The economy and rising prices were high on the minds of voters on Election Day, and those concerns contributed to a Democratic sweep of statewide offices in Virginia and New Jersey. The voting pattern in two traditionally Republican counties in each state is evidence of how strongly Democrats campaigned on pocketbook issues. Spotsylvania County in Virginia and Morris County in New Jersey backed Donald Trump and Republican candidates for governor in earlier elections. This month, voters in those counties went with Democrats up and down the ballot. With congressional midterm elections in 2026, the November results have sent a message to conservatives who hold power in Washington.

The rights of trans youth could be a factor Virginia’s 2025 gubernatorial election and legislative control in Richmond. Republican Winsome Earle-Sears opposes the rights of trans kids at school. Democrat Abigail Spanberger has largely avoided the subject. Each candidate is trying to cast the other as the extremist on the issue. LGBTQ+ Virginians have been grappling with what it means to be queer and trans in a moment where their identities are thrust into statewide and national politics. Other Virginians, meanwhile, worry about its impact on their children.

With less than a month until election day, Virginia’s attorney general candidates are finally set to face off.

Virginia's lieutenant governor is used to facing formidable obstacles in her political campaigns. And Winsome Earle-Sears' bid to be Virginia’s next governor is no exception. The Jamaican immigrant and Marine veteran will need to win the Republican primary in June at a time when her party has been taken over by the “Make America Great Again” movement. Then she'll have to woo moderate and independent voters in the November general election as Democrats look to tie her to President Donald Trump’s overhaul of the federal government. Two conservatives are trying to challenge her in the primary. Virginia has never elected a woman as governor.