By Dan McCaleb and Andrew Rice
The Center Square

Voters in several states and cities across the U.S. will decide key races for governor, mayor and other positions Tuesday as voting continues this Election Day.

The first polls are set to close at 7 p.m. eastern in Virginia, where voters will decide between Republican Winsome Earl-Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger for the state’s next governor.

Earl-Sears is the current lieutenant governor of Virginia and Spanberger most recently served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Earl-Sears won alongside Republican Glenn Youngkin in 2021. The Virginia Constitution limits governors to a single four-year term, which prevented Youngkin from pursuing the governorship a second time.

A contentious battle has also marked the race for Virginia’s attorney general. Democrat Jay Jones’ leaked text messages, first reported by National Review, showed him talking about shooting former House Speaker Todd Gilbert.

Spanberger has been closely associated with Jones and Democrat candidate for lieutenant governor, Ghazala Hashmi. Often, the three candidates will display materials advocating for voters to elect them together.

The impact over Jones’ messages is unclear for the overall race outcome.

Voters in New Jersey also are electing a new governor, choosing between Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli. Sherrill has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2019. Ciattarelli is a businessman and previously served as a state legislator.

Ciatterelli lost to Democrat Phil Murphy in 2021. This year, Ciattarelli has an endorsement from President Donald Trump.

In one of the most talked about races in the country, Democrat candidate and self-proclaimed Zohran Mamdani faces Republican Curtis Sliwa and Independent and former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Mamdani has made headlines for his socialist policies including raising taxes on wealthy residents and opening government-run grocery stores.

In California, voters will decide whether the state should set aside existing electoral maps made by an independent third party in favor of ones made by state Democrats. Proposition 50 could add as many as five more Democrat-leaning congressional districts to the U.S. House of Representatives, countering redistricting in Texas that could flip as many as five Democrat-held seats to Republican.

Voters in Atlanta, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Seattle and elsewhere also will elect mayors.