Election Day 2025 is almost here, with closely watched races in New York City, New Jersey and Virginia, as well as a redistricting ballot measure in California — all of which could be viewed as bellwethers for next year’s midterm elections.Here are the races to watch Tuesday:New York CityNew York City’s highly-watched mayoral election is a rare three-person race that has attracted the attention of former New Yorker, President Trump.Democrats chose Queens state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani as their nominee in the June primary, a democratic socialist whose campaign on affordability has been embraced by the grassroots. New York City is heavily Democratic, so the winner of the party’s primary is generally considered the favorite to win in November. Mamdani defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who led polls early in the mayoral race.Mayor Eric Adams, who was indicted on federal corruption charges in September 2024, which were dropped in the early days of the Trump administration, skipped the June Democratic primary, instead opting to be on the ballot as an independent candidate. But facing a lack of funds and polling in the single digits, Adams dropped out in September and later threw his support behind Cuomo. Cuomo has remained in the race, and although he lagged in raising money earlier in the race, his fundraising improved in October after Adams dropped out. Mamdani, meanwhile, has shattered fundraising expectations, with his campaign saying it reached the $8 million spending cap for New York City matching funds in early September. A trio of polls released on Oct. 30 showed Mamdani with a commanding lead, though others earlier in the week showed an uptick in support for Cuomo. Early voting has substantially risen compared to 2021. Since Oct. 25, more than 730,000 New Yorkers have cast their ballots early, compared to the nearly 170,000 who cast their ballots early in 2021.If Mamdani, 34, wins, he will become the second-youngest mayor in New York City history as well as the first Muslim mayor. He was first elected to the state Assembly in 2020 to represent Astoria, Queens — one of the most progressive parts of New York City. Mamdani said he will ask New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch to stay on if he wins. She has not yet said whether she will accept. Cuomo, who was elected New York governor three times before resigning amid sexual misconduct allegations, has tried to paint Mamdani as an elitist, since his father is a Columbia University professor and his mother is a film director. Cuomo’s father, Mario Cuomo, was a three-term governor of New York. Andrew Cuomo has also attacked Mamdani for living in a rent-stabilized apartment, even as Cuomo himself moved to his daughter’s apartment in New York City before he ran for mayor.Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee in 2021, is back on the ballot on the GOP line, although some Republicans have called on him to drop out to help Cuomo’s candidacy. Mr. Trump has called Sliwa “not exactly prime time” and suggested Cuomo would be a better mayor. All 51 seats of the New York City Council are also on the ballot. There is also a voter initiative on moving local elections to presidential election years. New Jersey governorFormer GOP New Jersey state Rep. Jack Ciattarelli is making his third run for governor, after losing to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021. He’s facing off against Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who’s trying to deliver Democrats a third consecutive term in the governor’s mansion, a feat that has not been accomplished by either party since the 1970s. Sherrill, who flipped a Republican congressional seat in 2018, is running as a moderate and trying to tie Ciattarelli to Mr. Trump. But Ciattarelli is promoting his ties to the president, and accused Sherrill in a September debate of blaming Mr. Trump for everything.Both Ciattarelli and Sherrill are appealing to voters’ concerns about the high cost of living: Ciattarelli is touting a “Make New Jersey Affordable Again” pitch, while Sherrill features an “Affordability Agenda” on her campaign website. In September, CBS News reported that a branch of the National Archives released a mostly unredacted version of Sherrill’s military records to an ally of Ciattarelli in error. Republicans allied with Ciattarelli have been examining Sherrill’s record in the Navy, looking for information about a Naval Academy cheating scandal that implicated over 100 midshipmen. Sherrill was not accused of wrongdoing but did not walk in her graduation, which she said was because she “didn’t turn in some of my classmates.” Sherrill had an unblemished career in the Navy and, as a midshipman, received a Navy Achievement Medal in 1991 for saving the life of a classmate.Virginia governor’s raceVirginia governors may not run for consecutive terms under state law, so Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin is not on the ballot. Virginia’s gubernatorial election is often seen as a potential referendum on the incumbent president. The president’s party often loses the Virginia governor’s race, which always falls in the year following a presidential election. In recent history, Terry McAuliffe bucked that trend when he won the election in 2013, a year after President Barack Obama’s reelection. The Trump administration’s broadsides against the federal workforce hit Virginia hard, since the state has hundreds of thousands of civilian federal employees and thousands of government contractors and active-duty military. Most are going without pay during the government shutdown that’s now stretching into its second month.Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is running against former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger in the race. Either Spanberger or Earle-Sears will make history as the commonwealth’s first female governor, and if Earle-Sears wins, she will become the first female Black governor. One of Youngkin’s paths to victory in 2021 was tying McAuliffe, who was running for a non-consecutive term, to unpopular progressive social issues, which Earle-Sears has tried to replicate in the race against Spanberger. But Spanberger, a former CIA operations officer, has run as a centrist and has touted endorsements from the Virginia Police Benevolent Association, which backed Youngkin in 2021, as well as former Republican Reps. Barbara Comstock and Denver Riggleman.Mr. Trump has not endorsed Earle-Sears.Virginia attorney generalDemocrat Jay Jones was leading incumbent Jason Miyares in a Washington Post poll in early October in the Virginia attorney general’s race, but before the poll was released, text messages Jones had sent in 2022 resurfaced involving fantasies of violence against Todd Gilbert, who was then the Republican speaker of the House of Delegates.In a statement to CBS News when the messages resurfaced, Jones said he took full responsibility for his actions.But Republicans, including the president, have called on Jones to drop out. Miyares has seized on the controversy, running ads saying, “Can you trust Jay Jones to protect your children?”In a Washington Post poll conducted from Oct. 16-21 — after the text messages were released — Jones and Miyares were statistically tied with 46% each.California’s Proposition 50Proposition 50 would allow California Democrats to temporarily change the boundaries of U.S. House districts and make them more favorable to the party. The initiative is their response to Mr. Trump’s push for Republican-controlled states, like Texas, to change their congressional maps so the GOP has a better chance at holding on to its narrow House majority next year.California has 52 congressional districts, 43 represented by Democrats and nine by Republicans. The five GOP-led districts targeted under Proposition 50 are District 1, represented by Rep. Doug LaMalfa; District 3, represented by Rep. Kevin Kiley; District 22, represented by Rep. David Valadao; District 41, represented by Rep. Ken Calvert; and District 48, represented by Rep. Darrell Issa.A recent CBS News poll found that among voters who plan to support Proposition 50, one reason they’re doing so is to oppose the Trump administration — which they also feel generally treats California worse than other states — and oppose national Republicans. Prop 50, according to the poll, has 62% support among likely voters.In total, more than $167.9 million has been raised in support of Prop 50 as of Oct. 28, according to the California Secretary of State’s office. According to the Secretary of State’s office, Top donors supporting Prop 50 include the House Majority PAC for Proposition 50, with $46 million in contributions, and billionaire investor George Soros’ Fund for Policy Reform, with $10 million.
