Trump agenda faces first major test in Tuesday’s key 2025 elections

Nearly ten months into President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House, voters in races from coast to coast head to the polls Tuesday in statewide and local elections.

And key showdowns, including gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, are seen in part as the first major ballot box test of Trump’s unprecedented and explosive second-term agenda.

While the President called on Republicans to go to the polls in his social media post on Election Eve, he accused them, “Not voting tomorrow is the same as VOTING FOR A DEMOCRA.”

New Jersey and Virginia, the only two states to hold gubernatorial contests the year after the presidential election, received top billing. Gubernatorial races often attract significant national attention and are seen as an important barometer ahead of next year’s midterm elections, in which the GOP will defend its slim majorities in the House and Senate.

TRUMP MADE A LAST-MINUTE BATTLE FOR REPUBLICANS ON THE EVE OF THE 2025 ELECTIONS

Also in the political spotlight on Election Day 2025 are New York City’s high-profile mayoral showdown, with 34-year-old democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani on the verge of making history, a blockbuster congressional redistricting ballot proposal in California, the nation’s most populous state, and three state Supreme Court contests in battleground Pennsylvania.

Here’s what’s at stake.

New Jersey

Republican Jack Ciattarelli, who is running for a third consecutive term for governor of the Garden State and nearly upset Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago, is optimistic he can pull off a victory in blue-leaning New Jersey.

In a state where registered Democrats still outnumber Republicans despite a GOP surge in registration over the past decade, Ciattarelli appeared to be closing the gap on his Democratic rival, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, in recent weeks.

THERE IS A BIG SURPRISE FOR TRUMP-SUPPORTED CIATTARELLI ON THE EVE OF THE ELECTION

In New Jersey, Democrats have long dominated federal and state legislative elections, while Republicans are fiercely competitive in gubernatorial races, winning five of the last 10 elections.

And Trump made big gains in New Jersey in last year’s presidential election, losing the state by just six percentage points; That’s a big improvement from his 16-point deficit four years ago.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli speaks to supporters at a tavern in Totowa, New Jersey, on the eve of Election Day, November 3, 2025 (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

With his poll numbers underwater among New Jersey voters, the president hoped to mobilize MAGA supporters by chairing two tele-rallies on Ciattarelli’s behalf in the final stretch of the campaign; most of these were low-propensity voters who skipped the ballot in non-presidential election years.

“We appreciate what the president has done to excite the base and remind them that they need to vote like all New Jerseyans. The future of our state is at stake. Go out and vote,” Ciattarelli told Fox News Digital on Monday after a campaign stop in northern New Jersey.

TRUMP USED HUGE WARCHEST TO ENERGY MAGA VOTERS IN LAST CONTEST OF THE 2025 ELECTION

But in a state where Trump’s poll numbers are underwater, Sherrill regularly linked Ciattarelli to the president and claimed his GOP rival “has really gone along with the president, giving him an A grade.”

The race in New Jersey was rocked earlier this fall by a report from the National Personnel Records Center, a branch of the National Archives and Records Administration, that Sherrill had mistakenly released improperly redacted military personnel files containing private information such as a Social Security number to an ally of Ciattarelli.

Former President Barack Obama during a campaign event for Democratic New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in Newark, New Jersey. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)

But Sherrill’s military records show that because of a cheating scandal, the United States Naval Academy prevented him from attending its 1994 graduation ceremony.

Sherrill, who was never accused of cheating in the scandal, served in the Navy for almost a decade.

Following Sherrill’s allegations that Ciattarelli was “complicit” with pharmaceutical companies in the opioid deaths of tens of thousands of New Jerseyans, the showdown took a new turn during the final argument last month, when Ciattarelli pointed to the medical publishing company he owns that published content promoting the use of opioids as a low-risk treatment for chronic pain.

Virginia

Explosive revelations in the race for attorney general in Virginia that the GOP is aiming to gain leverage up and down the ballot have recently shaken up the state’s race for governor, forcing Democratic Party candidate former Rep. Abigail Spanberger to return to the defensive in a leading campaign against her Republican rival, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.

The two major party gubernatorial candidates in Virginia: Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (left) and Democratic former Rep. Abigail Spanberger. (Getty Images)

Jay Jones, the Democratic candidate for Virginia attorney general, was in crisis mode after the controversial texts were first reported by National Review earlier this fall.

Jones apologized for messages he sent in 2022 when he compared then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert to mass murderers Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot, adding that if given two bullets he would use them both against the GOP lawmaker to shoot him in the head.

But he faced calls from Republicans to drop out of the race.

Earle-Sears jumped at the opportunity to connect Spanberger to Jones. During the chaotic and lone gubernatorial debate last month, in which Earle-Sears repeatedly interrupted Spanberger, the GOP gubernatorial candidate called on his Democratic opponent to tell Jones to terminate his tenure as attorney general.

FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS NEWS ON THE VIRGINIA SHOWDOWN GO HERE

“The comments Jay Jones made are absolutely disgusting,” Spanberger said during the debate. But he neither confirmed nor retracted his support for Jones.

The winner will replace term-limited GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

New York City

Mayoral elections in the country’s most populous city always attract great attention, especially this year. New York City can elect the first Muslim and first millennium mayor.

Mamdani’s victory in the Democratic Party mayoral primary in the deep blue city in June sent political shockwaves across the country. And he has come under attack from Republicans and down-ballot opponents for his far-left proposals.

From left, independent mayoral candidate former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani participate in the mayoral debate on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in New York City. (Angelina Katsanis/Pool-AP Photo)

Mamdani comes face to face with the former Governor. Andrew CuomoHe came in a distant second place in the primary and is now running as an independent candidate. Cuomo is eyeing a political comeback after resigning as governor four years ago amid multiple scandals.

LATEST FOX NEWS NEWS ON NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ELECTION IS HERE

Also running is two-time Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, co-founder of the nonprofit, volunteer-based community safety group Guardian Angels.

Embattled Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat running for re-election as an independent, dropped out of the race last month. She recently endorsed Cuomo, but her name remained on the ballot.

California

voters intense blue california There will be a vote in November on whether to set aside the popular nonpartisan redistricting commission for the rest of the decade and allow the Democrat-dominated legislature to determine congressional redistricting for the next three election cycles.

FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS ON THE 2025 ELECTIONS GO HERE

The vote will be the result of the Government’s efforts. Gavin Newsom and California Democrats will create up to five left-leaning congressional seats in the Golden State to counter new maps that conservative Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law several months ago, which will create up to five more right-leaning U.S. House districts in the red state of Texas.

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a congressional redistricting event Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The redistricting in Texas, which follows Trump’s call, is part of a broader effort by the Republican Party to fill its House majority across the country to keep control of the chamber in the 2026 midterm elections, when the party in power has traditionally faced political headwinds and lost seats.

Trump aims to prevent a repeat of the 2018 midterm elections during his first term in office, when Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives.

Pennsylvania

Democrats currently hold a 5-2 majority on the Supreme Court in the battleground state of northeastern Pennsylvania.

But three Democratic-leaning justices on the state Supreme Court are running to keep their seats in “Yes” or “No” elections this year after completing 10-year terms.

The election could change the makeup of the court over the next decade, greatly affecting whether Democrats or Republicans have an advantage in the state’s congressional delegation and legislature, and affecting important cases such as voting rights and reproductive rights.

CLICK TO REACH THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION

While state Supreme Court elections typically don’t attract much national attention, contests in which the balance of the court in a key battleground state is up for grabs have drawn tons of outside money.

This spring’s state Supreme Court showdown in Wisconsin, where a 4-3 liberal majority remains intact, drew nearly $100 million in outside money as both parties poured resources into the election.