The 25 Elections to Watch This December
From a congressional seat to mayoral runoffs, Democrats are aiming for more gains, while also settling some internal battles. Here’s what we’re watching across eight states.
On the heels of their sweeping wins in November, Democrats have opportunities to gain further ground in December runoffs and special elections. They’re hoping for upsets in conservative territory, from a congressional race in Tennessee to a legislative race in Georgia, plus trying to flip mayoral seats in Miami and several Atlanta suburbs.
It’s all in our guide to the 25 elections to track in December, below.
The GOP is also eying some upsets in blue-leaning legislative races and in Albuquerque’s mayoral race, where a Democratic incumbent faces a former Republican sheriff.
Plus, Democrats’ internal ideological and generational battles are coming to a head in several contests. Watch Jersey City, where a progressive slate is trying to thwart the comeback bid of former Governor Jim McGreevey and his allies, and local elections in Houston and Atlanta.
This guide starts on Dec. 2 in Georgia, New Jersey and Tennessee, and continues on Dec. 9 in Florida, Georgia (again), and New Mexico. Then, we’re watching runoffs in Texas on Dec. 13, and special legislative elections in Kentucky on Dec. 16 and Iowa on Dec. 30.
As always, this guide is just our selection of key races to monitor. It’s not an exhaustive list of all elections in December: There are many more contests, from legislative runoffs in Mississippi to a county assessor race in California.
Return to this page, which we’ll update with results. Until then, you can revisit our past guides to elections that happened in April, May, June, July, August, September, and then head to our rundown of the fall’s general elections.
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Jump to the races you are interested in, or explore below:
Congressional or Legislative elections
| Jump to: —A congressional seat in Tennessee (Dec. 2) —A legislative seat in Florida (Dec. 9) —A legislative seat in Georgia (Dec. 9) —A legislative seat in Kentucky (Dec. 16) —A legislative seat in Iowa (Dec. 30) |
Municipal elections
| Jump to: —Leadership of several cities in the Atlanta region (Dec. 2) —Leadership of several New Jersey cities (Dec. 2) —Leadership in the Miami region (Dec. 9) —Leadership of Albuquerque, New Mexico (Dec. 9) —Leadership in several Texas cities (Dec. 13) |
Special election for the U.S. House
Tennessee: Seventh Congressional district (Dec. 2)
| Democrats hope to pull off what would be the upset of 2025 in Tennessee, which is holding a special election to replace U.S. Representative Mark Green. The district voted for Donald Trump by 22 percentage points in 2024, which in normal times would be a prohibitive margin for a Democrat. (The reddest district currently represented by a Democrat voted for Trump by just nine points.) |
| But Democrats feel upbeat in light of their string of overperformances throughout 2025, which culminated in major gains in November. They’re talking up their chances and have released internal polls showing their candidate, Aftyn Behn, within single-digits over GOP nominee Matt Van Epps. If nothing else, the party is relishing its opportunity to campaign aggressively in this red region of Tennessee. Both parties are now spending aggressively on ads in this final stretch. |
| Result: Van Epps wins by nine percentage points. |
City governments
Roswell and Sandy Springs, Georgia: Mayors (Dec. 2)
| Rusty Paul chaired Georgia’s Republican Party back in the 1990s. Now, he is the mayor of Sandy Springs, in Atlanta’s once-conservative suburbs, and faces a runoff against Dontaye Carter, a self-described progressive Democrat who says he wants to “stand up” to ICE and is stressing housing affordability. Paul prevailed 68 to 32 percent when the two faced off four years ago, and he is favored. But Georgia Democrats hope to show they’re at least gaining ground after their victories in November. They have another, perhaps stronger, shot at flipping a mayor’s office in Roswell, just a short drive away: Mayor Kurt Wilson, who once ran for Congress as a Republican, is running for reelection against Mary Robichaux, a former Democratic lawmaker. Wilson and Robichaux finished within one percentage point in the first round in November, after a campaign marked by local issues such as transparency around city budgeting. |
| Result: Robichaux wins in Roswell, flipping the office. Paul wins reelection in Sandy Springs. |
South Fulton, Georgia: Mayor and city council (Dec. 2)
| A third Atlanta suburb, the predominantly Black city of South Fulton, is also hosting a mayoral runoff, this one between two Democrats: Carmalitha Gumbs, a city council member, and Mark Baker, who sat on the council until he unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2022 and 2024, challenging Democratic U.S. Representative David Scott from his left. The campaign was dominated by the scandals surrounding incumbent khalid “Kobi” kamau, who was eliminated in November with just five percent. Baker and Gumbs have not clashed on major issues during the campaign; while on council, Baker sponsored high-profile ordinances Grumbs supported, including to decriminalize marijuana, ban no-knock warrants, and bar employers from asking about criminal history. While Capital B reports that the proliferation of data centers in South Fulton is a major worry for residents, neither Baker nor Gumbs are running on opposing such projects. However, a city council runoff is spotlighting the issue: Stephanie Johnson, who faces Aaron Johnson, has put concerns about data centers at the forefront of her campaign. |
| Results: Gumbs wins the mayor’s office. Aaron Johnson wins the council seat. |
Atlanta, Georgia: City council (Dec. 2)
| Left-leaning groups in Atlanta, including DSA, tried to gain city council seats this year, but establishment-aligned candidates largely prevailed on Nov. 4. Still, a DSA-endorsed candidate won in the second district, and two other districts went to December runoffs. In both runoffs, candidates backed by Mayor Andre Dickens, a centrist Democrat who secured reelection in November, face candidates recommended by DSA. The Dickens-aligned candidates are Thomas Worthy in District 7 and Wayne Martin in District 11; the DSA-aligned candidates are Thad Flowers and Nate Jester, respectively. |
| Results: Worthy and Martin win. |
Atlanta, Georgia: School board (Dec. 2)
| Left-leaning groups also face establishment Democratic picks in runoffs for Atlanta’s school board. In District 6, appointed incumbent Tolton Pace is up against DSA-recommended challenger Patreece Hutcherson. And in an at-large race, Dickens has endorsed Kaycee Brock while opponent Royce Mann has support from the Working Families Party and a recommendation from DSA. Mann went viral in 2016 when, as a 14-year old high school student, he recited a poem titled “White Boy Privilege” at a slam poetry competition in his school. |
| Results: Hutcherson wins over Pace. Brock wins over Mann. |
Jersey City, New Jersey: Mayor (Dec. 2)
| Jim McGreevey’s comeback, which once seemed dominant, now looks to be in trouble. The former governor, who resigned 21 years ago after facing nepotism and sexual harassment allegations, which he responded to by coming out as gay, now wants to lead New Jersey’s second largest city. But on Nov. 4, he finished narrowly behind James Solomon, a Jersey City councilmember and fellow Democrat. Solomon is running in the more progressive lane. Endorsed by the Working Families Party, he wnts to crack down on developers that aren’t meeting affordable housing quotas. McGreevey is backed by the state’s Democratic governor, as well as by local police unions.. |
| Results: Solomon wins. |
Jersey City, New Jersey: City council (Dec. 2)
| Candidates aligned with Solomon or McGreevey are also facing off for city council in runoffs that will determine how much leeway the next mayor has. Two candidates endorsed by the WFP won outright on Nov. 4 in Wards D and E, a boost to Solomon’s faction. But other seats went to runoffs: In each of Wards A, B, and D, a candidate backed by the WFP (Denise Ridley, Joel Brooks, Jake Ephros) is facing off against a McGreevey ally (Brandi Warren, Efrain Orleans, Catherine Healy); Brooks and Ephros also have DSA support. Plus, three Solomon allies, one McGreevey ally, and two others are battling on a single ballot for three at-large seats. |
| Results: Progressive slate prevails. Ridley, Brooks, and Ephros win, and in the at-large race, the candidates aligned with Solomon (Rolando Lavarro, Michael Griffin, and Mamta Singh) also win. |
Hoboken, New Jersey: Mayor (Dec. 2)
| Two councilmembers in the running to replace Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla. Emily Jabbour and Michael Russo are both Democrats, and both voted this year in favor of the city ordinance meant to bar local collaboration with ICE. But they haven’t always seen eye to eye, most notably earlier this year on the city budget, which contained a tax increase: Jabbour backed it and Russo opposed it, later telling Hoboken Girl, “I have almost never voted for a tax increase.” On housing, Jabbour has proposed restricting rent hikes and increasing affordable housing quotas; Russo has emphasized a need to jumpstart development and grow “supply” more broadly. |
| Result: Jabbour wins. |
Miami mayor, Plus Miami Beach council (Dec. 9)
| Democrats hope to gain the mayor’s office in Miami as the city’s GOP mayor retires. The city has a weak mayor, but a flip would have symbolic weight in countering the region’s red drift in recent cycles. In the runoff, Democrat Eileen Higgins faces Republican Emilio González. On immigration, Higgins has called Miami’s membership in ICE’s 287(g) program a “tragedy” while González has signaled he is comfortable with it. Higgins has also talked about Miami ramping up affordable housing while González, who says he wants to help Governor Ron DeSantis get rid of property taxes and cut local spending, has minimized that goal. (DeSantis endorsed González.) Just east, in Miami Beach, Democrat-aligned candidates won two city council seats in November. A third went to a runoff between Democrat Monica Matteo-Salinas and Republican Monique Pardo Pope. |
| Results: Higgins wins the mayoral election in Miami. Matteo-Salinas wins in Miami Beach. |
Albuquerque, New Mexico: Mayor (Dec. 9)
| Mayor Tim Keller, the Democratic incumbent, faces a runoff against Darren White, a former Republican sheriff. And immigration enforcement has emerged as a defining contrast: Keller earlier this year issued an executive order limiting local collaboration with ICE, but White has pledged to repeal it if he wins office. White has also called for shutting down tip lines for notifying residents of activity by ICE agents. The election has also sparked disagreements on policing and public financing of elections. |
| Result: Keller wins reelection. |
Albuquerque, New Mexico: City council (Dec. 9)
| Albuquerque’s city council leans conservative, per the City Desk ABQ, and Democrats failed to oust two GOP incumbents on Nov. 4. But a December runoff may still alter the balance of power: Republican Joshua Neal and Democrat Stephanie Telles are facing off in District 1 to replace Louie Sanchez, a former police officer who identifies as a Democrat but often sides with conservatives and has endorsed Neal. A win by Telles would empower the council’s liberal faction, says City Desk. (A second runoff, in District 3, is between two Democrats.) |
| Result: Telles wins. |
Pflugerville, Texas: Mayor (Dec. 13)
| In this Austin suburb of roughly 60,000, Mayor Victor Gonzales is not seeking reelection. While municipal races here are nonpartisan, Gonzales ran with Democratic support in the past, and the parties have each rallied behind a candidate to replace him. The GOP is supporting Pat McCord, a former city council member who has emphasized conservative themes including a freeze on public spending, and Democrats are supporting Doug Weiss, who is currently on city council. |
| Result: Weiss wins. |
Houston: City council seat (Dec. 13)
| Democrats’ generational battle is playing out in this at-large city council runoff, which all Houston voters can vote in. Former city council member Dwight Boykins is mounting a comeback, stressing his experience and cross-partisan relationships. First-time candidate Alejandra Salinas is running in a more progressive lane. The race was shaken up this summer after Boykins admitted his campaign website was generated by an AI tool, following Salinas accusing him of plagiarizing her platform (the Houston Chronicle found “nearly identical” language on their websites). |
| Result: Salinas wins. |
Special elections for state legislative seats
Florida: House District 90 (Dec. 9)
| Of 13 legislative specials in December, Bolts is spotlighting just the four contested districts where the 2024 presidential race was within 20 percentage points. (Others are even more red or blue, or have just one candidate running; find the full list on Ballotpedia.) Florida’s 90th House district, based in Palm Beach County, voted for Kamala Harris by 10 points last year and Democrat Rob Long is favored to keep the seat for his party. The race has drawn attention because the GOP nominated far-right candidate Maria Zack, who has spread false claims that Italy helped steal the 2020 election from Trump. (The candidate who lost to Zack in the GOP primary now supports Long.) |
| Result: Long, the Democrat, wins by nearly 30 percentage points. |
Georgia: House district 121 (Dec. 9)
| Last year, this legislative district looked unassailably Republican, going for Trump by 13 percentage points and favoring GOP lawmaker Marcus Wiedower by 22 percentage points. But The Downballot calculates that the two Democrats who won upset races for Georgia’s utility commission in November carried this district by large margins on their way to statewide victories. Can Democrats translate those gains into a fresh legislative flip? Wiedower resigned in October, and Democratic nominee Eric Gisler says he’s keen to reach out to people who voted in November; he faces GOP nominee Dutch Guest. |
| Result: Gisler wins, flipping the seat for Democrats. |
Kentucky: Senate District 37 (Dec. 16)
| This district, which contains parts of Jefferson County (Louisville), looks like one of the most competitive of December’s special elections judging by the margins in the last presidential race: Harris carried it by just five percentage points last year. But Democrats have performed much better here in-non federal races, including late last year when State Senator Whip David Yates easily won reelection with 60 percent of the vote. But Yates resigned to become county clerk earlier this fall. Now Democrat Gary Clemons, a local union leader, looks to defend the seat against Calvin Leach, a Republican veteran. |
| Result: Clemons wins with more than 70 percent of the vote. |
Iowa: Senate District 16 (Dec. 30)
| The GOP lost its supermajority in the state Senate in August when Democrats flipped a red district in Woodbury County, meaning it can no longer confirm the governor’s nominees on party-line votes. But Democrats now need to defend this blue-leaning seat to keep the GOP from regaining their supermajority. Democratic Senator Claire Celsi, who passed away in October, represented this Central Iowa district that voted for Harris by 17 points. National Democrats have rallied around Renee Hardman, who faces Republican Lucas Loftin on the penultimate day of 2025—particularly odd timing that could affect turnout. |
| Result: Stay tuned on Dec. 30. |