All across the country tonight, voters are weighing in on mayoral contests, ballot measures, and special elections — in total more than 20,000 races — that could hint at the national mood heading into 2026.
Which local results do you think will send the biggest political shockwaves?
Leave your reactions in the comments.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill won the New Jersey governor’s race, NBC News projects, defeating Republican Jack Ciattarelli after a hard-fought contest in which President Donald Trump loomed over voters’ choice.
Decision Desk HQ projects Zohran Mamdani to win the New York City Mayor election.
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Pennsylvania voters approved the retention of three state Supreme Court justices, NBC News projects, preserving Democrats’ 5-2 majority on the battleground state’s high court.
In a city where change seems in the air, tonight’s mayoral outcome promises to recast City Hall’s priorities on affordability, public safety and housing.
Is New York ready to break from the past — or is this a reaffirmation of the status quo?
Polls close at 9 p.m. ET.
“Kansas’ Republican House leader on Tuesday dropped efforts to force a redraw of U.S. House districts that would have thrust the state into a widening national battle for partisan advantage in the 2026 elections,” the AP reports.
Decision Desk HQ projects Jay Jones (D) to win the Virginia Attorney General election.
With the Garden State’s governor’s race under the microscope, tonight’s results could reveal whether traditional partisan leanings hold or if a shift is under way.
How will every corner of New Jersey — from suburban towns to urban centers — respond?
Polls close at 8 p.m. ET.
“Some five months after President Trump abruptly yanked the nomination of the person he had chosen to lead NASA, he finally put forth a new nomination on Tuesday — of the same person,” the New York Times reports.
“Jared Isaacman, 42, a billionaire entrepreneur who led two private missions to orbit on SpaceX rockets, is again in line to become the next NASA administrator.”
“President Donald Trump will host all Republican senators at the White House Wednesday morning for breakfast,” Punchbowl News reports.
“This comes amid increased momentum toward a potential deal to end the shutdown.”
“There are now more than a dozen Senate Democrats who are ready to engage with Republicans on reopening the federal government.”
Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) was projected to defeat Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) in Virginia’s gubernatorial election on Tuesday, according to Decision Desk HQ, becoming the first woman to serve as governor of the commonwealth.
As Virginia’s turnout comes in, voters are electing not just a governor but making a statement about national momentum and state-level change.
What does the outcome tonight signal about the direction of the Commonwealth — and how might it shape the 2026 midterms?
Polls close at 7 p.m. ET.
“Rep. Ayanna Pressley is seriously considering jumping into the race for the Massachusetts Senate seat currently held by fellow Democrat Ed Markey and has been checking in with allies about a possible run,” Politico reports.
“That could put the 51-year-old member of the progressive ‘Squad’ on a collision course not only with Markey, but with Rep. Seth Moulton, who launched his own primary challenge last month. Moulton, 47, has framed his bid against the 79-year-old incumbent as part of the Democratic Party’s generational upheaval.”
David Frum: “Trump’s Republicanism is radically statist and protectionist, in service to reactionary cultural politics. And it is above all contemptuous of law and constitutional limits. The very week of former Vice President Cheney’s death, the Trump administration will argue at the Supreme Court in favor of the president’s power to impose limitless tariffs on his sole personal claim that some kind of economic emergency exists, without any right of anybody else to question or refute that claim—meaning that the president has effectively discarded and replaced Congress’s Article I power to tax or refrain from taxing.”
“The young constitutional conservative elevated to the highest offices of government by the Watergate scandal would have been appalled and disgusted—and so was the old constitutional conservative who lived to see his cherished daughter a leader of the last band of principled conservative opposition to Trump’s attempt to overthrow a presidential election by fraud and force. ‘In my beginning is my end,’ wrote T. S. Eliot. There was one Dick Cheney all along. Know him better as you tell and honor the life story of this great servant of the American people in all his strengths and weaknesses, triumphs and failures.”
“The House Freedom Caucus unanimously backed a year-long continuing resolution Tuesday, just as the Senate looks poised to move on a short-term measure to end the 35-day government shutdown,” Axios reports.
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) “announced Tuesday that he will not run for California governor next year, ending months of speculation about the possibility of the Democrat vying to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Politico: “As California’s senior senator and a fixture in state politics, Padilla would have brought formidable assets to a governor race without a commanding front-runner.”
Nate Silver: “Cuomo simply doesn’t have any foundation of people voting for him for positive reasons. In last week’s Quinnipiac survey, for instance, which actually showed a slightly closer race than most, the only demographic group to give Cuomo a favorable rating above 50 percent was voters aged 65 and older, and then just barely at 51 percent (against 38 percent unfavorable).”
“Republicans don’t really have much basis to be comfortable with Cuomo; he governed as a fairly moderate but nevertheless partisan Democrat in his three terms (one truncated) as governor. But Cuomo also lost the Democratic nomination to Mamdani and is attacking Zohran from the right. Independents, meanwhile, have no particular reason to like someone who is such an avatar of the political establishment.”
“And every voter can object to the extensive list of sexual harassment accusations against Cuomo — although for whatever reason, a lot of polls show him doing better among women than among men.”
David Graham: “The nationalization of politics is a familiar story, especially in Congress. As the parties have become more polarized in recent years, voters have become less willing to cross the aisle or split their ballot between Democrats and Republicans—especially because animosity toward the other party is a central part of the polarization.”
“The weakening of local media outlets, especially newspapers, has also left citizens far more informed and invested in national political dynamics than matters closer to home.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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