The primaries for NYC mayor and New Jersey governor may be grabbing the headlines, but there are dozens of other critical battles—from sheriffs and zoning in Virginia to libraries in California.
Democratic U.S. Representatives Abigail Spanberger, left, and Mikie Sherrill are running for governor, but the former is running uncontested in Virginia’s primary while the latter faces five opponent in New Jersey’s. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
New Jersey, New York, and Virginia—three populous states that are electing hundreds of state and local officials this year—are holding their primaries over a busy 15-day period in June.
In the highest-profile elections, Democrats are choosing their nominees to replace New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. Further down the ballot, progressives are hoping to leave a mark in New York City’s council races and New Jersey’s legislative races. In Virginia, both major parties already know their nominees for governor, but Democrats will select other statewide candidates.
Also on the menu? In a blast from the distant past, Anthony Weiner is mounting a comeback. Democrats are defending a pair of legislative seats worth monitoring in New England. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg faces voters roughly a year after he oversaw the trial against Donald Trump, while a reform-minded prosecutor seeks re-election in Virginia. And in a wealthy California beach town, librarians are pushing back against the conservative city council’s efforts to police book access for youth.
Voters will also settle Democratic primaries for mayor in Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse, and decide San Antonio’s next mayor in what has effectively become a runoff between the two parties.
Below, Bolts guides you through the 40 elections to watch this month.
The guide starts on June 7, in Texas. Then, on June 10, New Jersey holds its statewide primaries, followed by Virginia on June 17, and New York on June 24. The referendum in California’s Huntington Beach is on June 10.
Return on and after each Election Day as we will update this page as the results are known. Until then, you can revisit our cheat sheets of the 20 elections to watch in April, and the 25 elections in May.
As always, this guide is not an exhaustive list of all elections in May, but just our selection of the races to monitor. Voters are also deciding city councilors and county commissioners all around New Jersey, New York, and Virginia, and Virginia’s legislative primaries. Plus, progressives are challenging New Jersey Democrats’ entrenched party machine in hyper-localelections.
Governor Phil Murphy cannot seek reelection. The race to replace him features two members of Congress, Mikie Sherrill and Josh Gottheimer, who was a leader in moderate Democrats’ opposition to President Joe Biden’s domestic agenda; Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who is highlighting his recent arrest at a migrant detention center; Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, who is running against his party’s well-oiled machine and who recruited a slate of legislative candidates to do the same (see below); and Stephen Sweeney, who was a foil for progressives while he presided the state senate. The Appeal reports on how candidates differ on immigration policy and cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 10 election.
June 10: New Jersey governor GOP primary
New Jersey Republicans came close to an upset in 2021, and this year they hope to break Democrats’ control of the state government. But their nominee will face major headwinds with Trump in the White House, and Jack Ciattarelli, the party’s 2021 nominee who is dominating public polling for this primary, has embraced Trump this year.
Other candidates include radio host Bill Spadea and state Senator Jon Bramnick, who has been more critical of Trump than his opponents while also positioning himself as even more punitive on immigration.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 10 election.
June 17: Virginia Lieutenant Governor Dem primary
Republicans already know their nominee for lieutenant governor: John Reid, a conservative radio show host, is the sole candidate despite a failed effort by Governor Glenn Youngkin to push him out of the race over allegations involving explicit photos.
Meanwhile, Democrats are choosing their nominees on June 17 in a primary that includes state Senators Ghazala Hashmi and Aaron Rouse, and former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney—all of whom largely overlap on major issues, WAMU reports, and differ with Democrats’ presumptive nominee for governor, Abigail Spanberger, in wanting to fully repeal Virginia’s ‘right-to-work’ status.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 17 election.
June 17: Virginia attorney general Dem primary
Who will Democrats run against Jason Miyares, the GOP attorney general who over the last four years has targeted local criminal justice reformers and attacked the state’s parole system?
They’re choosing between Jay Jones, a former lawmaker whose failed 2021 bid centered on criminal justice reform, and Shannon Taylor, the chief prosecutor of Henrico County. Jones and Taylor, who have split endorsements from major party figures, have both stressed their desire to join other state attorneys general in fighting the Trump administration in court.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 17 election.
Mayors
June 7: San Antonio, Texas runoff
In May’s first round to replace term-limited Mayor Ron Nirenberg, the blue-leaning city came close to a runoff between two Democrats. Instead, a straightforwardly partisan campaign has unfolded for the runoff: Republican Rolando Pablos, a former secretary of state who is now running with support from Governor Greg Abbott’s PAC, advanced past the first round alongside Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones, a former Under Secretary of the Air Force under Joe Biden. Among their disagreements: Pablos says he’s more supportive of local law enforcement collaborating with ICE.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 7 election.
June 24: Rochester, New York Dem primary
Mary Lupien has pushed left-leaning policies on Rochester’s city council; for instance, in the weeks after the murder of George Floyd, she cast the council’s lone vote against the city’s budget, arguing that Rochester is spending too much money on its police department. Lupien is now challenging incumbent Mayor Malik Evans on proposals to bolster other public services and to implement a guaranteed basic income program. The primary is unfolding as the Trump administration is suing Rochester over its existing ‘sanctuary’ policies, which both candidates support, though police have not been fully compliant.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 24 election.
June 24: Buffalo, New York Dem primary
Carl Paladino, a prominent local conservative and past GOP gubernatorial nominee, has dipped his toes in this Democratic primary to endorse Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon over state Senator Sean Ryan. The endorsement, coupled with Scanlon’s openness to running as an independent in November if he loses the Democratic primary, echoes the 2021 mayoral race; that year, Mayor Byron Brown lost the Democratic primary to DSA-backed India Walton but prevailed in November as a write-in. (Scanlon backed Brown that fall, while Ryan endorsed Walton once she won the Democratic nod.)
Their splits are apparent on criminal justice: Scanlon is a police union ally and has denounced efforts to crack down on police misconduct; he has also called for rollbacks to the state’s major 2019 bail reform law, which Ryan had supported as a lawmaker.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 24 election.
June 24: Syracuse, New York Dem primary
With Mayor Ben Walsh retiring, a slew of local Democratic politicians are running to replace him, including city council members Chol Majok and Pat Hogan, and Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens. The local Democratic Party has endorsed Hogan, who has promised to ramp up policing in the city, while the progressive Working Families Party is backing Owens. Candidates have clashed on the city’s taxing and spending choices. Owens opposes spending cuts that Hogan and Majok have championed this year across city agencies; and she, unlike them, supports a plan that may raise some property taxes.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 24 election.
June 24: New York City Dem primary
Mayor Eric Adams is seeking a second term as an independent. But with the corruption allegations surrounding him and his proximity to Trump, plus the city’s blue skew, the winner of this Democratic primary will be the heavy frontrunner in November. As of late May, Andrew Cuomo has dominated public polling, just three years after he resigned from the governorship over a series of sexual harassment allegations, while a large field of opponents are trying to use the ranked-choice voting system to form alliances and gain a strategic advantage.
Candidates include left-leaning Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, Cuomo’s chief opponent in polling so far, as well as Speaker Adrienne Adams, Comptroller Brad Lander, and Senators Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos.
Criminal justice offices: Prosecutors and sheriffs
June 17: Sheriff of Chesapeake, Virginia GOP primary
David Rosado, the Republican sheriff of this Democratic-leaning city, is running for reelection against Wallace Chadwick, a police lieutenant. Chadwick has vowed to ramp up immigration enforcement even further, though Rosado also says he’s already assisting federal immigration authorities. Stay tuned for more reporting from Bolts on this race.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 17 election.
June 17: Prosecutor of Norfolk, Virginia Dem primary
Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi, who in 2020 helped set up a statewide alliance of reform-minded prosecutors, is locked in a showdown with other local officials, such as Norfolk’s mayor and sheriff, who say he isn’t aggressive enough in detaining people and prosecuting lower-level offenses such as shoplifting. Fatehi now faces John Butler, a former federal prosecutor with support from Fatehi’s local antagonists.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 17 election.
June 17: Sheriff and prosecutor of Richmond Dem primaries
Richmond’s jail, like many lockups all around the country, has seen recurringdeaths of people in custody. A state agency put it under supervision in 2023 after establishing that it was failing to comply with state guidelines, contradicting Sheriff Antionette Irving’s assurances. Irving faces William Burnett, a former police sergeant who has blamed her office for the deaths. Also in Richmond, chief prosecutor Colette McEachin faces Tom Barbour, who takes issue with her opposition to the state’s criminal justice reforms; McEachin has said the state tilted too far toward defendants’ rights and joined a group of largely GOP prosecutors in urging lawmakers to reject sentencing reforms. This is a rematch of a 2021 primary that McEachin easily won.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 17 elections.
June 24: DA of Manhattan, New York Dem primary
Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan DA who brought Trump to trial last year on felony charges of falsifying business records, has attracted criticism from local progressives who say he’s broken some of his campaign promises to scale back incarceration. But his only opponent in the Democratic primary is Patrick Timmins, a former assistant prosecutor who says the office should be more aggressive in prosecuting street crime and offenses committed on public transit. Bragg has touted the decline in homicides and property crimes over his time in office.
Bolts is watching the 11 districts where Fulop’s candidates are actually targeting Democratic incumbents. These primaries don’t consistently fit a divide between left and center, though in five of these districts (the 4th, 6th, 17th, 37th, and 38th), his candidates have also been endorsed by the left-leaning Working Families Party.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 10 elections.
General elections
June 10: Massachusetts and June 24: New Hampshire
Of the nine districts with (special) general elections in June to fill vacant legislative seats, our analysis shows that most lean heavily for one party or another. But two of these elections, though, are in districts that have been somewhat competitive in recent years.
Democrats are defending a Massachusetts House seat located in Bristol County on June 10, and then, two weeks later, a New Hampshire House seat in Stafford County. Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump in these districts by 8 and 12 percentage points, respectively. Still, Democrats have consistently outperformed their 2024 results in the 20 legislative general elections that have occurred so far this year.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 10 and 24 elections.
The New York City council
June 24: 14th, 33rd, 38th, and 39th districts Dem primaries
The New York City Council in recent years has been a progressive counterpoint to Mayor Eric Adams. Can the left keep that up? Watch the reelection bids of the Progressive Caucus members: Out of the 17 seeking new terms, 10 face contested primaries.
Bolts is watching four districts with stark contrasts. In the Bronx-based 14th Council District, incumbent Pierina Sanchez faces her predecessor Fernando Cabrera, a more conservative Democrat known for hisanti-gay views who served as Adams’ faith adviser.
There’s a similar split in the Brooklyn-based 33rd district: The borough’s Adams-aligned partychair is backing Sabrina Gates over incumbent Lincoln Restler, who has worked against the party machine. The candidates, who also faced off in 2021, have differing views on policing and bike lanes.
In the Brooklyn-based 38th district, incumbent Alexa Avilés is the only DSA-endorsed councilor facing a challenge this year. Opponent Ling Ye has targeted her for being too far to the left, especially on matters related to the NYPD budget; Avilés has also drawn well-fundedattacks for her criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
The race for District 39 is similar: Incumbent Shahana Hanif also faces attacks for her criticism of Israel and her support of pro-Palestinian protests, and challenger Maya Kornberg alsotakes issue with Hanif’s support for reducing the NYPD.
Other districts where a Progressive Caucus member faces a primary are the 1st, 10th, 16th, 25th, 33rd, 35th, and 36th.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 24 elections.
June 24: 2nd District Dem primary
Anthony Weiner, who likely needs no introduction to readers of this guide, is mounting a comeback, 12 years after he last faced voters in a disastrous bid for mayor. He is running in this Manhattan-based seat in an open primary that includes Harvey Epstein, a progressive assemblymember, and Sarah Batchu, a nonprofit executive who reacted to Weiner by proposing a law that’d ban people specifically convicted of sex crimes from seeking office.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 24 election.
June 24: 8th District Dem primary
Raymond Santana wants to become the second member of the “Central Park 5,” the group of teenagers who were wrongfully convicted of a high-profile murder in the 1980s, to join the city council. Santana, who has been an advocate for reforming the prison system, is running in an eight-way Democratic primary that also features Elsie Encarnacion, the chief of staff of the retiring incumbent who has drawn progressive support.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 24 election.
June 24: 48th District GOP primary
In arguably New York City’s most noteworthy Republican primary, incumbent Inna Vernikov, who grabbed national attention in October 2023 for bringing a gun to a pro-Palestine protest that she opposed, is running for reelection against Ari Kagan, a former council member who switched to the Republican Party in 2022, citing his opposition to criminal justice reforms.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 24 election.
And that’s not all… (Also June 24)
In total, New York City has 34 contested Democratic or GOP primaries for city council.
June 17: Arlington County chair, VirginiA Dem primary
Housing policy has split Democrats nationally this year, and those debates are spilling into the race to lead the Arlington County board in northern Virginia. Takis Karantonis, the county board’s chair, supports a reform to eliminate single-family zoning in much of Arlington, with the idea that this will increase the housing stock and improve affordability. The policy is now tangled up in court, but attorney James DeVita, Karantonis’ primary challenger, is running on his opposition to that upzoning policy.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 17 elections.
June 24: New York City comptroller Dem primary
With the incumbent running for mayor, the leading candidates to replace him, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and city councilmember Justin Brannan, have stakedsimilar positions on major issues from congestion pricing (they support it) to Rikers Island (they want to close it). But Levine has piled on establishment support, and Brannan has endorsements from left-leaning groups like the Working Families Party despite splitting with the Progressive Caucus. Financial analyst Ismael Malave and state Senator Kevin Parker are also running.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 24 elections.
June 24: New York City Public Advocate Dem primary
City and State New York has dubbed this a “weird” election, given that the leading candidates had set their sight on other offices and are now running aggressively for what’s a largely bully-pulpit role.
Jumaane Williams, the left-leaning incumbent, faces Jenifer Rajkumar, a moderate assemblymember who has taken issue with his criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza and whose allies deride Williams as a “professional protestor.” The third candidate, Marty Dolan, is a former banker who challenged Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from her right last year.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 24 elections.
June 24: Manhattan Borough President Dem primary
While the five boroughs are each electing their presidents this year, Manhattan is the only one where the incumbent isn’t seeking reelection. That has set up a clash between state Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Keith Powers, a member of the city council and its former Majority Leader. Powers was part of the council’s progressive caucus until he quit in 2023, while Hoylman-Sigal is known in part for pushing criminal justice reforms in the state legislature. Both support the city’s new congestion pricing program in Manhattan, though they’ve sought discounts for people who live within the affected zone. Chelsea Newsreports that the endorsements in this primary have split alongside familiar geographic lines between East and West Sides.
Result: Stay tuned after the June 24 elections.
Ballot measures
June 10: Huntington Beach, California On libraries: measures A & B
In Huntington Beach, a wealthy city in southern California, the conservative city council has accused the public library system of exposing children to “sexual content.” In late 2023, they passed a resolution that created a board of non-librarians to review books, and forced librarians to move books to the adult-only section. Councilors have also actively considered privatizing the library system, and they recently ordered a MAGA plaque at the central library.
Opponents of the council’s moves have placed two countermeasures on the June 10 ballot. The first (Measure A) would repeal the new review board, and leave it to the director of library services to decide how books should be displayed.
The second (Measure B) would prevent privatization of the local library system. Conservatives have responded with signs that ask voters to “Protect Our Kids From Porn.
