Election 2025 recap: Democrats sweep California, NJ, Virginia races, reports say

It was a good night for Democrats.

A year after former Vice President Kamala Harris suffered an electoral beating by President Donald Trump , Democrats across the country – from Virginia to California – notched major victories in a sign of growing momentum ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

In Virginia, a state with thousands of federal workers affected by the government shutdown and Department of Government Efficiency cuts, Abigail Spanberger soundly defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome-Earle Sears, reports say. In New Jersey, which last year saw hoards of voters move toward Trump, projections say Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill  won against Republican businessman  Jack Ciattarelli.

Next door, in New York City, voters chose progressive Zohran Mamdani and his affordability platform over the more centrist former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

And in California, voters overwhelmingly supported Gov. Gavin Newsom’s redistricting referendum allowing the state legislature to redo congressional maps and add up to five new Democratic-leaning seats ahead of the 2026 election.

Trump kept his distance from the races this year, never having stepped on the campaign trail for any of his party’s contenders, though he still loomed on voter’s minds. Democrats' sweeping victories come as a troubling sign for the president and his party.

Rebuking Trump, California passes Prop 50 to redistrict in Democrats' favor

Early results indicate that California voters have passed Proposition 50, reports say, helping Democrats in the redistricting frenzy that will likely decide who controls the House in the final two years of Trump's second term.

Prop. 50 is a constitutional amendment allowing the state to temporarily stop using a nonpartisan commission to draw congressional district boundaries. Instead, leaders could use lines drawn by Democratic state lawmakers to increase the seats they hold in Congress. After the 2030 U.S. Census, the nonpartisan commission will resume drawing the lines.

The measure is one of the most important issues being decided on Election Day. It essentially negates  the five new Republican-leaning congressional districts  Texas created earlier this year  at Trump's urging. At least a dozen states have changed their boundary lines or are in the process of doing so before the 2026 midterms.

Election results maps and analysis: Democrats sweep 2025 races in NYC, Virginia, New Jersey, California

Conservative chair: ‘Republicans have clear opportunities to flip seats’ in California after Prop 50 win

National Republican Campaign Committee Chairman Richard Hudson, a Republican from North Carolina, said in a statement after the passage of California’s Prop 50 the GOP can still flip seats in the state.

"No matter how Democrats redraw the lines to satisfy Gavin Newsom’s power grab, they can’t redraw their record of failure, and that’s why they will fail to take the House majority,” he said.

The redistricting race underway across the country began with Trump successfully urging Texas lawmakers to redraw district boundaries to be less favorable to Democrats, prompting California Dems to follow suit with districts less favorable to the GOP.

Republican lawmakers in Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina have followed, suit and several states led by Democrats are also considering redrawing lines ahead of 2026.

Vivek Ramaswamy says Republicans 'got our a--es handed to us tonight'

Ohio governor candidate Vivek Ramaswamy offered a stark assessment for Republicans on the Nov. 4 election results: "We got our a--es handed to us."

In a  video posted to X , Ramaswamy said the party's losses in governor races in Virginia and New Jersey, as well as New York City's mayor race, offered lessons for his party.

– Carl Weiser

Trump renews call for Republicans to terminate filibuster after Democrats win elections

Trump in an election night social media post renewed his call for Republicans to block the 60-vote threshold in the Senate known as the filibuster.

“REPUBLICANS, TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER! GET BACK TO PASSING LEGISLATION AND VOTER REFORM!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

In an earlier post, the president blamed Republicans’ poor election showing on his name not being on the ballot and the ongoing government shutdown.

Trump is set to host Senate Republicans at the White House for a Wednesday morning breakfast.

‘Plenty of work to do,’ Barack Obama says

Former President Barack Obama, who campaigned over the weekend for Democrats in New Jersey and Virginia, congratulated Tuesday night's victors.

He called the results “a reminder that when we come together around strong, forward-looking leaders who care about the issues that matter, we can win,” in a post on X .

“We’ve still got plenty of work to do, but the future looks a little bit brighter,” Obama wrote.

Texas' 18th Congressional District heads to runoff

The race to fill Texas' empty 18th Congressional District seat is headed toward a runoff, according to reports, with acting Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards receiving the necessary votes.

The district, which encompasses much of Houston, has been without a representative for nearly eight months. Democrat Sylvester Turner , a former Houston mayor, passed away abruptly less than two months after he was sworn into office.

He had won the seat to fulfill the remainder of former Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee 's term, who died in July 2024 at the age of 74. Both were members of the Congressional Black Caucus, contributing to the district's reputation as a decades-long center of Black political power.

Whoever wins early next year will barely have time to get comfortable before switching to campaign mode again in March, when the district holds a primary for its newly redrawn borders ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Jack Ciattarelli concedes NJ governor’s race

Ciattarelli conceded the New Jersey gubernatorial race to Sherrill Tuesday night and joked that he’d eaten “more BLTs and onion soups” than anyone on record while barnstorming at New Jersey diners throughout the campaign.

“Nobody is more disappointed than I am,” he said of the loss. “It is my hope that Mikie Sherrill has heard us in terms of what we need to do to make New Jersey that place where everybody believes they can achieve that American Dream.”

Election results maps and analysis: Democrats sweep 2025 races in NYC, Virginia, New Jersey, California

'Trump wasn’t on the ballot': President reacts to Democratic victories

Trump blamed GOP election loses on the government shutdown and the fact that he wasn’t on the ballot in his first comments after key races were called.

"TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT," according to Pollsters,” Trump wrote.

Democrats won big victories in the New Jersey and Virginia governors’ races in the first round of voting since Trump’s 2024 win.

Trump to host Republican senators, give remarks at morning breakfast

Trump is set deliver remarks to Senate Republicans at the White House during a Wednesday morning breakfast as the federal government shutdown becomes the longest in U.S. history at 36 days.

Trump is scheduled to address Republicans at 8:30 a.m. ET.

It comes as the president has urged Republicans to break the 60-vote hurdle in the Senate known as the filibuster in order to reopen the government. That would allow for a simple majority to pass a Republican-backed spending resolution.

Trump’s efforts, however, have been met by resistance from some Republican senators, including Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, who said Tuesday "the votes aren’t there" to get rid of the filibuster.

Win for Josh Shapiro: Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices keep their seats

Three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices will keep their seats for another 10-year term as voters Tuesday sided with Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and rejected a GOP push to oust the trio in what has traditionally been a nonpartisan contest.

Justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht, who were elected as Democrats a decade ago to the commonwealth's highest court, won their retention elections Tuesday according to the Associated Press and NBC News. That's despite efforts to force an open judicial election for their seats in 2027. Shapiro, who is considered a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, urged voters to keep the three judges.

Voters were asked Tuesday simply whether or not to retain the justices -- not to choose between them and a challenger. Pennsylvania elects judges to its supreme, superior and commonwealth courts first in a partisan election. However, retention elections are nonpartisan, meaning a justice's political affiliation is not included on official election materials, including the ballot itself.

Only one time has a state Supreme Court justice lost their retention election.

– Matthew Rink

California GOP Chair knocks Prop 50

The head of California's Republican Party said state GOP voters will be severely impacted if Prop 50 passes as anticipated.

"I think it's a shame," California Republican Party Chairwoman Corrin Rankin told KGO-TV on Election Day. "I think that under no circumstance should any voter in California be disenfranchised while they have maps being drawn behind closed doors at the State Capitol by one or two persons."

According to a recent poll by the University of California, Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, about six out of 10 likely voters support Prop. 50. It would redraw the state’s congressional districts and give Democrats a possible edge toward regaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

About 26% of California's registered voters are Republican, according to the Public Policy Institute of California , a nonpartisan think tank. The California GOP has said Prop 50's redrawn congressional maps, even temporarily, will hand the power back to state-level politicians, and not voters.

– Terry Collins

Jay Jones wins VA AG race, overcomes text scandal

Democrat Jay Jones  secured victory in Virginia’s race for attorney general, according to NBC News and Fox News, overcoming a  text message scandal  that threatened his chances.

Days before the election, polls showed Jones locked in a dead heat with the Republican incumbent attorney general, Jason Miyares. Jones, a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, led the race for months until reports surfaced in September that he once mused about  shooting a Republican lawmaker  in the head. He sent the messages to a GOP lawmaker in 2022.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu will serve another term

Democratic Boston Mayor Michelle Wu won her bid for a second four-year term as mayor after running unopposed in the Nov. 4 mayoral election.

A local ABC station projected her win, and unofficial city results showed a major lead over write-ins.

Wu, 40, became the first woman and person of color elected to lead the city in 2021. She has focused much of her campaign on local issues, including improving housing affordability. Boston has become a target of  Trump’s crackdown on Democratic cities .

The mayor sailed through Boston's four-way Sept. 9 primary, defeating her primary challenger Josh Kraft, a fellow Democrat and the son of New England Patriots owner  Robert Kraft .

Mamdani defeats Cuomo in NYC

Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist  who shot to stardom  and shook up Democratic politics, has won the race for mayor of New York City.

The Associated Press, NBC News and CNN called the race for Mamdani around 9:30 p.m., as his next-closest opponent, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, trailed.

Mamdani, a state assemblyman from Queens, was at 1% in the polls when he launched an upstart campaign focused on the cost of living. He offered unabashedly left-leaning proposals including a rent freeze on rent-stabilized units, free buses and universal child care, paid for by levying taxes on the city’s wealthiest. Several of the city's  billionaires donated millions  of dollars to launch attack ads against him.

Schumer: Election results a 'repudiation' of Trump

Tuesday's election results, which so far have brought sweeping victories for Democrats, represent a "repudiation of the Trump agenda," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, said.

"If Republicans want to keep blindly following Donald Trump into the abyss of chaos, let them. The rest of America is moving forward," he said in a statement.

The comments came amid signs that Schumer is dealing with new restlessness among moderate Senate Democrats, many of whom have grown increasingly eager to work with their Republican counterparts to end the ongoing government shutdown.

 – Zachary Schermele

Spanberger blasts 'chaos coming out of Washington'

Trump’s targeting of the federal workforce loomed over the Virginia governor’s race, with Spanberger vowing again in her victory speech to protect the state’s jobs and “stand up to anyone who tries to harm our economy or the livelihoods of our Virginians.”

Trump slashed federal agencies through the Department of Government Efficiency, and the government shutdown has also rocked federal workers. Spanberger campaigned on the issue, and her victory could indicate growing backlash to Trump’s policies.

Spanberger slammed “those across the Potomac who are attacking our jobs” and vowed not to “stand by silently while you attack Virginia’s workers.”

“I will always stand up for Virginia workers… and right now our federal workforce is under attack and the chaos coming out of Washington is killing Virginia jobs and creating economic uncertainty for tens of thousands of families,” she said.

Election results maps and analysis: Democrats sweep 2025 races in NYC, Virginia, New Jersey, California

Detroit elects Mary Sheffield as next mayor, making history as first woman to lead city

Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield made history Tuesday night, Nov. 4, according to the Associated Press and CNN, becoming the city's first woman mayor  in an election  she led from start to finish.

Sheffield defeated the Rev. Solomon Kinloch, Jr., pastor of Triumph Church, celebrating Tuesday night with hundreds of friends, family and supporters at a glitzy event at MGM Grand Detroit.

The 12-year city council veteran was the first mayoral candidate to form a committee in the race — two years before the election — to succeed Mayor Mike Duggan, who is opting to run for governor as an independent rather than seek a fourth term. She cruised to victory in the August primary, collecting 51% of the vote to Kinloch's 17% in a crowded nine-way contest.

– Violet Ikonomova, Dana Afana, M.L. Erick

'I’m working on it': Spanberger chides daughter for dirty room in victory speech 

In a lighthearted moment during her victory speech, Spanberger, a mother of three, scolded one of her daughters for not cleaning her room while thanking her family for their support.

Exasperated, her daughter responded back, "I’m working on it."

Spanberger went on to acknowledge the history-making nature of her win. She is the first woman elected to lead Virginia in the state’s 236-year history.

After she won, Spanberger said her husband told her children their mother was going to be governor. "I can guarantee those words have never been spoken in Virginia before," she joked.

"It’s a big deal," she said. "The history Virginia is making tonight is yours."

Virginia chose ‘pragmatism,’ Spanberger says 

Spanberger, dressed in a dark red suit, strolled onto the stage at her victory party in Richmond, Virginia, Tuesday night to chants of "Abby" from the crowd.

Spanberger, known as a centrist Democrat, leaned into her middle-of-the-road brand of politics in her victory speech and said the state had "turned a page" from Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

"Tonight, we sent a message," Spanberger said. "We sent a message to the whole world that in 2025 Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship. We chose our Commonwealth over chaos."

Atlanta reelects Democratic Mayor Andre Dickens

Mayor Andre Dickens has won his bid to lead Atlanta for another four years, reports say, following the city's decades-long tradition of reelecting their mayors for second terms.

Dickens, a Democrat and former Atlanta city councilmember, faced three challengers seeking to take his place as the city’s leader. He was elected by a wide majority in 2021 in a runoff election, replacing former mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms after she declined to run for a second term.

Atlanta has long been a stalwart Democratic base in the South, while Georgia has become less reliably Republican in the last few presidential elections. Former President  Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020 − the first time Democrats carried the state since 1992 − though it returned to Republicans in Trump 's 2024 race.

VP Vance's half brother loses in challenge of Cincinnati's Democratic mayor

Vice President JD Vance 's half-brother, Republican Cory Bowman, lost his long-shot bid in the nationally watched Cincinnati mayoral race, reports say, falling short against Democratic incumbent Aftab Pureval.

Crime had dominated the headlines and campaign in the southern Ohio local race.

Cincinnati leaders faced criticism this summer after several high-profile incidents, including the stabbing of Patrick Heringer in his home.

Bowman and Republicans tried to paint the city as overrun with crime. Pureval countered that the city leadership combatted crime through numerous measures, including implementing a stricter curfew and recruiting more officers.

– Scott Wartman

Democrat Corey O'Connor wins Pittsburgh mayoral race

Democrat Corey O’Connor is the next mayor of Pittsburgh, reports say, defeating Republican challenger and former city police officer Tony Moreno.

O'Connor is the Allegheny County Controller and a former Pittsburgh city councilor. He's the son of former mayor Bob O'Connor, who died while in office in 2006.

His win is a possible temperature gage in the city, the second-largest in the critical swing state of Pennsylvania, after defeating the sitting Democratic mayor Ed Gainey in the May primary. Gainey is the city’s first Black mayor, and he represents a more progressive wing of the party. His defeat by the more centrist O'Conner has turned the race into a closely watched off-year election as next year's midterms draw closer.

Democrat Ghazala Hashmi wins historic Virginia lieutenant governor's race

Democrat Ghazala Hashmi is projected to win the Virginia lieutenant governor's race, becoming the first Muslim women ever elected to statewide office in the country. She defeated Republican John Reid, a conservative talk radio host and founder of the cultural heritage organization The Virginia Council.

Hashmi is an educator, who taught as a professor at the University of Richmond and Reynolds Community College. She was first elected to the Virginia Senate in 2019 and became the first Muslim and the first South Asian American in the state legislature.

Hashmi moved to the United States from India at age four with her family. She is married and has two adult daughters.

In Virginia, the lieutenant governor is elected separately from the governor. The post is viewed as a stepping stone to the governor's mansion.

Dem groups praise Spanberger win 

Democratic-leaning groups from Planned Parenthood to the gun-safety organization Giffords celebrated Spanberger’s victory in the Virginia governor’s race Tuesday night.

Planned Parenthood called Spanberger a "proven champion for reproductive rights" and said "Virginians can count on her to protect access to birth control, abortion, fertility treatment, and miscarriage care."

Abortion was a major issue for voters in the Virginia governor’s race as the state is set to weigh a constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights. Spanberger has been a vocal advocate of the amendment.

Polls close in New Jersey at 8 p.m. 

Polls closed in New Jersey at 8 p.m. People already in line by the time of closing will still be able to cast a ballot.

Spanberger wins Virginia governor's race

Spanberger defeated Earle-Sears in the  Virginia governor’s race , reports say, dealing a blow to the Republican Party ahead of consequential midterm elections next year.

Spanberger’s win is historic: She is the first woman elected to lead Virginia.

The ongoing government shutdown and Department of Government Efficiency cuts played a central role in the race, given the large population of federal employees in Virginia. Spanberger, 46, campaigned on the discontent of laid-off and furloughed federal workers, and she sought to highlight the economic toll of Trump’s agenda.

Polls close in Virginia at 7 p.m. 

Polls are set to close in Virginia at 7 p.m. All voters in line by that time will be able to vote.

More: Is Trump on the ballot next week? How Trump looms in key elections in Virginia, NJ, NYC and Cal.

Improper signs taken down at northern Virginia polling location 

Several political signs put up near a polling location in Frederick County have been taken down for not having a disclaimer about the person or organization behind them, an election official told USA TODAY.

A Reddit user included a photo of the signs at the Evendale Elementary School polling location in a thread that had received hundreds of comments by Tuesday afternoon. The photo shows five signs, four of which are white with black font and include the messages "I am Charlie Kirk," "Democrat Policies Increase Crime," "Democrats Hide Their Culpability With Lies" and "Spanberger Wants to Allow Boys in Girls Bathrooms."

Frederick County Elections Director Rich Venskoske said his office received complaints about the sign on Tuesday morning, adding that several people expressed that they "felt intimidated" by them. He described the signs as "distasteful" but said they would have been permitted to remain in place if they had a disclosure.

A sign for Frederick County School Board candidate Patrick North had the proper disclaimer and was not removed, Venskoske said.

Winner of Virginia’s governor’s race set to make history

Whether it’s Democrat Abigail Spanberger or Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, the winner of the Virginia governor’s race tonight will make history as the first woman elected to lead the state.

The two candidates for lieutenant governor will also make history. If she wins, Democrat Ghazala Hashmi will be the first Muslim woman elected to statewide office in the country. If Republican John Reid wins, he will be the first openly gay member of his party to win statewide office in the nation.

How do Dems feel about Virginia races? Pretty good, it seems. 

Democrats appear confident about Abigail Spanberger’s chances of winning Virginia’s gubernatorial race, with the latest polls showing her up 10 points over her Republican opponent Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.

Case in point: Rather than hitting the campaign trail, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-VA, was spotted at a college basketball game on the eve of the election. Kaine was supporting his alma mater, the University of Missouri, in a basketball game against Howard University in Washington, DC Monday night.

NAACP sues over student voter registration in Virginia 

The NAACP Virginia State Conference filed a lawsuit against election officials across the commonwealth, saying they illegally rejected voter registration applications from on-campus college students.

The complaint alleges that election officials required on-campus students to provide information including a dormitory name and room number with their voter registration applications.

“This is a clear attempt to rob students of the right to vote in a state where they study and potentially live once they graduate,” NAACP senior associate general counsel Anthony P. Ashton said in a Nov. 3 news release . “Virginia’s own voter registration form does not ask for dorm room information, and federal law makes clear that immaterial omissions cannot be used to deny eligible citizens their right to vote. These practices are discriminatory, unlawful, and must stop immediately.”

The complaint accuses the plaintiffs of violating students’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights, as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The affected students attend schools including Virginia State University, James Madison University, Norfolk State University and Virginia Commonwealth University, the NAACP said.

Trump claims, without evidence, that there’s election fraud in California

President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to sue over mail-in ballots cast in California while also slamming the state’s redistricting measure which aims to increase Democratic representation in the state.

On his Truth Social site, Trump called the California redistricting ballot measure, designed to counter a Texas effort to increase Republican representation, “ a GIANT SCAM ” without offering any specifics.

The California vote on that ballot measure, Trump claimed, “is RIGGED” but he provided no specifics of that either. “All ‘Mail-In’ Ballots, where the Republicans in that State are ‘Shut Out,’ is under very serious legal and criminal review. STAY TUNED!” Trump wrote.

At the White House briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also claimed – while providing no details – that election fraud occurs in California.

Asked what evidence Trump had, Leavitt said. “It is absolutely true that there is fraud in Caifornia’s elections. It is just a fact. … If you want to deny that, I’m happy to provide you all of the evidence” after the briefing.

The White House did not respond to a USA TODAY request for comment about the alleged details of election fraud in California and what kind of “very serious legal and criminal review” Trump was referring to.

 – Josh Meyer

New Jersey polling sites safe and secure after earlier bomb threats

New Jersey authorities say all polling sites are safe and secure after multiple locations received bomb threats earlier on Election Day.

Law enforcement officers were deployed to several sites where voters were casting ballots in response to "swatting" incidents - threats found to be non-credible, The Record, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported.

Eight sites in Bergen County received threats in the early hours of the morning. Authorities didn't discover any suspicious items, and there is no remaining threat to the public, but they will stay "engaged for the rest of Election Day," said Jeff Angermeyer, of the county's prosecutor's office.

Some threats were directed at schools serving as local polling sites, forcing some students to stay home.

"A delayed opening would be too difficult," said Mark Schwarz, superintendent of Ridgewood public schools. "We reluctantly decided to close schools for the day."

Will billionaire Tom Steyer's $12 million Prop 50 bet pay off?

While the Democratic party probably wasn't so crazy about billionaire Tom Steyer interjecting himself in what his camp describes as a "non-traditional campaign" in California's Proposition 50 redistricting race , maybe he brought more than he advertised.

Steyer, the environmental activist and longshot 2020 Democratic presidential candidate , spent more than $12 million during his self-promoted "Stick It to Trump" Prop 50 campaign. This includes two commercials airing heavily in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, and Sacramento, the state capital, and across social media.

The commercials: one features a spoof of President Donald Trump watching the results of Prop 50 passing, throwing french fries, and saying, "I hate California." Another spot has Steyer accusing the president of trying to rig the 2026 midterm elections and bluntly urging California voters to "let's stick it to Trump!"

There were also sponsored rallies led by social media influencers, including supporters placing a smattering of "Stick it to Trump" and "Yes on 50" stickers over President Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Oct. 30.  On Election Day, Trump on his Truth Social platform called Prop 50 a "GIANT SCAM" and said the voting itself is "RIGGED."

Meanwhile, in a Nov. 3 memo, Steyer's camp believes his "Stick it to Trump" campaign supported the work of Governor Gavin Newsom’s Yes on 50 efforts to help "push Prop 50 over the finish line." Prop 50 is a constitutional amendment pushed by Newsom  that, if passed, would allow the state to temporarily stop using a nonpartisan commission and use lines drawn by its Democratic state lawmakers, possibly increasing their party's chances of winning more seats in Congress.

"This should be something for us all to celebrate," Steyer spokesperson Kevin Liao told USA TODAY.

And Steyer's gamble will likely pay off in a Prop 50 victory on Election Day that could propel him on the list of possible candidates for California governor, said Brian Sobel , a longtime Bay Area-based political analyst.

"Oh, no question, Steyer will emerge as one of the Prop 50 winners just like Newsom, (Barack) Obama , and the other Democrats who made cameo appearances in those Yes on 50 ads," Sobel said. "Going forward, Steyer may have to tone it down and not come across as a bit unbalanced.

"But today, Steyer looks like he gets to celebrate spending some of his fortune helping to gain an important victory," Sobel concluded.

White House calls Mamdani ‘irresponsible’ over bomb-threat allegations

After New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani linked Trump to bomb threats at New Jersey polling places , White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called the candidate “irresponsible.”

Mamdani called the bomb threats part of voter intimidation like Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud.

“I think they are completely irresponsible and they are based on zero evidence,” Leavitt told reporters Nov. 4 at the Whtie House.

– Bart Jansen

Ex-US Attorney General Holder backs Maryland's proposed redistricting strategy

Former US Attorney General Eric Holder said he supports Maryland Governor Wes Moore's decision to create a new advisory commission to consider redistricting in that state.

Holder, who was attorney general under President Obama and is the current chair of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee , said in a statement on Nov. 4 that getting public feedback and making recommendations to Moore and Maryland's General Assembly to improve the state's congressional map will help ensure fairness.  

"At a time when Donald Trump and his Republican allies show no signs of stopping their relentless campaign to undermine elections and manipulate the rules to cling to power, the Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission in Maryland exemplifies the kind of leadership our democracy demands," Holder said.

Holder believes the commission would demonstrate a commitment to transparency and accountability by "putting power where it belongs—in the hands of the people.

"It stands in stark contrast to what we’ve seen in Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina, and ensures that Maryland can take critical steps forward to ensure that our democracy can responsibly withstand — and overcome — this national gerrymandering crisis," Holder added.

Lawsuit filed in New Jersey over issues with hundreds of mail-in ballots 

New Jersey Democrats filed a lawsuit in Bergen County over claims its election officials failed to notify voters about issues with their mail-in ballots so they could be addressed and counted, NorthJersey.com reported .

The emergency application came after the New Jersey Globe reported on Nov. 2 that there were roughly 300 “naked ballots,” or ballots that weren’t placed in an inner envelope, that were in danger of not being counted.

The Bergen County Board of Elections had a 3-3 party line deadlock in a vote over whether to notify the affected voters, the outlet reported. Democrats voted in favor of notifying voters, while Republicans opposed, citing staffing issues.

The New Jersey Democratic State Committee’s filing said the board’s failure to take action would “undoubtedly result in the disenfranchisement of approximately 300 voters in Bergen County.”

The committee asked the court to either order the board to provide a written notice to the affected voters and give them an opportunity to cure their ballots or have the board release the names of affected voters so they could vote on Nov. 4.

Maryland Gov. Moore announces new redistricting

Wes Moore, Maryland's Democratic governor, announced a new commission to consider redistricting in the state as Californians consider a Democrat-backed plan to redraw their state's districts.

"President Donald Trump and his allies are trying to rig the system and are handpicking Republican states to go through redistricting processes," Moore said in a video statement released Election Day. "While other states are determining whether or not they have fair maps, so will Maryland."

It comes as California is voting on a ballot initiative backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that would drastically redistrict the state.

Newsom has pushed the campaign as an offset to President Donald Trump's push to redraw red states' districts in favor of Republicans ahead of the midterms.

High turnout being reported in Virginia

Chief Election Officer Jason Long of Ward 2 in Staunton said Tuesday morning that voter turnout, so far, had surprisingly been higher than anticipated.

“Turnout here has been a lot higher than anyone expected,” Long said. Of the ward’s roughly 3,800 registered voters, he said 450 had already voted in person by 10:40 a.m.

One of those voters was Debra Dawson, 29, who was with her daughter, 7-year-old Thea, who goes with her mother every year to vote.

“I voted yesterday at school too,” Thea said.

Dawson said Virginia’s race for governor, pitting Republican Winsome Earle-Sears against Democrat Abigail Spanberger, was her main focus on Tuesday.

“The governor race is really important to me,” Dawson said. “But all of them really are. I think voting in any election, big or small, local or wider, is very important.”

– Brad Zinn

JD Vance urges New Jersey voters to pick Ciattarelli after 'crap leadership'

Vice President JD Vance urged New Jersey voters to cast their ballot for Republican Jack Ciattarelli for governor on the morning of Election Day, saying the state has "suffered" under "crap leadership."

"Get out there and vote for Jack if you live in NJ," he wrote on X. "New Jersey is such a great state but it’s suffered too long under crap leadership."

When do polls close in Virginia, New Jersey and California?

Polls close in Virginia at 7 p.m. ET and New Jersey at 8 p.m. ET. California polls close at 8 p.m. PT.

Virginia election results can be found here , while New Jersey's results are here and California's results are here .

Maps: See how Proposition 50 can change California elections and shift Trump's strategy

Trump looms large on Election Day

More: Will historic pattern hold? See why Virginia and New Jersey's elections matter this year

The Democratic candidates for governor in  New Jersey and Virginia  are making opposition to  Donald Trump  central to their pitches. In  California ,  an ad urges voters  to "stick it to Trump," while New York City's frontrunner for mayor  says  he'll "stand up" to the president of the United States if he wins.

Trump's name is not on the ballot in 2025. He's a lame duck whose  political retirement  looms in three years. But the off-year races culminating on Tuesday have nonetheless put a spotlight on the 79-year-old Republican.

While Trump has largely stayed off the campaign trail – he spent much of the final week before Election Day on  a trip to Asia  – he's hardly gone dark on politics. He's made New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani a frequent target as Republicans try to portray Democrats as too far left.

Ciattarelli  told the USA TODAY Network that he speaks to Trump every couple of weeks, and the president reupped his endorsement in a recent  social media post  reminding Garden State voters: "HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!"

Bomb threat reported at New Jersey polling stations

Law enforcement is investigating email threats at polling places in Bergen, Essex, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmo Ocean and Passaic Counties, according to a statement from New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin, the USA TODAY NETWORK reported .

Some polling places have since reopened. At polling places that remained closed, voters were sent to other sits to pick up provisional ballots.

“Voters should continue to have confidence that they can cast their ballot without fear of intimidation, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure a free, fair, and secure election,” Platkin wrote. “We will not tolerate any attempts to interfere with our elections, and we will swiftly hold accountable anyone who seeks to interfere with the safety or security of our electoral process.”

Virginia election official says there are ‘concerns’ about postal service issues

Virginia Department of Elections Commissioner Susan Beals said the department has “concerns” about mail-in ballots making it to registrars’ offices around the commonwealth by the Friday deadline .

Beals was responding to a question about the department’s confidence in the U.S. Postal Service during a Tuesday morning news briefing.

She said the department has worked “very closely” with the postal service in the lead up to the election, calling them “fantastic partners.”

“While we have been very happy with the type of response that they’ve shown us, we do still have concerns and have heard from voters that there are concerns,” Beals said.

She said voters with concerns about their mail-in ballots could fill out a regular ballot at their polling place or contact their registrar’s office to confirm the status of their ballot.

Beals also noted a polling location change in Newport News, Virginia, after a driver crashed their vehicle into a planned voting location at Ivy Farms Community of Faith Church over the weekend . The building was condemned, and the polling location was moved to South Morrison Family Education Center.

Roughly 1.4 million Virginians had voted early as of Nov. 1, Beals said, with 1.1 million early votes cast in person and 300,000 returned through the mail.

Another news briefing is scheduled for 8 p.m. Tuesday.

In Virginia, no problems have been reported, according to the election department.

– BrieAnna Frank

Jones and Miyares neck and neck in VA Attorney General race

In the race for Virginia attorney general, Democrat Jay Jones and Republican Jason Miyares, the incumbent, are neck and neck, according to recent polls.

An Emerson College/The Hill poll released on Nov. 2 showed Jones up by two points with 49% to Miyares' 47%. Other recent polls have showed the pair tied.

The election attracted national attention after texts Jones sent in 2022 saying the state's then-House speaker should get "two bullets to the head" were revealed. Jones later apologized for the texts, saying he was "ashamed" and "embarrassed" that he sent them.

Spanberger and Sherrill hope to redefine Democrats

They both were members of the 2018 freshman class that helped Democrats retake the U.S. House. Both present themselves as kitchen-table centrists with extensive military and national security experience.

And the two friends − who  text each other regularly  and were roommates on Capitol Hill − were even born in each other’s states.

Now, Spanberger  and Sherrill , two moderate gubernatorial candidates, are seen by some observers as a model for how Democrats can make a broad electoral appeal, in contrast to the party's  socialist nominee for New York City mayor,  Zohran Mamdani, who has been a target for President  Donald Trump .

– Phillip M. Bailey, Katie Sobko

Spanberger sends condolences on ex-Vice President Dick Cheney

As Virginia voters took to the polls Tuesday morning, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger posted condolences about the passing of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney .

Cheney served as second-in-command under President George W. Bush, but veered from Republican Party leadership following the Jan. 6 , 2021 attack on the Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump . Cheney endorsed then-Vice President Kamala Harris for president in the 2024 election.

"My prayers are with the family of Vice President Dick Cheney today — his wife Lynne Cheney, his daughters Liz and Mary, and their families — as they mourn his passing," Spanberger posted on X .

Poll: Democrat Sherrill's lead against Republican Ciattarelli within margin of error

A poll released Oct. 30 found the  New Jersey race for governor  could be growing tighter, with Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill edging 4 points ahead of Republican Jack Ciattarelli less than a week before Election Day.

The statewide poll from Suffolk University puts Sherrill's support among likely voters at 46%, while Ciattarelli, a former state assemblyman, stands at 42%, though the difference is still within the survey's margins of error. Another 7% of respondents said they were undecided and 3% refused to respond. Two other candidates on the ballot received 1% of support.

A separate poll released Oct 31 showed Sherrill had a slight lead over Ciattarelli.

The AtlasIntel poll of more than 1,600 likely voters in New Jersey, which was conducted from Oct. 25 to Oct. 30, showed Sherrill getting 50.2% of the vote compared to Ciattarelli's 49.3%, with a 2% margin of error.

Sherrill narrowly ahead, Nate Silver's 'most accurate' poll finds

Democrat Mikie Sherrill will narrowly eke out a win over Jack Ciattarelli, her Republican opponent, in the New Jersey gubernatorial election, according to a poll considered the "most accurate" by election analyst Nate Silver .

AtlasIntel , which was considered the most accurate pollster in the 2020 presidential election, found Sherrill holds 50.2% Ciattarelli's 49.3%, according to a poll released on Oct. 31.

Polling averages have shown Sherrill ahead of Ciattarelli by 4.6 to 6.6 points, still within the margin of error.

Poll: Democrat Spanberger leads in Virginia

A survey released Oct. 23 found Democrat  Abigail Spanberger  has a nine-point lead over Republican challenger and Lt. Gov.  Winsome Earle-Sears  in the  Virginia governor's race , seen as a national bellwether election.

In a Suffolk University poll of likely voters released Oct. 23, Spanberger garnered 52% of the vote among survey respondents, followed by Earl-Sears' 43%. Another 3% said they were undecided.

Earle-Sears left out of Trump's GOP endorsements

President Donald Trump has endorsed the Republican candidates for New Jersey governor and Virginia attorney general - Jack Ciattarelli and Jason Miyares - in glowing terms.

Ciattarelli "IS A WINNER FOR NEW JERSEY," Trump wrote in all caps in an Oct. 20 Truth Social post. Miyares "WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN," he wrote in an Oct. 5 post .

Notably absent was Winsome Earle-Sears, the Republican running for Virginia governor, who Trump has never endorsed by name.

Earle-Sears provoked Trump's ire when, in 2022, she called Trump a "liability" and said "voters want to move on." Trump hit back in a post at the time that he "Never felt good" about Earle-Sears. "Always thought she was a phony."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2025 election recap: Dems sweep Virginia, NJ, California races