Election Day Live Updates: Virginia Governor’s Race Takes Center Stage

Wisconsin

Mequon-Thiensville School Board

This peculiar callback predetermination successful an affluent suburb northbound of Milwaukee pits 4 incumbents against challengers, led by Scarlett Johnson, a section parent who claims the strategy of 3,700 schoolhouse students is influenced by captious contention theory.

While Wisconsin schoolhouse committee races are supposedly nonpartisan, it’s intelligibly reddish vs. bluish successful Mequon-Thiensville. Rebecca Kleefisch, a Republican moving for politician successful 2022, visited to assistance get-out-the-vote efforts for the challengers, and Dick Uihlein, a affluent Republican megadonor from Illinois, contributed money.

Kansas

Blue Valley School District

A slate of 3 candidates successful this territory southwest of Kansas City has enactment from the 1776 Project, a nationalist governmental enactment committee that claims captious contention mentation is hostile to achromatic people. The PAC has raised much than $400,000 to bolster much than 50 schoolhouse committee candidates crossed the state — focusing connected campaigns successful 7 states.

Andrew Van Der Laan, a section concern advisor moving against 1 of the 1776 Project candidates, points retired that determination is nary captious contention mentation successful the district’s curriculum. “It does not look to beryllium a pressing issue,” said Mr. Van Der Laan, whose level focuses connected recovering from the coronavirus pandemic by measuring learning nonaccomplishment among students and figuring retired however to marque up for it.

Ohio

Bay Village School District

This suburb westbound of Cleveland is location to 1 of the much hotly contested schoolhouse committee races successful Ohio, wherever each 660 districts are holding elections. There is simply a statewide full of 2,628 candidates — a 30 percent summation since 2019.

In Bay Village, residents accidental they person received a barrage of lit and societal media. One slate of 3 candidates is backed by a radical called Ohio Value Voters, which opposes captious contention mentation and enactment acquisition successful schools. Another group, Protect Ohio’s Future, which says it supports diverseness and inclusion, has endorsed the different 3 candidates.

Colorado

Denver Public Schools

Charter schools — not captious contention mentation — are the large contented successful this contention that has drawn much than $800,000 successful extracurricular spending. Twelve candidates are moving for 4 unfastened seats connected the schoolhouse board, which serves 92,000 students, with astir aligned with either teachers’ unions oregon alleged acquisition betterment groups that enactment the instauration of charter schools.

“He’s taking america to a antithetic place,” Mr. Ciattarelli said of Mr. Murphy, a affluent erstwhile Goldman Sachs enforcement and self-described progressive. “It’s not who we are.”

If nationalist polling proves accurate, Mr. Murphy, 64, is poised to outrun authorities past and go the archetypal Democratic politician that voters nonstop backmost to Trenton for a 2nd word since 1977, erstwhile Brendan T. Byrne was re-elected.

But with New Jersey’s 1 of conscionable 2 U.S. governors’ races up of adjacent year's midterm elections, each eyes are connected the margins and the clues they mightiness connection astir Democrats’ likelihood of moving President Biden’s ambitious docket crossed the decorativeness enactment and retaining their slim bulk successful Congress.

Every spot successful the State Legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, is besides connected the ballot connected Tuesday, and voters volition look 2 referendums, including 1 that would let betting connected New Jersey assemblage teams and collegiate events held successful the state.

New Jersey legalized sports betting successful 2018, and successful September became the archetypal authorities successful the state to rake successful much than $1 cardinal successful bets successful a azygous month. But collegiate events held successful the state, oregon those involving New Jersey teams playing elsewhere, were excluded due to the fact that of concerns implicit cheating.

The 2020 statesmanlike predetermination was held predominantly utilizing mail-in ballots to bounds the dispersed of the coronavirus. But this year, for the archetypal time, voters successful New Jersey were capable to cast ballots early — connected machines.

Roughly 208,000 of the state’s 6.5 cardinal voters took vantage of the nine-day aboriginal voting window, which included 4 play days.

Democrats person expanded their voting borderline successful New Jersey implicit the past decade, and present person astir 1.1 million much radical registered than Republicans do, widening the spread by astir 400,000 voters since 2011. Mr. Byrne won re-election by conscionable nether 300,000 votes.

The last sprint to Tuesday laid bare 1 of the main differences successful the 2 candidates’ campaigns.

Mr. Ciattarelli, a erstwhile authorities assemblyman, crisscrossed the authorities successful a achromatic S.U.V., shaking hands astatine booths successful astatine slightest 14 diners successful the past week.

Mr. Murphy stumped with nationalist Democratic luminaries, including erstwhile President Barack Obama, the archetypal lady, Jill Biden, and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

He besides maximized the powerfulness of incumbency, appearing with President Biden to sermon a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that has been bogged down successful Washington and its value for fixing things similar the Portal Bridge, an aged and cranky movable obstruction span a fewer miles from Manhattan that regularly delays rush-hour commutes.

Four caller nationalist polls showed Mr. Murphy up by a comfy margin.

But astatine a get-out-the-vote rally with Mr. Murphy astatine Rutgers University connected Thursday, Senator Sanders warned an enthusiastic assemblage of students that turnout was expected to beryllium low, and that triumph would beryllium successful the margins.

“Let america triumph this election,” helium said. “Let america triumph it successful landslide proportions. And fto america archer Republicans that their time is implicit successful New Jersey.”

Ms. Wu, a protégée of Senator Elizabeth Warren, began her governmental vocation successful Boston arsenic it was turning a corner, its electorate progressively young, well-educated and left-leaning.

She proposes to marque Boston a laboratory for progressive policy; to reapportion metropolis contracts to firms owned by Black Bostonians; to pare distant the powerfulness of the constabulary union; to waive fees for immoderate nationalist transportation; and to reconstruct a signifier of rent control, a imaginable that alarms existent property interests.

“In astir a decennary successful metropolis government, I person learned that the easiest happening to bash successful authorities is nothing,” Ms. Wu said. “And successful trying to present change, determination volition beryllium those who are invested successful the presumption quo who volition beryllium disrupted, oregon uncomfortable, oregon adjacent suffer out.”

Critics says Ms. Wu is promising alteration she cannot deliver, since respective signature policies, similar rent control, necessitate enactment by authorities bodies extracurricular the mayor’s control.

“Michelle talks, time successful and time out, astir things that are not real,” said Ms. Essaibi George, who has tally arsenic a pragmatic centrist and is an state of erstwhile Mayor Martin J. Walsh. “My benignant is to beryllium close successful the things I accidental retired loud, and to marque promises I tin genuinely keep.”

While the Virginia contention is Tuesday’s marquee matchup, determination are different notable elections taking place. Voters successful galore large American cities volition take their adjacent mayor, and immoderate volition measurement successful connected hotly contested ballot measures, including connected the contented of policing. There’s different governor’s contention successful New Jersey, too. Here is what to ticker successful immoderate of the cardinal contests that volition supply the astir elaborate and textured look yet astatine wherever voters basal much than 9 months into the Biden administration.

The Virginia governor’s contention is seen arsenic a bellwether

Democrats person won Virginia successful each statesmanlike contention since 2008. Last year, it wasn’t peculiarly close. Mr. Biden won by 10 percent points.

But Virginia besides has a past of bucking the enactment of a caller president — the authorities swung to the G.O.P. successful 2009, during erstwhile President Barack Obama’s archetypal twelvemonth successful bureau — and Republicans anticipation Mr. Youngkin has recovered a look for occurrence successful the post-Trump era.

To prevail, Mr. Youngkin needs to chopped into the margins successful suburban Northern Virginia, wherever voters person made the authorities progressively Democratic, portion besides turning retired a Republican basal that remains motivated by Mr. Trump.

His playbook has focused heavy connected education, attacking Mr. McAuliffe for a statement remark that parents should not beryllium directing what schools thatch and capitalizing connected a broader blimpish question against schools teaching astir systemic racism. The result: Education has been the apical issue successful the race, according to an October Washington Post poll, giving Republicans the borderline connected a taxable that has traditionally favored Democrats.

Mr. McAuliffe has aggressively linked Mr. Youngkin to Mr. Trump, who endorsed the Republican but ne'er traveled to Virginia to run for him. If Mr. Youngkin loses, it volition showcase the G.O.P.’s ongoing situation successful being associated with Mr. Trump, adjacent without Mr. Trump connected the ballot. But if Mr. McAuliffe loses, it volition intensify unit connected Democrats to make a new, proactive message.

Control of the Virginia House of Delegates is besides up for grabs. For now, Democrats person an borderline of 55-45 seats that they built during the Trump years.

In the New Jersey governor’s race, the Democratic incumbent, Philip D. Murphy, is up for re-election. Polls person shown Mr. Murphy ahead, but Mr. Biden’s weakening occupation support standing successful the solidly Democratic authorities — which stood astatine 43 percent successful a caller Monmouth canvass — is a origin of concern. The results volition beryllium watched for grounds of however overmuch of the erosion successful Mr. Biden’s enactment has seeped down-ballot.

Big mayoralties: Boston, Buffalo, Atlanta and more

It is not the biggest metropolis with a mayor’s contention connected Tuesday, but the City Hall conflict successful Buffalo, N.Y., whitethorn beryllium the astir fascinating.

India Walton, who would beryllium the archetypal socialist to pb a large American metropolis successful decades, defeated the incumbent Democratic mayor, Byron Brown, successful the June primary. But Mr. Brown is present moving a write-in campaign.

Ms. Walton has won the backing of progressives, specified arsenic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and immoderate enactment leaders, similar Senator Chuck Schumer, but different salient Democrats person stayed neutral, astir notably Gov. Kathy Hochul, a lifelong nonmigratory of the Buffalo region.

Policing has been a large issue. Though Ms. Walton has distanced herself from wanting to trim constabulary funding, Mr. Brown attacked her connected the contented successful a television ad.

In Boston, the runoff puts 2 City Council members, Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George, against each other, with Ms. Wu moving arsenic the progressive. Ms. Wu, who is backed by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, finished successful archetypal spot successful the primary.

In New York City, Eric Adams, the borough president of Brooklyn and a Democrat, is expected to triumph the mayor’s contention and has already fashioned himself arsenic a nationalist figure. “I americium the look of the caller Democratic Party,” Mr. Adams declared aft his June superior win.

In Miami, Mayor Francis Suarez, a uncommon big-city Republican mayor, is heavy favored to triumph re-election and is lined up to go the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, giving him a nationalist platform.

And successful Atlanta, a crowded tract of 14 candidates, including the City Council president, Felicia Moore, is expected to pb to a runoff arsenic erstwhile Mayor Kasim Reed attempts to marque a comeback.

The aboriginal of policing is beforehand and center

One recurring taxable successful municipal races is policing, arsenic communities grapple with the “defund the police” slogan that swept the state pursuing the constabulary sidesplitting of George Floyd past year. The statement is raging wrong the Democratic Party implicit however overmuch to overhaul instrumentality enforcement — and implicit however to speech astir specified an overhaul.

Perhaps obscurity is the contented much cardinal than successful Minneapolis, the metropolis wherever Mr. Floyd was killed, sparking civilian unrest crossed the country. Voters determination volition determine connected a measure to regenerate the troubled Minneapolis Police Department with a caller Department of Public Safety..

Mayor Jacob Frey, who is up for re-election, has opposed that measurement and pushed for a much incremental approach. His challengers, among them Sheila Nezhad, privation a much assertive approach.

Policing is simply a cardinal contented not lone successful the Buffalo mayor’s race, but besides successful mayoral contests in Seattle, Atlanta and successful Cleveland, wherever an amendment that would overhaul however the city’s constabulary section operates is connected the ballot arsenic well.

The mayor’s contention successful Cleveland puts Justin Bibb, a 34-year-old governmental newcomer, against Kevin Kelley, the City Council president. Mr. Bibb supports the constabulary amendment and Mr. Kelley opposes it.

House races and Pennsylvania’s tribunal battle

There are 2 peculiar elections for House races successful Ohio, with Shontel Brown, a Democratic Cuyahoga County Council member, expected to triumph a heavy Democratic spot successful Cleveland. Mike Carey, a longtime Republican ember lobbyist, is favored successful a territory that sprawls crossed a twelve counties.

Mr. Carey faces Allison Russo, a Democrat endorsed by Mr. Biden. Mr. Carey’s borderline successful a spot that Mr. Trump carried by much than 14 points past twelvemonth volition beryllium different invaluable indicator of the governmental environment.

In Florida, a superior is being held for the spot of Representative Alcee Hastings, who died earlier this year. The victor volition beryllium favored successful a January peculiar election.

The lone statewide races happening successful Pennsylvania connected Tuesday are for the courts. The astir intimately watched contention is for the State Supreme Court, which features 2 appeals tribunal judges, the Republican Kevin Brobson and the Democrat Maria McLaughlin. Democrats presently clasp a 5-2 bulk connected the tribunal and the spot being vacated was held by a Republican, truthful the effect volition not plaything control.

But millions of dollars successful advertizing are pouring into the state, a motion not conscionable of the expanding politicization of judicial contests, but besides of the state’s relation arsenic a apical statesmanlike battleground.