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The 2024 presidential election is already in full swing, but first voters are settling a swath of critical races this fall. The balance of power in state and local governments is on the line in myriad ways, from the five states where trifectas are at stake to the fall’s sole race for supreme court.

Bolts has identified more than 170 items—and counting—to watch across 31 states, and why they matter, including key races for governors, DAs, mayors, and lawmakers, plus dozens of referendums. 

We’ll add more races to this page through Election Day: Thousands of additional offices, boards, and ballot measures are all on the ballot all around the nation; this page is Bolts’ selection of important races to monitor. We will also update the page with results once they are known.

Most elections on this page are scheduled for Nov. 7, but there are some exceptions: Louisiana holds primaries on Oct. 14 and Nov. 18. Utah holds a special congressional election and mayoral races on Nov. 21. And some elections, such as Houston’s mayoral race, could extend into December with runoffs.

Throughout 2023, we also covered individual elections—with an eye to those that’ll affect voting rights and criminal justice. Read our reporting on Ohio’s referendum on abortion, on Pennsylvania’s supreme court race, on prosecutors in western Pennsylvania and across the south, on the Louisiana governor’s race, on sheriffs in Louisiana, Virginia and Washington, on the races to decide the local officials who will run the 2024 elections in Pennsylvania and Washington, and on Maine’s voting rights referendum.

Finally, as millions head to the polls on Tuesday, many others will not have the chance because of harsh disenfranchisement laws. Our three-part series, “The Ghosts of the 2023 elections,” tells their stories.