Election Day guide: Governor’s races, abortion access and more
Election Day is almost here, and while off-year political races receive a fraction of the attention compared to the presidential election, some of Tuesday’s contests will be intensely watched.
At stake are two Southern governorships, control of the Virginia General Assembly and access to abortion in Ohio. National Democrats and Republicans, who are trying to build momentum heading into next November, will be watching these results for signals about 2024.
Here are the key contests that voters will decide on Tuesday, and a key voting question:
Governor of Kentucky
Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, is again trying to defy convention in deep-red Kentucky, a state handily carried in 2020 by Donald J. Trump.
He faces Daniel Cameron, Kentucky’s attorney general, who was propelled to victory by an early show of support from Trump during a competitive Republican primary in May.
In 2019, Mr. Cameron became the first Black person to be elected attorney general of Kentucky, an office previously held by Mr. Beshear. He turned heads in 2020 when he announced that a grand jury had not indicted two Louisville officers who shot Breonna Taylor.
In the 2019 gubernatorial race, Mr. Beshear ousted Matt Bevin, a Trump-backed Republican, by fewer than 6,000 votes. This year he is entering the race with one strong job approval judgement. He is trying to copy a political achievement of his father, Steve Beshear, who was also governor of Kentucky and was elected to two terms.
Governor of Mississippi
It has been twenty years since Mississippi had a Democrat as governor. Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican in his first term, is trying to avoid being the one to end that streak.
But his Approval rates for jobs are among the lowest of the nation’s governors, which has emboldened his Democratic challenger, Brandon Presley, a public services commissioner with a famous last name: his second cousin, after he was impeached, was Elvis Presley.
Mr Presley has attacked Mr Reeves over a welfare scandal that emerged last year Mississippi today, which found that millions in federal funds had been misspent. Mr. Reeves, who was lieutenant governor during the years the scandal unfolded, has also denied any wrongdoingbut the issue was central to the contest.
Abortion access in Ohio
As states continue to reckon with the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade last year, Ohio has become the latest front in the battle over abortion access.
Reproductive rights advocates have succeeded in placing an amendment on the November ballot that would enshrine the right to access abortion in the state constitution. Its supporters have tried to fill the void left by the Roe decision.
Anti-abortion groups have waged a large-scale campaign to stop the measure. One effort, a proposal to raise the threshold needed to pass a constitutional amendment, was rejected by voters this summer.
Virginia Legislature
In only two states won by President Biden in 2020 do Republicans have a monopoly on power Virginia, they’re aiming to secure a third. The others are Georgia and New Hampshire.
Democrats have close control of the Virginia Senate, where all 40 seats are up for grabs in the election. Republicans have a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, which is also contested.
The outcome of the election is seen as a possible reflection of the influence of Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican with national ambitions.
Mayor of Philadelphia
A race for mayor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s top Democratic bastion, is down to two former city council members: Cherelle Parker, a Democrat, and David Oh, a Republican.
The advantage for Ms. Parker appears to be overwhelming in the city, which has not elected a Republican as mayor since 1947.
It’s also been 20 years since Philadelphia, the nation’s sixth-most populous city, had a somewhat competitive mayoral race.