New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races headline Election Day 2025, serving as early tests of President Donald Trump’s popularity and agenda ahead of midterm elections.
His name isn’t on the ballot, but President Donald Trump’s unprecedented second-term agenda and the federal government shutdown are top of mind on the campaign trail with one month to go until Election Day 2025.
In the spotlight this November are New Jersey and Virginia, the only two states to hold gubernatorial contests the year after a presidential election.
The races, which traditionally grab outsized national attention, are viewed as crucial early tests of Trump’s popularity and agenda, and key barometers ahead of next year’s midterm showdowns for the U.S. House and Senate.
Also in the political spotlight next month is the ballot box proposition over congressional redistricting in California, the three state Supreme Court contests in battleground Pennsylvania and New York City’s high-profile mayoral election.
Here’s a closer look at 2025’s top elections.
New Jersey
Trump is weighing heavily on this year’s ballot box battle for governor of New Jersey.
And Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli, who enjoys the president’s support, says Democratic nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill is trying to use Trump as a cudgel.
« Listen, if you get a flat tire on the way home from work today, she’s going to blame it on the president. There isn’t anything she doesn’t blame on the president », Ciattarelli argued in a Fox News Digital interview.
Sherrill, in a recent fundraising email to supporters, charged, « As Trump has inflicted all this damage on our country, Republican politicians like Jack Ciattarelli have cheered him on every step of the way. »
And at their first debate last month, she pointed to Ciattarelli and claimed that « he’ll do whatever Trump tells him to do. »
The two candidates have also traded fire over who’s to blame for the federal government shutdown, which is impacting the Garden State.
Ciattarelli, pointing to his rival’s vote in Congress, said, « I do know that there’s a bipartisan group of congresspeople that are trying to keep the government open. My opponent has decided not to be part of that bipartisan group, and she voted no. And so here we are. »
Sherrill, who has repeatedly linked Ciattarrelli to Trump, placed the shutdown blame squarely on Trump’s shoulders, writing in a social media post, « This is precisely the extreme MAGA agenda that @Jack4NJ wants to bring to NJ. »
The two candidates face off next week in the second and final debate in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.
Ciattarelli, who is making his third straight run for governor and who came close to upsetting Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago, discounted talk that Trump is the dominant issue in the race.
