The Latest: Democrat Abigail Spanberger is elected Virginia’s first female governor

Former congresswoman Abigail Spanberger defeated Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who was outraised by the Democrat and failed to earn the endorsement of President Donald Trump.

The win flips control of the commonwealth’s governor’s mansion. While local issues and the biographies of the candidates played a strong role in the race, the results also reflect a contest where Trump’s presence loomed.

Virginia has a concentration of federal workers in the north and has deeply felt both the impact of the president cutting the workforce and of the government shutdown.

Virginia was one of two states, along with New Jersey, where voters were picking a governor on Tuesday. Voters were also selecting a new mayor in New York City, and in California, were deciding whether to approve a new congressional map that is designed to help Democrats win five more U.S. House seats in next year’s midterm elections.

Here's the latest:

Andre Dickens wins reelection as mayor of Atlanta, earning a second term

The Atlanta mayor’s office is officially nonpartisan but has been held by Democrats for decades. Dickens won the office outright with more than 50% of the vote, defeating three challengers. Prior to taking office in 2022, Dickens served on the Atlanta City Council and as the chief development officer for a tech-based nonprofit.

The Associated Press declared Dickens the winner at 8:13 p.m.

Democrat Aftab Pureval wins reelection as Cincinnati mayor

Pureval won reelection as mayor of Cincinnati on Tuesday, defeating Cory Bowman, a Republican who is Vice President JD Vance’s half-brother.

Pureval was first elected mayor in 2021. The office is officially nonpartisan, but his party preference is Democratic.

He won the all-party municipal primary in May with more than 80% of the vote. Prior to running for mayor, he worked as a lawyer.

The Associated Press declared Pureval the winner at 8:13 p.m.

Polls have closed in Maine and Texas

Voters in the two states are deciding on new voting proposals that proponents say would strengthen election security and opponents decry as unnecessary.

The proposal in Texas is fairly simple: It would amend the Texas Constitution to add “persons who are not citizens of the United States” to the list of those excluded from participating in elections.

Maine’s proposal centers on requiring a photo ID to vote, but it is far more sweeping. The Republican-backed initiative also would limit the use of drop boxes for returning completed ballots and make several changes to the state’s absentee voting system, including eliminating two days of absentee voting and ending ongoing absentee voter status for seniors and people with disabilities.

Democrat Abigail Spanberger is elected Virginia governor

Spanberger won the governor’s race in Virginia on Tuesday, defeating Republican Winsome Earle-Sears. Spanberger will succeed Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is not allowed to run for a second consecutive term.

Her victory aligns with recent voting patterns in Virginia, which picks its governors the year after a presidential election and tends to elect someone of the opposite party of the president. Spanberger, a former case officer with the CIA, flipped a U.S. House seat in Northern Virginia in 2018 and retired from Congress in 2024 to run for governor. She will be the state’s first female governor.

Democrats sue to keep polls open in a New Jersey county after unfounded bomb threats

The Passaic County Democratic Party filed a lawsuit in state Superior Court on Tuesday seeking to keep the polls open for an extra hour because of unfounded bomb threats earlier in the day.

The party is asking to extend poll closings in Passaic County until 9 p.m. There are about 340,000 registered voters in the key swing county. A court hearing is expected imminently.

Passaic County received three threats and redirected some affected voters to other locations early Tuesday, county spokesperson Lindsay Reed said in an email. One location, a school building, was cleared and voting resumed.

Passaic is the only county outside California where the Department of Justice sent election monitors.

Many Virginia voters were hit by federal cuts and are worried about the economy

About half of Virginia voters said “the economy” was the most important issue facing their state in the AP Voter Poll, an survey of more than 4,000 voters in the state.

Federal government cuts seemed to be taking a toll: Roughly 6 in 10 voters said federal government cuts this year affected their family’s finances “a lot” or “a little.” Only about 2 in 10 Virginia voters pointed to health care as the state’s top issue. About 1 in 10 named immigration or education, and fewer said crime was the top issue facing Virginia.

Voters in Virginia also expressed broad dissatisfaction with the country’s direction generally, with about 6 in 10 saying they were “angry” or “dissatisfied” with the way things are going in the country.

Economy dominated other issues in 2025 elections, AP poll finds

Economic worries were the dominant concern as voters cast ballots for Tuesday’s elections, according to preliminary findings from the AP Voter Poll.

The results of the expansive survey of more than 17,000 voters in New Jersey, Virginia, California and New York City suggest they are troubled by an economy that seems trapped by higher prices and fewer job opportunities.

The economic challenges have played out in different ways at the local level. Most New Jersey voters said property taxes were a “major problem,” while most New York City voters said this about the cost of housing. Most Virginia voters said they’ve felt at least some impact from the recent federal government cuts.