic California Gov. Gavin] Newsom’s,” she said, adding she disliked Trump more.
A California voter waiting in line told the Washington Examiner that there was “too much s*** happening in America.”
Bob Page, Orange County Registrar of Voters, told the Washington Examiner that his team would be working well into the night as voters showed up to weigh in on Proposition 50, a controversial redistricting measure.
Page confirmed that the Department of Justice sent one observer while California Attorney General Rob Bonta sent two. The DOJ dispatched election monitors to five California counties: Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, Kern, and Fresno. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the move would “ensure the American people get the fair, free, and transparent elections they deserve.”
40 minutes ago
Democratic state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi wins Virginia lieutenant governor race
Democratic state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi made history Tuesday, defeating Republican radio host John Reid to become Virginia’s next lieutenant governor and the first Muslim woman ever elected to the post.
The Associated Press called the race for Hashmi at 8:28 p.m. Tuesday. With 57% of the ballots counted, Hashmi led with 53.1% of the vote to Reid’s 46.6%.
Hashmi’s victory delivers Democrats a key down-ballot win, flipping the lieutenant governor’s office and giving the party new momentum heading into 2026. The Richmond-area lawmaker, who flipped a GOP-held Senate seat in 2019, overcame Reid’s populist campaign amid lingering tensions between the nominee and Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s allies.
Supporters of Jack Ciattarelli gather at the Republican candidate's election night watch party in Bridgewater, New Jersey on Nov. 4th, 2025. (Rachel Schilke, Washington Examiner)
Bridgewater, New Jersey — Republican Jack Ciattarelli’s watch party is growing in attendance as votes start trickling in after polls closed at 8 p.m.
The Associated Press’s early results, with 27% of the vote counted, find Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) in the lead with 61.7% of the vote to Ciattarelli’s 37.8%, by a difference of over 200,000 votes.
Ciattarelli supporters walked up to the press and asked where the results were. When they saw Ciattarelli was trailing Sherrill, someone said, “Nah, I don’t believe it, they’re wrong.”
VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia — Many people we spoke to at a polling location in Virginia Beach said the government shutdown and Department of Government Efficiency cuts were the main things leading them to the polls.
“I’d like to see things cleaned up in Washington a little bit,” said Michael Gross, a dermatologist at Mid Atlantic Dermatology in Virginia Beach. “It’s a mess. As a physician, a lot of my patients haven’t been getting paid. I’d like to see that turned around because they have families, they have to eat. They have to get gas, they have to pay mortgages, and it’s not an ideal situation right now.”
Pundits thought that the Jay Jones text scandal coming to light could lead to a split ticket for Virginia.
“What he said is not enough to disqualify him,” one voter in Virginia Beach said. “I mean, I’ve said things I don’t mean. It doesn’t make me a bad person.”
Voters the Washington Examiner spoke to in Virginia Beach did not think the text messages were enough to disqualify Jones.
“I think that’s why we have a democracy,” another Virginia Beach resident said. “We allow voters to pick and choose their leaders.”
1 hour ago
Spanberger delivers Democrats huge win in Virginia after defeating Earle-Sears for governorship
Former Democratic Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger, left, Feb. 8, 2023 and Republican Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, right, Sept. 1, 2021. (AP Photo, File)
Former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger defeated Republican candidate Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears Tuesday night to become Virginia’s first female governor in the commonwealth’s history.
The Associated Press called the race at 7:59 p.m., almost one hour after polls closed at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Spanberger flipped the governor’s mansion blue four years after Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) won the gubernatorial race in 2021, the first time a Republican had won since 2009.
Supporters of Spanberger burst into cheers and applause as outlets called the race for her at the Greater Richmond Convention Center within an hour of polls closing.
With polls beginning to close, it’s worth taking a look at what the betting odds for tonight’s elections are.
For the Virginia races, the top of the ticket is a blowout on Polymarket. Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger had a 99% chance of winning when polls closed, according to the prediction market. Meanwhile, the tight attorney general race on Polymarket gives Democrat Jay Jones a 63% chance of winning to Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares’s 39% chance.
In New Jersey, where Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) has faced a stiffer-than-expected challenge from Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli in the traditionally deep-blue state, gambling markets confidently back Sherrill with a 90% chance of victory.
Betting markets are even more confident in Zohran Mamdani’s odds of winning in New York City’s mayoral race, with him having a 95% chance. Andrew Cuomo has a 5% chance, and Curtis Sliwa has less than a 1% of victory.
California is having its own election this year as well, with Proposition 50 being a key piece in Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s redistricting agenda. If passed, California would have a new map for its congressional districts, and Republicans could lose five seats in the House of Representatives. The proposed map has a 99% chance of passing, according to Polymarket.
Betting markets have proven reliable in the past, most notably in last year’s presidential election. In recent years, betting markets have been looked to as fillers for traditional polling, which has failed to predict the last several election cycles accurately.
1 hour ago
Polls close in New Jersey, Boston, Detroit, Maine, Pennsylvania, and Texas
Polls are closing at 8 p.m. in New Jersey’s high-profile gubernatorial election and several other races.
New Jersey’s governor’s race features a showdown between Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) and Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli. The race has been closer than expected in a traditionally heavily blue state.
Mail-in ballots can be counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day in New Jersey. If the race is close, counting could last several days, like it did in 2021.
Other important elections where polls are now closing include Boston and Detroit’s mayoral races, Maine and Texas’s ballot referendums, and Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court retention elections.
2 hours ago
Mamdani supporters line up at polls: ‘Mr. Cuomo? I don’t think so’
A line of voters at an East Village polling station in New York City on Tuesday, Nov. 4. (Ross O’Keefe, Washington Examiner)
In a long line at a polling place in the East Village, a predominantly Mamdani area, four soon-to-be voters the Washington Examiner spoke to said they were voting for Mamdani.
Several other voters refused to speak about who they were voting for. One voter, a 58-year-old woman named Frances, said she was voting for Mamdani despite her concerns about socialism.
“Even though I’m here voting, I’m concerned about the socialist thing. Yeah, because I actually, in my ignorance, I believe that all these dictators who actually came into power or actually…with that same kind of ideals, you know, ‘we can make it happen. We could do this right?’ But what are more alternatives? You got it? Mr. Cuomo? I don’t think so.”
Polls are now closed in Virginia. Voters in line at polling stations will still be able to cast their vote.
Voting stations will close at 8 p.m. ET for New Jersey’s gubernatorial race and 9 p.m. ET for New York City’s mayoral race. California polling centers will close at 11 p.m.
Virginia counts votes quickly, with absentee ballots already prepared for processing before Election Day, according to state law. Results for key Virginia races, such as the gubernatorial showdown between Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, will likely be released within a few hours.
The closest race for a Virginia statewide office is between Republican state Attorney General Jason Miyares and former Democratic Virginia State Delegate Jay Jones. After Jones’ violent texts were revealed to the public, his polling numbers took a major hit, and now the race is neck and neck, according to recent polling. Miyares celebrated split-ticket voters who supported both him and Spanberger.
3 hours ago
Ciattarelli bid tests Republican momentum in once-blue Passaic County
PASSAIC COUNTY, N.J. — In the Garden State’s governor’s race, nowhere is voter turnout more important than in Passaic County, a population of over 526,000 that a decade ago didn’t receive a second thought, but has since turned heads for its rightward shift in 2024.
Tuesday marks Election Day for New Jersey residents, as they head to the polls to vote in the gubernatorial race between Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli. Polling shows that this is truly anybody’s race, and both candidates stressed the need for maximum voter participation at their closing rallies on Monday night.
The diverse, suburban Passaic County shocked the country when, after going for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by 52 points in 2016 and 16 points for former President Joe Biden in 2020, it flipped and voted for President Donald Trump in 2024. He defeated former Vice President Kamala Harris in the county with 95,000 votes to her 89,000.
