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From California to NYC: 4 races to watch this Election Day
A voting sign and election booths are seen at the Oakwood Community Center in Venice on Oct. 28.
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Gabriella Angotti-Jones for NPR
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Voting concludes Tuesday for elections in a number of states and localities, and perhaps the highest-profile contest is one that was only scheduled a few months ago.
A special election in California allows the state's voters to weigh in on what is now a cross-country redistricting battle between the two major parties ahead of next year's midterm elections.
Here are details on that contest and three others we're watching this Election Day.
California redistricting
Proposition 50 would replace California's current congressional lines with a map favoring Democrats.
The maneuver is Gov. Gavin Newsom's answer to President Trump pushing Texas and other GOP-led states to redraw their congressional maps to give Republicans a better chance of hanging onto the party's slim majority in the U.S. House.
If voters approve Prop 50 — which appears likely — the new districts could help Democrats win up to five more House seats in the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections. The proposition is written to expire after the 2030 election, returning line-drawing power to the state's existing independent citizens' redistricting commission.
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Read LAist's voter guide: Proposition 50: Allowing California to use new congressional maps to counter redistricting in Texas
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Everything you need to know as you prepare to vote in California's special election. -
Statewide turnout was 50%. It was lower in L.A. County and higher in Orange County. -
The vote isn't certified yet, but a lot has happened since Election Day.
New York City mayor
New York City mayoral candidates former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (left), Zohran Mamdani and Curtis Sliwa at a debate on Oct. 16.
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Angelina Katsanis/Pool
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Getty Images
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Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist and frontrunner in the race for mayor of the nation's biggest city, trounced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and nine other Democrats in the primary by running a grassroots campaign that inspired younger voters through a relentless focus on making New York City more affordable.
His primary win energized portions of the party's base, while making him a foil for Republicans across the country.
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Cuomo opted to stay in the mayor's race by running as an independent. He's criticized Mamdani as too inexperienced to deal with Trump. Cuomo has also argued that the state legislator's campaign platform, which includes free buses and universal childcare, can't be delivered.
If elected, Mamdani would be the city's first Muslim mayor and, at 34, its youngest in more than a century.
New Jersey governor
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey's Democratic nominee for governor, and Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee
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AP
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The two leading candidates for governor in New Jersey are locked in a tight race.
Trump has been tele-campaigning for Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former small business owner who narrowly lost the gubernatorial election four years ago. Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy pilot, held an endorsement rally with former President Barack Obama on Saturday and has a slight edge over Ciattarelli in recent polling.
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Polls also show issues like housing affordability and high electric bills are top of voters' minds, but the contest has been dominated in recent weeks by personal attacks on both sides.
If Sherrill wins, it would be the first time since the 1960s that New Jersey voters elect a governor from the same party three terms in a row.
Virginia governor
Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (left), the Republican nominee for Virginia governor, and Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee
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Anna Moneymaker, Win McNamee
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Getty Images
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Democrats are hopeful that history may be on their side as the party in power in the White House typically loses the race for governor in Virginia.
In her campaign, Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former member of Congress, has hammered the rising cost of living and voter anxiety over the Trump administration's cuts to the federal workforce. The Republican, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, has campaigned on tackling crime, lower taxes and calls to ban transgender students from girls' sports and bathrooms in public schools.
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Either candidate will make history as Virginia's first female governor. Earle-Sears would be the first Black woman elected governor in the U.S.
— WAMU's Margaret Barthel
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