PinnedUpdated Nov. 4, 2025, 3:56 p.m. ETVoters across the country cast ballots on Tuesday in a series of contests that could shed new light on the mood of the electorate nearly a year into President Trump’s tumultuous second term.In New Jersey and Virginia, voters are deciding two governor’s races where the president’s influence has loomed large. And in California, they are deciding whether the state can redraw its congressional districts to benefit House Democrats, to counter redistricting efforts in Republican-led states.Mr. Trump wrote on Tuesday that the vote in California was “RIGGED,” without offering any evidence, and he attacked Democrats in a series of posts on social media. Tuesday’s contests are mostly unfolding in states that Mr. Trump lost last year.In Maine, voters are weighing in on whether to make voting more difficult. In Pennsylvania, the biggest swing state, they are deciding whether to retain three key Supreme Court justices.This is the first multistate election playing out as the Trump administration ramps up the presence of federal law enforcement in America. The administration said it was deploying Justice Department election monitors in California and New Jersey. Democrats and Latino voting-rights activists have warned that the deployment was an effort to intimidate voters.We’re covering the New York City mayoral election in a separate live blog. Coverage of the nation’s other marquee contests will be here. Read more on those races:New Jersey governor: There are 850,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in New Jersey, which has had only one Republican governor — Chris Christie — in 23 years. Yet the governor’s race between Representative Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, and Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican, has been competitive. Early returns in the state are giving Democrats cautious optimism, but parsing those numbers can be perilous. — Tracey TullyVirginia governor: The contest typically serves as a rejection of the party in the White House. So it is this year, with former Representative Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, holding a consistent advantage over Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican, in public and private polling. Spanberger has a two-to-one fund-raising advantage. The state’s attorney general race, roiled by a texting scandal involving the Democratic candidate, has been a tighter contest, and all 100 seats in the House of Delegates are up for election. — Reid J. EpsteinCalifornia ballot measure: Mr. Trump this summer called on Texas to redraw its congressional map to gerrymander five districts toward the Republican column. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, who is weighing a 2028 presidential run, pushed for a ballot measure that would redraw California’s congressional map to counter Texas: five districts toward the Democrats. Polls suggest the measure, Proposition 50, is likely to pass. The question may be how many more blue states will answer the governor’s August call that “blue states need to stand up.” — Reid J. EpsteinPennsylvania’s Supreme Court: Voters will decide whether three justices who were elected as Democrats to the State Supreme Court in Pennsylvania keep their seats for another 10-year term (or until they reach mandatory retirement age). The outcome could determine the tilt of the seven-member Pennsylvania State Supreme Court — the highest court in the most important swing state — through the next presidential election. — Nick CorasanitiMayoral contests, ballot measures and more: There are plenty of other questions and contests being decided Tuesday. Cities with mayoral races include Atlanta, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis and Seattle. In Jersey City, N.J., a disgraced former state governor, Jim McGreevey, is seeking a comeback in his bid to lead the city. In Maine, voters will decide on a red flag law for firearms and whether to tighten voting rules. Elsewhere, some voters will be making their picks for state legislative seats and in other local races, too.Nov. 4, 2025, 3:57 p.m. ETJamie Leventhal“I want to see us continue in Virginia with an administration as a governor that has actually benefited Virginians, all Virginians.”James Davis, 65, voting in Woodbridge, Va. He said he voted for Winsome Earle-Sears for governor because he believes that she will have a similar administration to that of Gov. Glenn Youngkin.VideoCreditCredit...ReutersNov. 4, 2025, 3:50 p.m. ETVoters received stickers after voting at a polling site in River Edge, N.J., on Tuesday.Credit...Seth Wenig/Associated PressIn a governor’s race that will be parsed for what it says about how voters are feeling nearly a year into a second Trump administration, some voters in New Jersey were citing the president as a main factor in their decision at the polls.“What shot Ciattarelli in the foot was his so-called alliance with Trump,” said Catherine Lenix-Hooker, adjusting her “I Voted” sticker in Newark’s North Ward, a working-class neighborhood. “I can’t listen to you when you start off with something like that.”Ms. Lenix-Hooker, 78, who is retired, said she voted for Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee, to put an end to the division she sees in her community. “Things have gotten so blown out of proportion,” she said.For voters supporting Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee, Mr. Trump’s endorsement was a draw — an indicator that Mr. Ciattarelli would look to the president for guidance on how to run the state.“I love Donald Trump, because I’m with Trump, I’m with Ciattarelli,” said Cesar Taveras, a barber in Passaic County who is originally from the Dominican Republic. The county, the state’s most Hispanic, has shifted rightward in the three presidential elections starting in 2016.“Every bodega, barbershop, and taxi driver around here, they are for the Republicans because they are for the people that work,” added Mr. Taveras, 38.In Passaic, where bomb threats briefly interrupted voting early Tuesday and where Mr. Trump had dispatched election monitors, some residents said the threats had not dissuaded them.“Those are people who are trying to keep people from their constitutional right. It won’t stop me,” said William McAlister, who voted in Passaic before heading to his job with a trucking company.“This is a great country to live in,” Mr. McAlister, 65, added. “I’m not afraid.”He said he voted for Mr. Ciattarelli, citing the high energy bills and taxes that he believed were driving people and companies to leave New Jersey.Mikie Sherrill, center, the Democratic nominee for governor, meeting supporters at the Plainfield Democratic Headquarters in Plainfield, N.J., on Tuesday.Credit...Bryan Anselm for The New York TimesJack Ciattarelli, the Republican running for governor in New Jersey, addressing supporters in Fairfield, N.J., on Saturday.Credit...Andres Kudacki/Getty ImagesIn Newark, Darrell Love also talked about energy bills — but said it was Ms. Sherrill’s pledge to declare a state of emergency in an effort to lower them that helped convince him to vote for her.He also talked about her promises on child care options. Hopefully, he said, Ms. Sherrill is a Democrat who “will shake things up and not listen to Trump.”“Trump is on his revenge tour — shutting down funds, indicting Letitia James,” said Mr. Love, 54, referring to the New York attorney general. “I mean, this guy is on a rampage.”As for Mr. Ciattarelli, Mr. Love said: “Trump has a lot of puppets. And he’s one.”For Michelle Brown, a 34-year-old law student, she sees Newark as in a particularly precarious spot.“We have an ICE detention center, and ICE has a presence here,” Ms. Brown said, adding that she voted for Ms. Sherrill so she and her fellow residents would have “a governor that is willing to do oversight and not just roll over and support Trump’s policies around immigration.”Ibrahim Omar, a city councilman in Paterson who is on the ballot there, urged passers-by to cast their votes for him. Mr. Omar said he had voted for Ms. Sherrill.“Now, there are some things that I can agree on with Jack,” Mr. Omar said. “But I think Sherrill has the better policies overall.”Jacob Amaro contributed reporting.Nov. 4, 2025, 3:40 p.m. ETZaydee SanchezA drive-through booth at the Fresno County Clerk’s office in downtown Fresno, Calif., allowed residents to drop off their ballots without getting out of their cars. Across California, voters are weighing a proposal to redraw the state’s congressional map.Zaydee Sanchez for The New York TimesNov. 4, 2025, 3:20 p.m. ETSenator Alex Padilla, Democrat of California, made a surprise announcement in the Capitol. Standing with his wife, he said that he had been encouraged to run for governor for months by many Californians. He said he would not run for governor next year and would instead stay in the Senate.Credit...Tierney L. Cross/The New York TimesNov. 4, 2025, 3:15 p.m. ETLeah Small“I work with a lot of kids who live in low-income housing, and it’s not a safe or OK place for them to live. And the government’s not doing anything to help them right now.”Mackenzie Paoletti, 28, in Richmond, Va., said she voted for Abigail Spanberger for governor of Virginia. She said she liked Spanberger's plan to “make housing more affordable and take care of those who are in low-income housing.”Credit...Leah Small for The New York TimesNov. 4, 2025, 3:13 p.m. ETPhilip CheungAfter a few hours of counting ballots, workers at the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center got up from their seats to stretch and perform light calisthenics before resuming their jobs. The processing center is a 144,000-square-foot building located east of downtown Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel Valley, and was opened last year.Credit...Philip Cheung for The New York TimesNov. 4, 2025, 2:42 p.m. ETJeremy Raff, Alex Pena and McKinnon de Kuyper“I hear people that are going through it with SNAP, that they’re taking away their food stamps.”Sharon Grant, 60, a voter in Paterson, N.J., who said the cost of living was a driving factor for her to vote for Mikie Sherrill in the governor’s race. Grant said the loss of SNAP benefits amid the government shutdown was harming residents, and she hoped a vote for Sherrill would help lower expenses like rent and utilities.VideoCreditCredit...Jeremy Raff/The New York TimesNov. 4, 2025, 2:03 p.m. ETJay SenterReporting from Minneapolis“Given where our country is, I would lean more moderate than all the way to the left. I think the temptation right now is to go the other direction of where the country is, which is obviously leaning more right.”Evelyn Wong, 42, a communications manager voting for mayor in Minneapolis. She said she is leaning toward voting for the incumbent, Jacob Frey. “I think what we need in terms of Democratic leadership both at the city level and at the state level is more moderation,” she said.Credit...Jay Senter for The New York TimesNov. 4, 2025, 1:41 p.m. ETJack Ciattarelli and Mikie Sherrill during a debate at Rider University on Sunday.Credit...James Estrin/The New York TimesThe race for governor of New Jersey has been heavily influenced by national politics. During a recent candidates’ debate, President Trump’s name came up more than a dozen times, and the conversation touched on transgender athletes, climate change and vaccine policy.But there were also insights into how the Republican nominee, Jack Ciattarelli, and the Democratic nominee, Representative Mikie Sherrill, would govern on issues specific to New Jersey.Here are some of the candidates’ starkest policy differences.ImmigrationIn New Jersey, the debate over immigration has centered largely on a statewide policy that limits the amount of voluntary assistance that local law enforcement officers can provide to federal authorities enforcing civil immigration laws.Mr. Ciattarelli, a former state assemblyman endorsed by Mr. Trump, has said that he will immediately repeal the policy. Municipalities would lose state aid if officers refused to help federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.Ms. Sherrill, who has represented the state’s 11th Congressional District since 2019, has said that she supports the directive, but that she is not in favor of codifying it into law, as immigrant rights activists want. She declined to say during the debate whether she would continue the policy if elected.Judicial AppointmentsFor decades, New Jersey governors have upheld a custom of maintaining partisan balance on the state’s seven-member Supreme Court, with neither party holding more than a one-seat advantage.Mr. Ciattarelli has said he will end that practice, which he calls a “failed tradition,” and instead appoint only conservative judges when vacancies occur.Ms. Sherrill has said that she will continue alternating Supreme Court appointments by party. But she has also said that anyone she nominates will be a supporter of abortion rights.AbortionNew Jersey law permits abortion throughout a pregnancy.Ms. Sherrill supports enshrining the right to an abortion in the State Constitution, a process that requires the approval of three-fifths of the Legislature and a majority of voters.Mr. Ciattarelli is in favor of banning abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy unless the health of the mother or fetus is at risk or in the case of rape or incest. He also opposes using taxpayer funds for the procedure and supports parental notification for women under 18 who are seeking an abortion.EnvironmentBoth candidates support the expanded use of solar and nuclear power.Mr. Ciattarelli wants to withdraw New Jersey from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, as the state’s last Republican governor, Chris Christie, did in 2012. The initiative is a compact among 10 Northeast states that have agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.Ms. Sherrill has said that she will declare a state of emergency to try to freeze electricity costs, which have spiked in New Jersey.Mr. Ciattarelli opposes offshore wind turbines, as does Mr. Trump, whose administration has halted planned wind projects, rendering the issue, for now, largely moot in New Jersey.Ms. Sherrill has pledged to “massively build out cheaper and cleaner power” to offset the shortage of in-state power generation. Her platform does not mention wind turbines, an energy source she has previously praised. Instead, she plans to expand energy production through solar, nuclear, gas and battery storage projects.SchoolsMs. Sherrill supports banning cellphones during class time in public schools. She wants to create what she calls a “social media addiction observatory” to focus attention and research on the risks of social media. All public school students would get free school meals.Mr. Ciattarelli has said that he will rewrite the state funding formula that determines the flow of money to school districts. As part of the overhaul, the state would take over the cost of special education services, equalizing what Mr. Ciattarelli says is a disparity in the quality of the programs offered.TaxesMr. Ciattarelli wants to cap property taxes by linking them to a percentage of a home’s assessed value and lower the tax paid by corporations by 1 percent a year for five years. He also supports making interest paid on student loans tax deductible.Ms. Sherrill has said that she will order independent audits to find overpayments in the state health care benefit program that covers employees, resulting in savings that would be passed on to taxpayers. She has also proposed expanding the child tax credit and giving a tax break to caregivers of older relatives.Nov. 4, 2025, 1:35 p.m. ETJeremy Raff, Alex Pena and McKinnon de Kuyper“We have kids, and they want to come here with legal status.”Grioriy Katz, 46, who said his wife and children are in the process of applying for U.S. citizenship from Brazil. Katz said he immigrated to the United States from the former Soviet Union in 1991, and voted for Jack Ciattarelli to be the next New Jersey governor because he wants to see a change in the public schools.VideoCreditCredit...Jeremy Raff/The New York TimesNov. 4, 2025, 1:18 p.m. ETRepresentative Mikie Sherrill, Democrat of New Jersey, cast her ballot early Tuesday at Hillside Elementary School in Montclair, N.J., alongside her family. Sherrill, who is running for the state’s open governor seat against Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican former state lawmaker, was trailed by members of the media as she voted. She addressed them outside the school before leaving.Credit...Bryan Anselm for The New York TimesCredit...Bryan Anselm for The New York TimesNov. 4, 2025, 1:06 p.m. ETEmily ElconinMary Sheffield, Detroit city council president and Democratic mayoral candidate, arrived at the Horatio Williams Foundation on Tuesday afternoon to cast her ballot in the 2025 general election. If elected, Sheffield would become the city’s first woman to hold the office. Her father, the activist Horace Sheffield, and other family members were with her.Credit...Emily Elconin for The New York TimesCredit...Emily Elconin for The New York TimesNov. 4, 2025, 12:35 p.m. ETBallot processing in Philadelphia during last year’s presidential election. Credit...Michelle Gustafson for The New York TimesPredicting the timing of election race calls is a tricky business.It took several days for Joseph R. Biden Jr. to be declared the winner in 2020. But last year? The race was called for Donald J. Trump early Wednesday morning after the Tuesday elections.But it’s an off year, without a top-of-the-ticket race pulling large numbers of voters to the polls. Still, the speed with which races are called is largely dependent on how tight a race is. Polling suggests that some of Tuesday’s marquee contests are not particularly close.Voting procedures and recent history offer some additional guideposts. Here’s what we know:VirginiaPolls close at 7 p.m. Eastern time.Former Representative Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, has had a consistent lead in the state’s governor’s race. Combined with the fact that polls close earlier in Virginia than in other major contests on Tuesday, a race call for governor could be the first major result on election night, if her lead holds.Additionally, the state tallies ballots relatively quickly, aided by a requirement that counties prepare absentee ballots for processing ahead of Election Day. Still, it could take a few hours.When Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, narrowly won the governor’s race four years ago, the call came about 12:30 a.m.There are other races in the state on Tuesday — including for lieutenant governor, attorney general and all seats in the House of Delegates. And Virginia counts mail ballots that are received as late as Friday with a postmark by Election Day, so any particularly tight races that hinge on those ballots could be in for a wait.New JerseyPolls close at 8 p.m. Eastern time.The governor’s race in New Jersey has been competitive this year, as it was four years ago. Then, when Gov. Philip D. Murphy narrowly won re-election, the race was not called until almost a full day after polls closed.In New Jersey, mail ballots can be counted as long as they are postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 10. Counties can tally the votes on different timetables. The 2021 result may have been slowed by the adjustment to processing large numbers of mail ballots, a shift spurred on by the pandemic.So should residents expect a bit of a wait for a winner to be called? If it’s close, yes — but hopefully not as long of a wait as in 2021.New York CityPolls close at 9 p.m. Eastern time.In deep-blue New York, there has not been a close general election for mayor in 16 years, leading to a run of race calls that seemed to come almost as soon as polls closed.And while this year’s race is unusual — one of the most prominent Democrats in New York politics, former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, is running as an independent to challenge the Democratic nominee, Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani — a race call could still come relatively quickly. Mr. Mamdani has displayed a durable lead in opinion surveys.CaliforniaPolls close at 11 p.m. Eastern time.California is well known for its extended vote tabulation period.In the state, which has a ballot proposal this year on whether to allow Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional map to favor their party, every registered, active voter is sent a mail ballot.Processing and verifying mail ballots can be laborious. If the vote on the measure is close, the wait for a race call could be measured in days rather than hours. But polls indicate that it could pass by a healthy margin, and Democrats are feeling unusually confident.More prominent contestsBoston (mayoral race): Polls close at 8 p.m. Eastern.Detroit (mayoral race): Polls close at 8 p.m. Eastern.Maine (ballot measures on voting and gun rights): Polls close at 8 p.m. Eastern.Minneapolis (mayoral race): Polls close at 9 p.m. Eastern (8 p.m. Central).Pennsylvania (State Supreme Court retention elections): Polls close at 8 p.m. Eastern.Texas (ballot measures): Polls close at 8 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. Central) in most of the state.Nov. 4, 2025, 12:20 p.m. ETMichelle GustafsonReporting from PhiladelphiaOutside the Lee Monument Company polling location in Philadelphia, Allen Daniel, known as D.J. Neff, played music for voters and passersby as part of “D.J.s at the Polls,” a non-partisan initiative designed to encourage voting. Daniel has worked as a D.J. for over 20 years, and this is his fourth time performing outside a polling location.VideoCreditCredit...Michelle Gustafson for The New York TimesNov. 4, 2025, 12:15 p.m. ETKirsten LuceReporting from VirginiaLewis Johnson seems to know the name of every voter that walks into Zion Hill Baptist Church in Keswick, Va., where he is working as an assistant chief election official. Johnson’s mother, Geraldine Johnson, cajoled him into taking her place as a poll worker in 2017 after she retired. Her gravesite is just behind the church, a few steps away from where her son was greeting voters on Tuesday. He said she “believed that it’s not enough that Blacks are registered to vote, they need to be inside the polling station so their rights are protected.”Credit...Kirsten Luce for The New York TimesNov. 4, 2025, 12:15 p.m. ETReid J. EpsteinReid J. Epstein has covered Virginia politics on and off since 2017.Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia during a trip to the White House this year. He has already signaled his interest in a national campaign, with a July visit to Des Moines.Credit...Haiyun Jiang/The New York TimesIn the years since Tim Kaine and Mark Warner followed a path from the Virginia governor’s office to the Senate, posts that both Democrats still hold, the record for the state’s more recent leaders has been scattered.Bob McDonnell was indicted on corruption charges within a month of leaving office, in 2014. Terry McAuliffe thought about running for president but ultimately did not, then he lost his 2021 bid to reclaim his old job as governor. And Ralph Northam has largely receded from politics after his term was marked by a blackface scandal in 2019.But Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who like all Virginia governors is prohibited by state law from seeking a second consecutive term, appears to have a stronger political future.Mr. Youngkin, 58, will leave office in January with relatively high approval ratings, a personal net worth sufficient to seed a future campaign and the evident ambition to extend his political career.He has already signaled his interest in a national campaign, with July visits to Iowa and South Carolina where he was a featured speaker at local Republican Party fund-raising dinners.“It appears to me that he’s looking at the presidency in 2028,” said former Gov. Jim Gilmore, who left office in 2002, then ran unsuccessfully for the Senate and twice for president. “He visited a couple of primary states. You don’t do that unless you’re running and I know that because I ran.”Mr. Youngkin, a wealthy financier who is a favorite of Republican donors, remains a curious fit within the modern Republican Party. He held President Trump at arm’s length during his winning 2021 campaign and has never been fully embraced by Mr. Trump’s base.He would begin a future race for any office with significant financial resources, though it is unclear how he would fare against candidates with more direct links to Mr. Trump or blessings from him.Mr. Youngkin has said little about what he would like to do after he is out of office. But should he choose to stay in politics, Virginia officials from both parties indicated that his best options are to run for president, challenge Mr. Warner for the Senate next year or bide his time and run for governor again in 2029.If he bides his time, he does so with the future political dynamics in the state unclear, given that its voters have, in all but one election since the 1970s, chosen a governor from the party opposite of the president.Mr. Youngkin’s “sole focus” has been on helping Republicans win Tuesday’s elections in Virginia and he has not yet considered his future, said Justin Discigil, Mr. Youngkin’s spokesman.“Governor Youngkin’s common-sense conservative leadership has delivered real results for Virginians and he’s going to continue delivering results until his term ends,” Mr. Discigil said.As for the state’s senators, Mr. Warner, 70, is running for a fourth term next year — he would be 77 if he wins and runs again in 2032. Mr. Kaine, who won a third Senate term last year, is 67 years old and would be 72 if he runs again in 2030.Another former Virginia governor who went on to the Senate, George Allen, a Republican, said there were few signs Mr. Youngkin was preparing to challenge Mr. Warner next year. But he said the governor’s wealth — he self-funded his winning 2021 campaign — and lack of an obvious Republican front-runner means that he could wait until early next year to decide.“If you can write yourself a check for tens of millions of dollars, then you can decide on your own timeline,” Mr. Allen said.Nov. 4, 2025, 11:49 a.m. ETAs Californians cast their ballots on a redistricting measure on Tuesday morning, President Trump called the state’s special election “a giant scam.” Continuing his criticism of the ballot initiative, he posted on social media: “Voting itself, is RIGGED. All ‘Mail-In’ Ballots, where the Republicans in that State are ‘Shut Out,’ is under very serious legal and criminal review.” Trump has offered no evidence to support his claims.Nov. 4, 2025, 11:32 a.m. ETIn a video statement, Gov. Wes Moore said Maryland would join other states wrangling with redistricting under President Trump. Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York TimesMaryland is pushing ahead with efforts to potentially redraw its congressional map to favor Democrats in time for the 2026 midterm elections, Gov. Wes Moore announced on Tuesday.“While other states are determining whether or not they have fair maps, so will Maryland,” Mr. Moore, a Democrat and a possible presidential candidate in 2028, said in a video statement.Mr. Moore’s gambit sets up a potential clash with the legislature, given that Bill Ferguson, the State Senate president and a fellow Democrat, has expressed concerns that any attempts at redistricting would be “too risky” and hamstring the state’s ability to take on the Trump administration.Maryland’s congressional delegation now has seven Democrats and one Republican, Representative Andy Harris. But as Republican states, starting with Texas, have heeded President Trump’s calls to redraw congressional maps in order to squeeze out as much partisan advantage as possible, pressure has been growing on Democratic-controlled states to follow suit.On Tuesday, California voters are poised to pass Proposition 50, which would redraw the state’s map to help Democrats flip as many as five more seats in Congress. Democratic legislative leaders in Virginia, who currently hold a razor-thin majority, recently said they wanted to add two or three congressional seats. Maryland could join them soon.According to a statement released by Mr. Moore’s office, the state will convene a five-member panel, called the Governor’s Redistricting Advisory Commission, chaired by U.S. Senator Angela Alsobrooks, a Democrat. The other members include Mr. Ferguson; the speaker of the State House, Adrienne Jones; a former Democratic attorney general who served under a Republican governor; and a nonpartisan mayor.The panel is expected to hold public hearings before making recommendations to the governor and Maryland General Assembly by the end of the year, according to a Democrat involved in the redistricting discussions who was not authorized to speak publicly about them.“We have a president that treats our democracy with utter contempt,” Senator Alsobrooks said in a statement. “We have a Republican Party that is trying to rig the rules in response to their terrible polling.”In recent months, as pressure grew on the state to eliminate Mr. Harris’s district to add another Democratic seat amid the redistricting wars, Mr. Ferguson, the State Senate president, emerged as a key opposition figure.Last month, he sent a letter to his colleagues saying that his chamber would not take up redistricting, citing legal concerns, a difficult timeline and a belief that “the downside risk to Democrats is catastrophic.”“The certainty of our existing map,” he explained, “would be undermined.”Responding on Tuesday to Mr. Moore’s announcement, Mr. Ferguson said in a statement that while the Senate would participate in the process, Senate Democrats had “overwhelming concern” and that any redistricting efforts could “backfire in our courts” and “could unintentionally give Donald Trump another one or two” seats.That was echoed by a confident Mr. Harris, who said in a statement that “fair” maps could net Republicans two or three seats in the state.Some Republicans in Maryland were openly dismissive of the governor’s commission.“It’s a joke,” said Douglass Mayer, a Republican strategist in Maryland who worked on the litigation against Maryland’s maps in 2021. “It’s a political time buying exercise for Wes to figure out his next step to get out of this mess, because the fact of the matter is, they could just do it right now. They don’t need a commission.”That is not the official line. State Senator Steve Hershey, the Republican minority leader, struck a more traditional stance, accusing Mr. Moore of a “partisan power grab” in an attempt “to rig the system.”Nov. 4, 2025, 10:55 a.m. ETTaylor RobinsonReporting from New Jersey“I think it’s unfortunate we didn’t have a more progressive candidate, and I think she ran a pretty lackluster campaign. But having a Republican governor right now would be a disaster.”Andrew Dwyer, 62, with his dog Alfie, in New Jersey. He said he voted for Mikie Sherrill to be the state’s next governor, hoping that a Democrat would be able to push back against President Trump. “It’s going to be tough, no matter who’s governor, to fight Trump,” he said. “We have to throw as many obstacles in his path as possible.”Credit...Taylor Robinson/The New York TimesNov. 4, 2025, 10:22 a.m. ETPolling sites across seven of New Jersey’s 21 counties were emailed bomb threats on Tuesday morning.Credit...Mike Segar/ReutersBomb threats that officials described as hoaxes were emailed on Tuesday morning to cities across New Jersey, disrupting voting and resulting in the brief closure or relocation of polling sites in some locations.The threats, which officials said were similar, appeared to go to towns throughout much of New Jersey, according to the state’s attorney general, Matthew Platkin. In a statement, Mr. Platkin said that officials had reported receiving threats in at least seven of New Jersey’s 21 counties, including Bergen, Essex, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Passaic.“Law enforcement officers have responded at each affected polling place, and they have worked swiftly to secure these polling locations and ensure the safety of every voter,” Mr. Platkin said.“Some of these polling locations have already reopened to the public. At others, voters will be directed to a nearby polling location to cast their ballot.”Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, who also serves as New Jersey’s chief election official, said law enforcement officers had determined that there were no credible threats.The bomb threats were a reminder of Election Day in 2024, when seven states — Georgia, Maine, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio — reported receiving bomb threats during the presidential election.In Georgia in 2024, most of the threats focused on two of the most populous counties with large minority populations. Those threats turned out to be hoaxes and created only mild disruptions to the voting process.On Tuesday, Mayor André Sayegh of Paterson, N.J., the state’s third-largest city, said that officials had received an email that included a bomb threat identifying two schools, both of which had polling locations. The sites were searched and voting was briefly interrupted as city officials set up new polling locations nearby.“It’s an inconvenience,” Mr. Sayegh said. “Whoever is doing this is trying to disrupt this election. They’re trying to create a little chaos.”Paterson is in Passaic County, where the Trump administration sent election monitors “to ensure transparency, ballot security, and compliance with federal law,” according to the Justice Department. The monitors were sent after Republican Party officials requested them, but Democrats have condemned the move, calling it an attempt to intimidate voters.New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states that elect governors in the year after a presidential race. The races are often seen as a check on a president’s first year in office.President Trump has weighed in heavily on both contests, where early returns were giving Democrats cautious optimism.Mayor Hector Lora of Passaic said that the threats sent to his city and several others — including Paterson, Newark, Hackensack and Lodi — appeared to come from the same email account. In Passaic, he said, the sender mentioned an elementary school that was also a voting site.Law enforcement officials searched the location, and students returned to the school and voting resumed by 8 a.m., he said. But while the threats seemed to have been fake, the disruption they caused was not, he added.“Any delay in the voting process could discourage people from coming back,” Mr. Lora said.Nick Corasaniti contributed reporting.Nov. 4, 2025, 10:04 a.m. ETPoll books at all precincts in Chester County, Pa., did not include the names of unaffiliated and third-party voters, meaning voters who were not registered Republican or Democrat were forced to vote provisionally or come back later in the day, according to a statement from the county election’s office. The county is working to replace the poll books. There are 230 polling locations in Chester County, a large and Democratic-leaning county just outside of Philadelphia, and roughly 75,000 third-party and unaffiliated registered voters. Kamala Harris carried the county by 15 percentage points in 2024.Nov. 4, 2025, 8:50 a.m. ETA moderator, at left, hosting a panel discussion in September with three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices: David N. Wecht, Christine Donohue and Kevin M. Dougherty.Credit...Michelle Gustafson for The New York TimesIn less politically contentious times, the question about State Supreme Court justices on the ballot this Tuesday in Pennsylvania would have drawn relatively little notice. But these contests, called retention elections, are closely watched this year, as they could decide control of the highest court in the most important swing state in the country.Voters will decide whether three justices who were elected as Democrats to the State Supreme Court in Pennsylvania keep their seats for another 10-year term (or until they reach mandatory retirement age). Those justices are Christine Donohue, Kevin M. Dougherty and David N. Wecht.The court, which has a 5-to-2 Democratic majority, has in recent years played a significant role in national politics, weighing in on questions related to voting and redistricting, and it could play a crucial role in the next presidential election.Why does Pennsylvania have these elections?The court’s justices are first elected in partisan elections. When their initial 10-year terms expire, voters are then asked in a simple “yes” or “no” vote whether they should keep their seats.The process is intended to give voters oversight without sending powerful sitting justices back into the political fray.What happens if a candidate loses?Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, could nominate an interim replacement for any vacancy, but he would need approval from the Republican-controlled State Senate. A full election to select a permanent replacement would be held in the next odd year.If all three justices lose and the Senate declines to support the governor’s interim picks, the court could be deadlocked until the next election.If history is any guide, the three justices on the ballot Tuesday should have strong odds of keeping their seats. Only one justice has lost a retention election in Pennsylvania this century.Do other states do it this way, too?Retention elections are not uncommon; 19 states use them to retain judges on their top courts, according to a tally by the Brennan Center for Justice, a law and policy organization.But the specifics of Pennsylvania’s system are less common. Only Pennsylvania, Illinois and New Mexico require judges to initially run in partisan elections and then stand in nonpartisan retention elections to keep their seats, the Brennan Center said.Nov. 4, 2025, 8:15 a.m. ETA mail-in ballot drop box in Scranton, Pa., during last year’s presidential election. Pennsylvania voters have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to drop off their ballots.Credit...Eric Lee/The New York TimesIn Pennsylvania, the nation’s largest swing state, the ballot this year features so-called retention elections, which will determine whether three Democratic justices stay on the seven-member State Supreme Court.Justices on the high court are elected to 10-year terms in partisan elections, and at the end of the term voters are asked whether to retain them for another 10 years. The court has a 5-to-2 Democratic majority and could play a crucial role in the next presidential election.Pennsylvania voters will also weigh in on municipal races and local ballot measures.Here’s what else to know:How to votePolling stations are scheduled to open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. The deadline to register has passed.First-time voters and those using new polling places must bring a form of identification, such as a driver’s license, a passport, a student ID or a bank statement, according to the Pennsylvania State Department. A list of approved forms of ID can be found here.Mail ballots must be received — not postmarked — at the county elections office by 8 p.m. Tuesday. But voters who requested mail ballots can also drop them off in person at county elections offices until 8 p.m. Or, if they believe they failed to send their mail ballot in time, they may request a provisional ballot at their polling station.Where to voteVoters can find their polling places here. Information about county elections offices can be found here.What’s on the ballotThe retention elections could influence the ideological tilt of a court that has settled major cases concerning congressional district lines and balloting procedures in Pennsylvania.The State Supreme Court justices on the ballot do not face opponents, and only a single justice has come up short in a Pennsylvania retention race this century.Nevertheless, Democrats, wary of threats to their majority on a powerful state court, have focused money and attention on the matter.See a sample ballot here.Nov. 4, 2025, 8:00 a.m. ETRepresentative Mikie Sherrill, left, and Jack Ciattarelli are vying for the open governor’s seat in New Jersey.Kriston Jae Bethel for The New York TimesIn the New Jersey governor’s race, Representative Mikie Sherrill, a moderate Democrat who served in the Navy, is taking on Jack Ciattarelli, a businessman and Republican former state lawmaker who has moved closer to President Trump over the years.Mr. Trump has loomed over the race, which could offer a test of the president’s support in a Democratic-leaning state that has shown signs of shifting to the right in recent election cycles.Mr. Ciattarelli is making his third run for governor. Ms. Sherrill is making her first.What to Know About Mikie SherrillMs. Sherrill, 53, was a helicopter pilot in the Navy and worked for a stretch as a federal prosecutor.She flipped a House seat in 2018, and she is seen as a firmly centrist Democrat — but one willing to take risks. Last year, she was among the first Democrats to call on Joseph R. Biden Jr. to quit the presidential race after his disastrous debate performance.She has leveled blistering criticism at Mr. Trump, describing him as an “existential threat” to the country. And she has played hardball politics in the governor’s race, accusing Mr. Ciattarelli of contributing to opioid deaths through his past ownership of a medical publication company, Galen Publishing. (His campaign, in turn, threatened a defamation lawsuit against her.)She is closely tied with the Naval Academy, where she rowed crew; two of her children attend the school. One aspect of her time at the academy has come under particular scrutiny: She did not walk at her graduation in 1994 because, she says, she refused to report students in a cheating scandal.She went on to have a distinguished service record in the Navy.What to Know About Jack CiattarelliFour years ago, Mr. Ciattarelli, 63, came within a few points of unseating the Democratic incumbent, Gov. Philip D. Murphy. Until 2017, he led Galen Publishing, and he has expressed pride in the publisher despite Ms. Sherrill’s attacks.Mr. Ciattarelli has served at various levels of government — including on his local borough council and in the State Assembly — and has carved out a reputation as a moderate, business-oriented Republican.He condemned Mr. Trump during the president’s first run for the White House, describing him as a “charlatan,” and in 2021, he distanced himself from Mr. Trump during the governor’s race, which came less than a year after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.Yet this time around, Mr. Ciattarelli has aligned himself with the president, who endorsed him during a contested Republican primary race in the spring. At a recent debate, Mr. Ciattarelli said he would grade the president’s second term as an A.Mr. Ciattarelli still does not put Mr. Trump at the center of his pitch to voters. But he has laced his platform with Trumpian themes, and has made a tough stand on immigration a core component of his campaign, vowing to end sanctuary cities in New Jersey if elected.Nov. 4, 2025, 7:30 a.m. ETJack Ciattarelli, the Republican candidate for governor of New Jersey, and Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic candidate, are vying to replace Gov. Philip D. Murphy.Credit...James Estrin/The New York TimesThe race to replace Gov. Philip D. Murphy, a term-limited Democrat, offers a test of the prevailing political winds nine months into President Trump’s second term and in a traditionally Democratic-leaning state that recently has shown signs of shifting to the right.The contest is not the only choice for New Jersey voters, who will also select lawmakers for the state’s General Assembly.Here’s what else to know:How to votePolling stations are scheduled to open at 6 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. The deadline to register has passed.Mail ballots must be postmarked by 8 p.m. Tuesday. Those ballots also may be dropped off by 8 p.m. at drop-box locations or at county Board of Elections offices, but they cannot be submitted at polling places.Where to voteVoters can find their polling stations here.Each New Jersey county will also have at least 10 secure drop-box locations for voters who wish to return their mail ballots in person, according to the New Jersey State Department. A list of drop-box locations can be found here, and voters can track their ballots here.What’s on the ballotThe governor’s race pits Representative Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, against former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican who is running for governor again after narrowly losing to Governor Murphy in 2021. Mr. Murphy is to leave office in January at the close of his second term; New Jersey governors cannot serve three straight terms.The election also features races across the 80-seat Assembly, the State Legislature’s lower chamber, which has long been controlled by Democrats.See a sample ballot here.