Overview
- Polls closed Tuesday with initial returns pending after a heavy turnout that included a New York City early‑vote record of more than 735,000 ballots.
- Democrat Zohran Mamdani led late polls for mayor and, if elected, would be the city’s first Muslim and youngest leader in generations, as President Trump labeled him a communist, threatened to curb federal funds to New York, and urged Curtis Sliwa supporters to back Andrew Cuomo.
- New Jersey’s gubernatorial race between Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli was within the margin in recent surveys, while polls in Virginia showed Democrat Abigail Spanberger ahead of Republican Winsome Earle-Sears.
- Trump stayed mostly off the trail but backed GOP efforts with reported seven‑figure microtargeting in New Jersey and Virginia and held phone rallies, drawing public criticism from California Governor Gavin Newsom for his campaign posture.
- California voters weighed Proposition 50, a Newsom-backed redistricting measure that could shift up to five U.S. House seats toward Democrats, as the Justice Department deployed monitors to voting sites in six counties in California and New Jersey.