Your Cheat Sheet to the 2025 General Elections
Bolts guides you through more than 180 elections on the ballot this fall, across 32 states, and why they matter.
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October 1, 2025
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Four contests have come to largely define the 2025 elections: the elections to lead New Jersey, Virginia, and New York City, plus California’s redistricting measure. But there’s so much else on the ballot.
Enter our annual cheat sheet to help you track this busy general election.
We’ve identified more than 180 key elections that will be decided this fall—from mayors and governors to school boards and judges—and explain why they matter.
All in all, 32 states are represented.
Three seats are at play on Pennsylvania’s supreme court, and two on Georgia’s utility commission—all in statewide races. Democrats are defending chambers in New Jersey and Virginia, but legislative seats could also flip in Minnesota, Mississippi, and Washington.
Dozens of cities are holding intriguing mayoral races, starting with Albuquerque, Detroit, Jersey City, Minneapolis, and Seattle. City councils are also at play, from Aurora to Spokane.
Ballot measures could reshape how people vote in Maine and New York. Voters will directly weigh in on criminal justice via sheriff and prosecutor races, such as in Philly and Seattle. They’ll set the course for education policy as conservatives vie to take over or retain school boards in Pennsylvania and Texas. And across the country, referendums could unlock billions in bonds and spending for parks, schools, and transit.
Scroll down to explore the races and themes that interest you below. Or simply search for key terms, like your state’s name, on your browser.
You can also jump straight to the sections of this guide that break down statewide races, key legislative battles, prosecutors, sheriffs, mayors, county executives, school boards, and city councils, plus referendums on election law, housing, transit, parks, infrastructure, labor, and criminal justice.
Do you have questions about the elections happening this fall? Share them with us on this page, and we will answer as many as possible before Election Day!
This guide is not an exhaustive list of everything that’s on the ballot; it’s our selection of key races to monitor. (That said, it does contain every race for a statewide office.) In fact, voters will fill thousands of other offices all around the country; check your city or county’s local election office for more information.
Nearly all elections on this page are on Tuesday, Nov. 4, except for races in Louisiana, which are on Oct. 11 and Nov. 15, and Oklahoma City, on Oct. 14. We’ll update the page with results once they are known.
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State governments
Governors
| New Jersey Republican Jack Ciattarelli wants to end Democrats’ eight-year streak of control over New Jersey and take the state to the right. Ciattarelli, a former state lawmaker, has embraced Trump this year and says he wants to end the state’s protections for immigrants. He faces Democrat Mikie Sherrill, a member of Congress and former Navy Pilot who rode support from party leaders to easily win a June primary over several progressive opponents. The winner also gets to appoint the attorney general and county prosecutors. |
| Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican who shifted Virginia sharply to the right from voting rights to criminal justice, is barred from seeking a second term. Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a member of Congress, is trying to flip the governorship as she faces Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears. |
State judges
| Pennsylvania’s supreme court (three seats) Three Democratic justices are up for retention, meaning that voters must choose whether they’ll stay on the court in an up-or-down vote. Retention elections are typically sleepy affairs, but conservatives are mounting an unusual effort against the incumbents as part of a longer-term plan to flip the court. Stay tuned for more coverage in Bolts in weeks ahead. | |
| Pennsylvania’s superior court This is Pennsylvania’s appellate court that handles criminal case appeals before they get to the state’s supreme court. Democrats enjoy a 8-6 majority, plus one vacancy (sparked by the retirement of a Democratic judge) to be filled in a partisan race this fall. | |
| Pennsylvania’s commonwealth court This is Pennsylvania’s other appellate court that handles appeals in non-criminal cases, such as election lawsuits. Republicans enjoy a 5-3 majority, plus one vacancy (again sparked by the retirement of a Democratic judge) to be filled in a partisan race this fall. |
Other statewide offices
| Georgia public service commission Two GOP incumbents on Georgia’s utility commission, which deals with electricity prices and energy policy, are running to stay in office in a pair of statewide races. The elections are the first in five years due to a long legal battle over the body’s unusual makeup (members represent specific geographic districts yet are elected at-large by voters statewide) and a lawsuit that made the case that this dilutes the power of voters in the predominantly Black Atlanta region. Now, they’ve become a microcosm of issues with fair elections in Georgia, Bolts reports. |
| Virginia attorney general Incumbent Jason Miyares, a Republican who has targeted local criminal justice reformers and attacked Virginia’s parole system, faces Democrat Jay Jones, a former lawmaker who stresses his desire to fight the Trump administration in court. |
| Virginia lieutenant governor Democrat Ghazala Hashmi, a state senator, faces Republican John Reid, a radio host. Earlier this year, Governor Glenn Youngkin pressured Reid to drop out over a scandal involving explicit photos, but he stayed in the race. |
The legislative chambers where the majority is at play, and their key districts
| These are chambers that may flip, at least on paper: two because every single seat is on the ballot, and a third because of a pair of special elections. |
| New Jersey Assembly | Overall control Democrats enjoy a large majority of 52 to 28. All 80 seats are in play, and both parties have candidates in all but two districts. |
| New Jersey Assembly | 12 key districts Bolts identified 12 districts where the parties look most vulnerable and whose elections this year could shift the partisan balance in the Assembly. (Each district elects two House members.) The GOP is defending seats across 5 districts that voted for Harris, or for Trump by no more than 5 percentage points. The two seats in AD2, 25, 39, and 40, and one of the AD8 seats. Democrats are defending seats across 8 districts that voted for Trump, or for Harris by no more than 5 percentage points. The two seats in AD3, 4, 11, 19, 36, and 38, and one seat in each of AD8 and 30. |
| Virginia House | Overall control Democrats currently enjoy a slim majority of 51-49 in this chamber, and all 100 seats are on the ballot. Republicans need to gain two seats to flip the chamber, while Democrats hope to expand their majority. One issue at stake: a measure to end Virginia’s lifetime voting ban for people with felony convictions, which must first advance in the legislature before it can go in front of voters. |
| Virginia House | 19 key districts Bolts identified 19 key House seats where the parties are most vulnerable and where elections could determine whether Democrats grow—or at least keep—their majority. The GOP is defending eight districts carried by Kamala Harris in the last presidential race; these are the party’s most vulnerable seats: HD22, 57, 71, 73, 75, 82, 86, and 89. Adding districts that Trump carried by less than 5 points will give you a broader sense of the GOP’s weak spots: HD30, 41, 64, 66, 69, and 99. Democrats have fewer vulnerable seats. None of their districts voted for Trump. Three voted for Glenn Youngkin in 2021, and there are just two more where a Democrat prevailed by less than 10 percentage points in the 2023 or 2024 contests: HD21, 58, 65, 84, and 97. |
| Minnesota Senate | Overall control Democrats enjoyed a 35-34 majority during the 2025 session earlier this year, but the death of one Republican senator and the resignation of a Democratic senator has left the chamber split 34-33, with Democrats ahead. Democrats need to win one of the two Nov. 4 special elections (see below) to retain the majority. (Neither party can gain full control of the state government no matter what happens in these races.) |
| Minnesota Senate | 29th and 47th districts On paper, these two special Senate elections shouldn’t be too competitive; the 29th is staunchly red, and the 47th is staunchly blue. Still, the elections are noteworthy given Democrats’ razor-thin margin of one seat. The DLCC, Democrats’ national committee that monitors legislative races, added both of the party’s nominees to its national list of “Spotlight” candidates in September, despite the districts’ strong partisan lean. |
Legislative special elections
| Mississippi | 2nd and 45th Senate district, and 22nd House district A federal appeals court ruled in April that Mississippi’s legislative maps diluted the voting power of Black residents in multiple areas of the state, requiring the state to draw new maps. The judges then ordered special elections this fall in 14 districts affected by the new boundaries. Bolts is watching three districts whose demographic makeup changed significantly in this round of redistricting; the 2nd and 45th Senate districts, and the 22nd House district. All could flip to Democrats. (The makeup of the 11 other districts remains staunchly Republican.) |
| New Hampshire | 5th House district in Coos County The GOP flipped this state House district to Democrats last fall. But the winner ended up resigning this year, triggering this competitive special election. |
| Texas | 9th Senate district Leigh Wambsganss, a conservative activist who has played a prominent role in efforts to shift Texas school boards to the right, is now looking to move to the state Senate. She is running in this special election for a heavily red district, with support from conservative leaders; she still faces a fellow Republican, former Southlake Mayor John Huffman, plus Democrat Taylor Rehmet, in the first round of voting on Nov. 4. |
| Washington | 5th and 26th Senate districts The GOP is hoping to flip two swing districts where Democratic senators triggered special elections by resigning before the end of their terms. In the first round in August, two Democrats finished narrowly ahead of GOP opponents, but the margins were narrow. |
| Washington | 33rd House district Democrats’ progressive and moderate wings are facing off in this special election. Edwin Obras, who was appointed by local officials to fill the seat when it was vacant, is now running to keep it for another full term, with progressive support. Burien Mayor Kevin Schilling, meanwhile, says he’s running to halt progressive policies, especially on policing and criminal justice. |
Who will run these state governments?
| There are only two states where a party could gain, or lose, overall control of a state government. |
| New Jersey Democrats, who currently control this state government, must defend the governorship and Assembly to keep their trifecta. Their majority in the Senate is not on the ballot until 2027, leaving the GOP with no path for full control of the state this year. |
| Virginia No party currently controls this state. Democrats, who currently control the Senate and the House, could gain a trifecta this year by retaining the House and flipping the governorship. Democrats’ majority in the Senate won’t be on the ballot until 2027. |
Referendums
Election law
| California | Prop 50 This high-profile referendum, inspired by Governor Gavin Newsom, will decide whether California adopts a Democratic gerrymander, in response to Texas’ GOP gerrymander this summer. |
| Maine | Question 1 The measure, championed by Maine conservatives, would upend election procedures, as Bolts reported, including by imposing a barrage of new restrictions on mail voting and requiring voter ID. |
| New York City, New York | Prop 6 In cities that have moved their municipal elections to even-numbered years, turnout has soared; voters are deciding whether New York City should be next, as Bolts reports. |
| Texas | Prop 16 Texas law (as well as federal law) already bans noncitizens from voting, but this measure would enshrine that ban in the state constitution. |
Labor
| Olympia, Washington This measure would increase the minimum wage to $20, and adopt a “Bill of Rights” for workers that’d strengthen labor protections around scheduling and wages. |
Housing
| New York City, New York | Props 2, 3, and 4 These measures are meant to speed up development, and weaken the city council’s authority over projects. They’d create a fast-tracked review process for certain housing projects that’d circumvent the council’s current powers; the measures would also set up a new board that could overturn the council’s decision on affordable housing projects. (The council tried to keep the measures off the ballot.) |
| Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is looking to increase the sales tax by 0.5 percent, with roughly one fifth of the new revenue generated meant to finance affordable housing development. |
| See “large infrastructure packages,” below, for several cities that are voting on a broad array of bonds that include financing for affordable housing projects (Columbus, Denver, and Oklahoma City). |
Education and funding schools
| Colorado | Proposition LL and MM These two related measures seek to fund Colorado’s free schools program, in part by raising the income tax on high earners. |
| Des Moines, Iowa A measure to authorize a bond of $265 million aims to secure funding for school construction and upgrades in Iowa’s most populous city—the largest in a series of school district bond measures happening all over Iowa |
| Novi (Oakland County), Michigan Countless communities all around Michigan are asking voters to fund their school systems in November. The Novi Community School District, in the Detroit suburbs, stands out as particularly large, proposing $425 million in bonds. |
| Albuquerque, New Mexico The state’s largest school district system is asking voters to authorize $350 million in bonds to fund its schools and construction and upgrade projects. |
| Texas | Seven school districts Dozens of Texas school districts have advanced bond measures to fund operations and constructions. The largest identified by Bolts would authorize bonds of more than $1.3 billion for Richardson ISD, in Dallas County. Other major bond measures include more than $500 million for Magnolia ISD, in Montgomery County; nearly $500 million for the North East ISD, located in San Antonio (Bexar County); $460 million for Brownsville ISD, in Cameron County; roughly $400 million for Bryan ISD, in Brazos County; and Manor ISD, an Austin suburb in Travis County. Also watch a referendum in Hays County to increase the property tax to generate $26 million a year to fund a large school district’s budget and avoid significant cuts. |
| Texas | Proposition 15 Texas lawmakers want voters to enshrine into the state constitution the principle that parents have the right to make decisions over a child’s upbringing. (This is the nation’s first measure of its kind since 1996, according to Ballotpedia.) Lawmakers considered another, more precise measure to codify parental rights within the school system but it did not advance this year. |
| Seattle, Washington | Question 1 Voters are deciding on a property tax levy to fund public education and broaden access to child care for lower-income families. The measure would renew an existing levy, at an increased rate, and is projected to bring in $1.3 billion over six years. |
| Bolts is spotlighting bond measures of at least $250 million here; there are many other smaller but still significant measures all around the country, including in school districts in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia. |
Transportation
| Mecklenburg County (Charlotte), North Carolina The county is voting on a measure that would increase the local sales tax by one percentage point to pay for transportation projects. Sixty percent of the revenue would go to public transit. |
| See “large infrastructure packages,” below, for several cities that are voting on a broad array of bonds that include financing for transportation (Denver and Oklahoma City). |
Parks
| Boise, Idaho Voters are considering a levy, championed by local environmental advocates, that’s meant to fund the creation and maintenance of parks and open spaces. |
| New York State | Prop 1 This measure would allow the state of New York to build winter sports facilities in a section of the Forest Preserve, in the Adirondacks, in exchange for adding 2,500 acres elsewhere into the Preserve. |
| Portland, Oregon Portlanders will decide whether to renew an expiring levy, at an increased rate, to fund the maintenance of their city’s parks and recreational programs. |
| Spokane, Washington City officials who put this $240 million tax levy on the ballot say it would help create new parks in Spokane, beyond maintaining existing ones. |
| See “large infrastructure packages,” below, for several cities that are voting on a broad array of bonds that include financing for parks and open spaces (Chandler and Denver). |
Large bonds packages for infrastructure
| Chandler, Arizona Voters in this city south of Phoenix are deciding whether to authorize $475 million in infrastructure bonds, which would include tens of millions going to the police, as well as money for parks. |
| Denver, Colorado Denver officials are asking residents to authorize a $950 million infrastructure package they’ve dubbed “Vibrant Denver,” which would fund a wide array of city projects. It includes hundreds of millions of dollars for transportation, and roughly $45 million for affordable housing development. |
| Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | Propositions 1 through 11 Note that these measures are scheduled for Oct. 14. With one of the largest bond packages on the ballot anywhere this year, Oklahoma City residents are deciding whether to finance $2.7 billion in projects and services, half of which would go to preserving and enhancing streets, and other large pots for maintaining drainage and funding parks. |
| Columbus, Ohio Columbus voters are deciding whether to authorize $1.9 billion in bonds to fund infrastructure projects, the largest bond measure in this city’s history; a large pot, $500 million, would be steered toward affordable housing projects. |
Criminal justice and courts
| Flathead County, Montana In one of Montana’s more populous counties, voters will decide whether they want to raise their taxes to build a new jail. Such measures often succeed but do sometimes fail, as earlier this year in Arkansas. |
| Texas | Prop 3 A longtime priority of Governor Greg Abbott, this measure would require judges to deny bail to defendants accused of certain felonies. |
| Texas | Prop 12 This measure would affect the commission on judicial conduct, a body that reviews complaints about judges and can discipline them. Changes would include tweaking the commission’s composition, and expanding its power to suspend judges; the proposal comes as some state Republicans have tried to target local officials, including judges, with whom they disagree. |
Tax laws
| Texas | Propositions 2, 6, and 8 These three measures would codify into the Texas state constitution a ban on imposing any capital gains tax, a ban on taxing securities transactions, and a ban on any inheritance tax. (Texas already has no such taxes.) |
| Texas | Prop 17 Should the value of someone’s property near the U.S.-Mexico border rise because of the construction of new border law enforcement infrastructure, this measure proposes that the owners should be exempt from paying property tax on that increase. |
| Austin, Texas | Proposition Q Austin voters are voting on increasing the property tax rate to pay for the city’s budget, including more funding for homelessness services and emergency shelters. |
| Seattle, Washington | Proposition 2 This measure would raise taxes on big businesses to fund social services. It was championed by the last remaining council member from Seattle’s once-dominant left faction (see below). |
Other measures
| Aurora, Colorado | Question 3B Aurora’s city council is asking voters to lift the ban on elected officials holding multiple public offices simultaneously. |
| Aurora, Colorado | Question 3B Another Aurora measure would change language in the city charter to make it gender neutral, such as changing “chairman” to “chairperson.” (There were multiple state referendums on the ballot in November 2024 with this idea, and most were successful.) |
| New York City, New York | Prop 5 This measure would create a new, consolidated map of New York City; a centralized map currently does not exist. |
| Texas | Prop 4 If this measure passes, Texas would devote $1 billion of sales tax revenue each year to fund water infrastructure; this would include wells, dams, and agriculture conservation. |
| San Antonio, Texas | Prop A and B The San Antonio Spurs are hoping to convince voters to increase certain taxes to fund a new NBA arena, as well as a new rodeo area, amid opposition from groups that want to limit public funds going to private development, writes The San Antonio Report. The election comes as the collapse of a county vendor has left 45,000 local voter registrations in limbo. |
Local Governments
Mayors
| Fairbanks, Alaska The mayor of Alaska’s second largest city, Republican David Pruhs, faces challenger Mindy O’Neall, a Democrat. (Party IDs will not appear on the ballot.) Pruhs earlier this year drew condemnation from Alaska Native groups that accused him of making discriminatory social media comments. In the past, Pruhs has been a strong opponent of anti-discrimination legislation in the city, and he fought a proposal to add protections to LGBTQ+ residents. Note this election is scheduled for Oct. 7. | |
| Connecticut | Six towns Many of Connecticut’s biggest towns are electing their mayors, with Democrats heavily favored in blue cities like New Haven, Stamford, and Hamden. Others may be competitive. The GOP is looking to win back Danbury after Democrats flipped it in an upset in 2023. In Norwalk, the Democratic mayor is retiring after 12 years. Meanwhile, Democratic candidates are trying to flip the mayorships in Bristol, Milford, New Britain, and Stratford. | |
| Miami, Florida This election almost didn’t happen after Miami officials tried this summer to postpone local races and give themselves an extra year in office, but a judge blocked the move. Now, a crowded race includes Republican Xavier Suarez, a former mayor and the father of the current mayor, Republican Emilio Gonzalez, a former city manager, and Democratic County Commissioner Eileen Higgins. If no one clears 50 percent, the top two will move on to a runoff regardless of party. | |
| Atlanta, Georgia Democrat Andre Dickens is heavily favored to win reelection, as the only connected, well-funded candidate in the field. He faces challengers trying to force more attention on issues of affordable housing and economic inequality. He has also been steadfast in championing the “Cop City” facility, and city officials managed to block the ballot measure that’d have forced a vote on the issue. | |
| Topeka, Kansas Real estate developer Henry McClure, one of two candidates still standing in Topeka’s mayoral election, has amplified white nationalist views and defended them as “entertainment and fun;” he faces Spencer Duncan, a city councilmember who finished well ahead in the August first round. | |
| New Orleans, Louisiana Note that the first round is on Oct. 11. City Council President Helena Moreno, a Democrat running with heavy support from city leaders, is heavily favored to win the mayor’s race and replace the retiring incumbent. Moreno did not respond to Bolts‘ questions on a major decision that awaits the city, whether to become the first city in the nation to formalize a real-time surveillance program with facial recognition. | |
| Annapolis, Maryland Jared Littmann, a former alderperson who sponsored a 2017 ordinance to protect immigrant residents, is favored to keep Democrats in charge in Maryland’s state capital. (The incumbent is retiring.) He faces Republican Bob O’Shea. | |
| Boston, Massachusetts Mayor Michelle Wu, a progressive Democrat, was set to face an expensive challenge from her right. But Josh Kraft, son of the owner of the New England Patriots, chose to drop out in September, days after a first round in which he trailed Wu by a prohibitively huge margin. | |
| Dearborn, Michigan Abdullah Hammoud, the Democratic mayor who championed the Uncommitted movement to protest U.S. policy toward Israel during the 2024 Democratic primaries, is running for reelection against Republican Nagi Almudhegi, who launched his campaign surrounded by Trump allies. | |
| Detroit, Michigan Mary Sheffield, the city council president, dominated the all-party primary in August, with 51 percent of the vote in a nine-candidate field. She still faces a two-way general election against Solomon Kinloch Jr., a fellow Democrat and local pastor who was runner-up in the primary. Sheffield has a moderate reputation, though the two candidates are fighting over the “progressive” mantle in the fall campaign. James Craig, the GOP former police chief, was eliminated in August. | |
| Minneapolis, Minnesota Mayor Jacob Frey’s early tenure was defined by the murder of George Floyd and the local debates over policing that followed as he opposed his city council’s more left-wing proposals. He now faces several challengers, including state Senator Omar Fateh, a democratic socialist who won the state party’s endorsement at the summer convention, though the party later revoked the convention results. The race will be decided via ranked-choice voting. | |
| Saint Paul, Minnesota As Mayor Melvin Carter runs for a third term, he faces four opponents, most notably state Representative Kaohly Her, a fellow Democrat who drew attention this summer for a speech critical of Trump’s immigration agenda. Her used to work as Carter’s policy director; she is focusing her criticism on what she casts as his failures to work with other public institutions. | |
| Manchester, New Hampshire Republicans flipped the mayorship of New Hampshire’s largest city two years ago. Mayor Jay Ruais is seeking a second term against Democrats’ last-minute challenger, school board member Jessica Spillers. | |
| Gloucester Township, New Jersey When Mayor David Mayer proposed selling this township’s sewer system to a company that he worked for, voters rejected the idea in a tense referendum. Now, Keith Gibbons, who organized the campaign against that vote, is challenging Mayer. He is running as an independent and has drawn support from local Republicans while his opponents are trying to tie him to left-wing positions. Adding confusion are allegations, reported by Politico, that the Democratic machine recruited a phantom candidate to split the votes of Mayer’s critics. | |
| Jersey City, New Jersey Jim McGreevey is mounting a comeback after the former governor resigned 21 years ago after facing nepotism and sexual harassment allegations, which he responded to by coming out as gay. He is running to lead New Jersey’s second most populous city with support from Democratic party leaders, and faces six challengers, including councilmember James Solomon. | |
| Albuquerque, New Mexico Democratic incumbent Tim Keller faces a crowd of prominent challengers, including a former U.S. Attorney, Democrat Alex Uballez, and a former sheriff, Republican Darren White. The candidates have sparred on immigration policy, with White taking issue with Keller’s suggestion of a tipline to track ICE agents’ whereabouts. The race is likely heading to a December runoff. | |
| New York City, New York If you are reading this page, you likely know of this race even if no other. Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist lawmaker, won the June Democratic primary over former Governor Andrew Cuomo, a triumph for the left that promptly alarmed business elites and mega-wealthy residents. But Cuomo, who resigned as governor four years ago over sexual harassment allegations, is still running as an independent alongside GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa. Mayor Eric Adams dropped out of the race in late September. (Read more in Bolts on how the race has intersected with debates around solitary confinement.) | |
| Binghamton, New York Republican Mayor Jared Kraham faces Miles Burnett, a progressive Democrat, in a campaign dominated by issues of affordable housing, City and State reports. | |
| Buffalo, New York Sean Ryan, a Democratic state senator, won the Democratic primary in June over a more conservative Democrat, Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon. In this Democratic city, he now faces GOP nominee James Gardner, a former prosecutor. | |
| Syracuse, New York Sharon Owens easily defeated several Democrats who were running to her right on policing and taxes in the June primary. She now faces Republican Thomas Babilon to replace the retiring Democratic mayor. | |
| Charlotte, North Carolina Democratic Mayor Vi Lyles is seeking a fifth term against Republican Terrie Donovan, a real estate agent. The race is unfolding as national Republicans have blamed Charlotte Democrats for the high-profile murder of Iryna Zarutska on a train in August, and as some push the Trump administration to send the National Guard to Charlotte. | |
| Cincinnati, Ohio Democratic Mayor Aftab Pureval faces Republican Cory Bowman, the half-brother of Vice President JD Vance, and he’s favored to win based on the primary results. Bowman says he got the idea to run for Cincinnati mayor while flying back from attending Trump and Vance’s inauguration in January. | |
| Cleveland, Ohio High-profile Democrats considered challenging Democratic Mayor Justin Bibb but ultimately passed on the race, so Bibb is now heavily favored to win a second term over his only opponent, Republican Laverne Gore. | |
| Pennsylvania | Pittsburgh Corey O’Connor, Allegheny County’s controller, ousted Mayor Ed Gainey in the May Democratic primary, and now he is heavily favored in this blue city against Republican nominee Tony Moreno, a retired police officer who already lost by a large margin four years ago. | |
| Columbia, South Carolina When the Columbia city council voted to repeal its ban on conversion therapy this summer on a 4-3 vote, Mayor Daniel Rickenmann sided with the majority. Rickenmann, a Republican, flipped the mayor’s office in 2021, and he’s now running for reelection against challenger Jessica Thomas, a 28-year old who was advocating against repeal outside City Hall this summer. Bolts is also watching the reelection bids of Councilmember Peter Brown, who backed the repeal, and Aditi Bussells and Tina Herbert, who opposed it. | |
| Seattle, Washington No Seattle mayor has won a second term since 2005. Will the streak continue? Bruce Harrell’s victory in 2021 was a boost to Seattle’s moderate, pro-business faction; he now faces a challenger running to his left, Katie Wilson, a community organizer and secretary general of the Transit Riders Union. Stay tuned for more on this race in coming weeks in Bolts. |
Prosecutors
| Manhattan, New York Alvin Bragg, the Democratic DA who brought Trump to trial last year, faces challengers who are arguing that the city is not safe, and laying the blame on reforms Bragg rolled out early in his tenure to reduce jail time for lower-level offenses. Read more in Bolts. |
| Nassau, New York Nassau County’s shift to the right over the last four years included electing Republican Anne Donnelly as DA in 2021. Donnelly now faces Democrat Nicole Aloise, a career prosecutor who has focused on her leadership style; both candidates have attacked the state’s recent restrictions on the use of cash bail. |
| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania In the May Democratic primary, Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner, a national figurehead of the progressive prosecutor movement, easily beat challenger Pat Dugan, a former local judge who made the case that Krasner’s policies are too lenient. But Dugan then decided to continue running in the general election as the Republican nominee. |
| Bucks County, Pennsylvania Joe Khan, a Democrat who lost a bid for Philadelphia DA in 2017 and state attorney general in 2024, is challenging Bucks County Republican DA, Jennifer Schorn. Khan cast himself as a reformer in his prior DA bid, but declined to talk about his policy positions with Bolts this spring. He runs alongside an energized slate of candidates hoping to swing this suburban county back toward Democrats. |
| Chesapeake, Virginia Incumbent Matt Hamel left the GOP last fall and is now running as a Democrat. He faces Republican David Mick, who told Bolts in an interview that he rejects the reformer label, and also criticized Hamel for not respecting defendants’ rights. |
| Portsmouth, Virginia Democratic incumbent Stephanie Morales, who played a leading role in the creation of Virginia’s coalition of reform-minded prosecutors in 2020, is running for a third full term against two independent challengers. |
| Virginia Beach, Virginia Republican incumbent Colin Stolle faces Democrat Suzanne Richmond, a former prosecutor and public defender. In an interview with Bolts, Richmond distanced herself from progressive prosecutors who’ve won in other areas of Virginia, even as she named several policy areas where she’d like to see policy changes. |
| Seattle, Washington Ann Davison, Seattle’s GOP city attorney, has championed harsher punishments during her first term. Her Democratic challenger Erika Evans says she’ll take a more progressive direction, such as working to undo a policy to ban some people charged with drug offenses from entering designated areas of the city. Learn more in Bolts. |
| Read our guide to every single prosecutor election on the ballot this fall. |
County executives
| Nassau and Rensselaer counties, New York GOP county executives are seeking reelection in two of New York’s politically tightest counties. In Rensselaer County, home to Troy, County Executive Steve McLaughlin faces Democrat Tiffani Silverman. But Democrats’ big target is Nassau County, the populous county in Long Island that they lost in an upset in 2021, in a precursor of Trump’s big gains in 2024. Democrat Seth Koslow, a county legislator, is running to oust Republican Bruce Blakeman. |
| Erie County, Pennsylvania In 2021, the GOP flipped the executive’s office of this populous county in northwest Pennsylvania for the first time in decades; Democrat Christina Vogel now hopes to win it back from GOP incumbent Brenton Davis. |
| Lehigh and Northampton counties, Pennsylvania The Democratic executives of these two swing counties are retiring this year, and these are opportunities for the GOP to gain; Northampton narrowly voted for Trump last year, and Lehigh narrowly voted against him. |
| King County (Seattle), Washington Two county commissioners, Claudia Balducci and Girmay Zahilay, are facing off in this two-way race to lead the county. Both are Democrats who overlap on many issues, but they’ve split the support of the two newspapers that serve as proxies of Seattle’s ideological divides. The Stranger, which tends to endorse the more left-leaning candidates, supports Zahilay; The Seattle Times, which tends to endorse more centrist candidates, endorsed Balducci. |
Sheriffs
| New Orleans, Louisiana Note that the first round is on Oct. 11. Sheriff Susan Hutson is seeking reelection in the wake of a high-profile jailbreak, and fellow Democrat Michelle Woodfork leads by huge margins in several polls. Hutson has been a critic of the Republican state government, and whoever succeeds her will likely still face heavy pressure from Louisiana’s Republican leaders. |
| Erie County, New York Bolts reported this summer how the GOP sheriff in Erie County, home to Buffalo continues to run for reelection without any opposition despite an alarming string of jail deaths on his watch. He is again uncontested this year. |
| Bucks County, Pennsylvania Fred Harran, the GOP sheriff, signed a contract with ICE to help Trump’s deportation agenda earlier this spring, even as Pennsylvania sheriffs have much more limited powers than other sheriffs across the country. Other county officials say that the sheriff lacked authority to unilaterally enter into agreements with ICE and called the contract illegal. Harran faces Democrat Danny Ceisler, who has criticized his deal with ICE. |
| Chesapeake, Virginia Sheriff Dave Rosado, a Republican who has worked closely with ICE and even entered into a new contract with the agency this spring, nevertheless lost his GOP primary to challenger Wallace Chadwick, who ran as an immigration hardliner. Rosado is now mounting a write-in bid, with support from the local Democratic Party. |
Other local officials: City councils, county boards, and judges
| Mesa, Arizona | Recall Far-right organizers are trying to oust GOP Councilmember Julie Spilsbury; among other things, they blame her for voting to house homeless people in a hotel, a grievance that echoes the failed effort to recall three local officials in South Tucson this summer. “I truly think it’s the right thing to do. That we are helping people that want to get help,” Spilsbury said at the time. |
| Tucson, Arizona | Ward 3 When the Tucson city council voted to crack down on encampments this year, Democrat Kevin Dahl was the only council member to vote no. Now he is seeking reelection against Janet Wittenbraker, a Republican who is critical of so-called Housing First policies. |
| Aurora, Colorado | 5 seats Even as Colorado has drifted blue, Republicans have kept their leadership in Aurora. On paper, Democrats could flip the city council this fall if they oust two of the three GOP incumbents who are running for reelection: one in Ward II, and two who’ll appear on a joint at-large ballot. One of these GOP incumbents is Danielle Jurinsky, who has drawn scrutiny for her behavior on the council, including toward her fellow conservatives. Still, it’ll be tough for Democrats: The GOP is dominating fundraising; plus, Democrats also need to defend the first and third ward, where Democratic incumbents retired. |
| Orlando, Florida | District 1 Could Democrats make Orlando’s council entirely Democratic? The only Republican on the council, Jim Gray, faces two Democrats fighting for the GOP’s remaining seat. (The race is ostensibly nonpartisan.) |
| Boston, Massachusetts | District 7 The mayoral race has fizzled, and all councilors who are seeking reelection appear to be in strong shape to secure an additional term—regardless of where they stand on the political spectrum, as Bolts reported recently in an article on a controversial police center. That leaves the race to represent the seventh district, the only one without an incumbent, as the main event of Boston’s elections this fall. Said Ahmed and Miniard Culpepper are vying to replace a councilor who resigned after pleading guilty to fraud and theft charges this spring. Among the contrasts in the race: Culpepper, unlike Ahmed, is wholeheartedly endorsing the creation of safe injection sites in Boston. |
| Detroit, Michigan | District 6 and 7 Denzel McCampbell, a democratic socialist who worked as Rashida Tlaib’s communications director and has drawn comparisons to Zohran Mamdani, is running for the open District 7. He faces fellow Democrat Karen Whitsett, a state Representative who teamed up with Republicans last winter to stall her party’s legislative agenda during the lame-duck session. McCampbell is running as a team with the council’s existing democratic socialist, Gabriela Santiago-Romero. She, too, faces a Democratic state Representative, Tyrone Carter. |
| Minneapolis, Minnesota | Two key districts All 13 city council seats are on the ballot, and left-wing and centrist factions are once more at odds. Left-leaning incumbents are up in the 1st, 2nd, 7th, 9th, 10th, and 12th districts; moderate incumbents are running in the 3rd, 4th, and 13th districts. Watch the 7th district, where challenger Elizabeth Shaffer won the Democratic Party’s coveted endorsement over progressive incumbent Katie Cashman. (Shaffer is the only challenger who won the party endorsement.) Also watch the 8th, where candidate Soren Stevenson sustained a serious injury during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020; he already ran two years ago and fell just short against the more centrist city council president, who chose to retire this year. |
| New York City, New York | Districts 13 and 47 New York City council races are largely uncompetitive in the general election, but Bolts is watching two of them this fall. Republicans narrowly flipped the 13th district two years ago, gaining their first seat in the Bronx since 1983; Democrat Shirley Aldebol is now looking to oust GOP incumbent Kristy Marmorato. And the 47th district, in Southern Brooklyn, leans blue—just not by the standards of the rest of the city. With the Democratic incumbent’s retirement, it’s a rare race to watch. |
| Nassau County, New York | Control of the state legislature Democrats sued over the new GOP-drawn map for Nassau County’s legislature (the local equivalent of a county board) under the state’s Voting Rights Act, and they succeeded at forcing a new map for this cycle that gives them a shot at breaking the GOP’s 16-year hold on this county. |
| Cincinnati, Ohio | One election for nine at-large seats Cincinnati has had an all-Democratic city council since the 2023 elections. But all nine seats are up again this year, and the GOP hopes to build back a presence, in part by riding the local controversy around a major redevelopment project. (All candidates share one ballot; the nine top vote-getters will be elected.) The race is nonpartisan but Democrats have endorsed a full slate of nine candidates; the GOP has endorsed three, including a former city council member. |
| Cleveland, Ohio | Wards 10, 11, and 12 Progressives are looking to gain ground on Cleveland’s all-Democratic city council. Incumbents had a strong night in the September first round, but three districts remain of interest. Tanmay Shah, a democratic socialist, is challenging incumbent Danny Kelly in the 12th ward, though she trailed in the first round. Community activist Nikki Hudson is running for the open 11th ward with left-leaning support. Finally, in the 10th ward, incumbents Michael Polensek and Anthony Hairston are facing off due to redistricting; Polensek says he decided to run again because he wants to stop candidates he described as left-wing “extremists” from running the city. |
| Columbus, Ohio | District 7 A battle between two Democrats for a seat on this city council is testing the Democratic Party establishment, which has largely rallied behind assistant city attorney Tiana Ross. She’s facing Jesse Vogel, an attorney who has represented tenants and immigrants who is running an outsider campaign. Among the topics of the race, Ross has touted her work spearheading Columbus’ civilian police oversight board, while Vogel has criticized the board as inefficient. |
| Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania | Local judges Bolts reported in May on a slate of eight progressive-backed candidates who were running for seats on the bench of Pennsylvania’s second largest county, home to Pittsburgh. Four of them then prevailed in the Democratic primary, which in this county usually is tantamount with the final victory, though they’ll face a contested election in November. An additional member of the original “Slate of Eight” is now running as a Republican, as she had filed to run in both primaries, as is allowed in Pennsylvania. |
| Spokane, Washington | City council, three elections for three districts In ostensibly nonpartisan races, the liberal slate defended its majority in 2023 and now enjoys a 5-2 edge over conservatives. This fall, their majority is at play again: Two liberal-held seats (Districts 2 and 3) and one conservative-held seat (District 1) are on the ballot. The right is especially focused on ousting incumbent Zack Zappone, whose opponent accused him of “trying to help out with the LGBTQ and all these small groups that really don’t have a huge population here.” |
| Seattle, Washington | Three elections for three districts The pro-business wing of Seattle politics has dominated the city council in recent years (see our primary preview for more), but the local left is hoping to improve its standing this year. Council President Sara Nelson, who has led the moderate wing, faces a challenger to her left, Dionne Foster. Incumbent Alexis Mercedes Rinck, the only member of the once-dominant left-leaning caucus, faces Rachael Savage. In the open race for the 2nd district, the left-leaning Eddie Lin faces Adonis Ducksworth, an adviser to centrist Mayor Bruce Harrell. |
School boards
| Mecklenburg County (Charlotte), North Carolina Five of the ten seats on the Mecklenburg County school board are contested this fall, and the GOP has opportunities for some gains. (There is one Republican on the board currently, and she is up for reelection too.) The races are nonpartisan, but both parties have endorsed candidates. The campaign is unfolding amid controversy regarding social media comments by a Democratic school board member about Charlie Kirk, after her comments were publicized by the local police union. |
| Bucks County, Pennsylvania | Central Bucks and Pennridge districts At the start of this decade, Bucks County became ground zero for the right-wing takeover of school boards. Conservatives affiliated with groups such as Moms for Liberty took over local school boards in Pennridge and Central Bucks and passed policies that targeted LGBTQ+ students and banned books. The tide turned in 2023 when Democrats flipped both boards. This fall, each school district is electing four of its nine board members. The GOP cannot flip either back, but Democrats are hoping for a strong showing that can protect them in the future. In Central Bucks, the board was 6-3 Republican heading into the 2023 elections; today, Democrats are up 8-1, with the lone GOP seat up this fall. In Pennridge, the board went from 8-1 Republican to 6-3 Democratic in 2023, and all three GOP seats are up this fall. |
| York County, Pennsylvania | Southern York district The conservative majority on the Southern York School Board, which has four seats up for election this November, has passed policies against LGBTQ+ students over the last year. The four GOP nominees include two incumbents aligned with the far-right majority and two allies who want to join the board. The York Dispatch reports on similar slates of candidates running in at least 13 school districts across this county, a stronghold for conservatives who’ve tried to push these boards to the right. |
| Harris County, Texas | Cypress-Fairbanks ISD One of the largest school districts in Texas, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, has come to be dominated by the Christian right, The Texas Monthly reported in early September, and some parents are trying to push back this fall, with three school board seats on the ballot. The opposition slate has rallied around candidates Kendra Camarena, Lesley Guilmart, Cleveland Lane, each running for different seats; if they sweep in November, conservatives would lose their majority on this board. Oddly, two of the right-wing incumbents whose seats are up this fall (Nancy Blasingame and Scott Henry) have chosen to run against each other for the same seat. |
| Note: Many school districts in Texas held their elections in May of this year, rather than November; those May races saw a series of defeats for conservative board members. |
Bonus: One federal election!
| Texas | 18th congressional district The death of Democrat Sylvester Turner has sparked a special election in his Houston-area congressional seat. The district is likely to end up electing a Democrat, but there are more than a dozen candidates in the race with no clear front-runner, and all of them will appear on one ballot regardless of party, so the election is likely to head to a runoff. The election is being waged for a district that will soon change drastically due to the GOP’s middecade gerrymander. |