Voters in New Jersey and Virginia head to the polls Tuesday in the first major statewide elections since Donald Trump returned to the White House, seen as early tests of voter sentiment ahead of the 2026 midterms.

With Virginia and New Jersey’s gubernatorial elections just days away, the races will serve as the first major electoral test of Trump’s agenda. Plus, a new NBC poll shows Trump’s approval rating has continued to fall since the start of his second term.

The election stands as one of the nation’s most closely watched races, with implications for national party strategy and midterms.

The message of affordability also propelled Zohran Mamdani, a little-known New York assemblyman who has vowed to freeze the rent for rent-controlled apartments in New York City, to the Democratic nomination and helped make him the favorite in Tuesday’s mayoral race.

The Washington Post’s essential guide to power and influence in D.C. Trump isn’t on the ballot in New Jersey. But he’s a key figure in this year’s elections there.

New Jersey's tight gubernatorial race between Mikie Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli heats up as early voting reaches 800,000 ballots with Election Day approaching.

Former President Barack Obama will join Democratic New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill at a rally in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday. Sherrill’s is neck and neck against Republican Jack Ciattarelli according to polls,

Vice President JD Vance and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) are strikingly close in a hypothetical 2028 election matchup in New Jersey, despite the state’s decades-long history of consistently voting for Democratic presidential candidates.