State governments of the United States

New York's comptroller race pits four-term Democratic incumbent Thomas DiNapoli against Republican challenger Joseph Hernandez. The office oversees the state's roughly $300 billion pension fund, audits state agencies, and serves as chief fiscal officer. DiNapoli, who has held the post since 2007 and recently survived his first primary challenge, campaigns on steady, low-drama management and returning lost funds to residents. Hernandez, a biotech and finance entrepreneur who previously ran for New York City mayor, is pushing for more aggressive oversight, in-house management of some pension investments, a fraud-focused task force, and a proposed $10 billion fund to invest in New York companies and housing.

Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., is running to succeed retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen against former Republican Sen. John E. Sununu. A win would make Pappas the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate; only one openly gay senator, Tammy Baldwin, currently serves. Pappas, first elected to the House in 2018, says he isn't campaigning on the milestone, and his sexuality has barely surfaced in the race. The contest is pivotal to Democrats' hopes of flipping the Senate, with national Republican groups spending heavily to flip a seat in a state Democrats carried narrowly in 2024.

LGBTQ+ advocates say a Pappas victory would offer representation gains nationally, while researchers note identifying as gay can still carry an electoral penalty in some races.

Minnesota's 2026 governor race is sharpening into a referendum on laws Democrats passed during their 2023-2024 trifecta. Republican House leader Lisa Demuth wants to scale back paid family and medical leave's 20-week maximum, reinstate an income cap on universal school meals, drop automatic gas tax and car-tab increases, and fully eliminate state income tax on Social Security. She hasn't committed to repealing the state's abortion-rights law, calling it "settled law." Democrat Amy Klobuchar says she's open to "improvements" to leave and school-meal funding but supports current benefit levels, opposes tax hikes, and strongly backs the abortion law. Any actual changes would require legislative majorities, also on the ballot this November.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, the Republican front-runner for Tennessee governor, has declined to debate or appear on stage with challengers, including Democratic nominee Jerri Green, and has largely avoided detailed press interviews ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Early voting is underway. Critics, including some traditional Republicans, describe growing "Blackburn fatigue," citing her reliance on front-runner status, close alignment with President Trump, and a reserved campaign style. Her August primary turnout of roughly 311,392 votes was down slightly from 2018. Green has cited polling showing a close race. Blackburn's campaign has answered written questionnaires but has not engaged directly with reporters or opponents on policy specifics.

Ohio's 2026 Senate race will pit former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who lost his 2024 reelection bid, against Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who was appointed after JD Vance resigned to become vice president. The winner serves the final two years of Vance's term. Democrats need four seats to flip Senate control, making the contest a key test of whether they can compete in a state that has trended Republican. Economic issues — fuel and grocery costs, trade with Canada, and health care — are expected to dominate the campaign. Recent polling shows Brown leading Husted, with Husted facing scrutiny over his ties to President Trump.

A new Star Tribune/KARE 11 Minnesota Poll shows U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar with a commanding lead over Republican Lisa Demuth in the race for Minnesota governor, three weeks before Election Day. Half of likely voters said they would back Klobuchar, who is seeking to become the state's first female governor, compared with 41% for Demuth, the speaker of the Minnesota House.

Klobuchar led in the Twin Cities and suburbs and remained competitive in parts of greater Minnesota, trailing Demuth by only five points in the increasingly conservative north while Demuth held a stronger edge in the south. Demuth has sought to tie Klobuchar to a fraud scandal in state government under DFL Gov. Tim Walz, and fraud ranked as the second-most important issue to voters polled. However, slightly more respondents trusted Klobuchar than Demuth to address it, suggesting the scandal has not given Republicans a clear advantage as they try to win the governor's office for the first time since 2006.

Public safety has also emerged as a key campaign theme, with both candidates rolling out crime plans. The Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association, which has previously backed both Demuth and Klobuchar, has declined to endorse in the governor's race even as it formally backed GOP Senate nominee Michele Tafoya, underscoring the issue's political weight without clearly tipping the scales in either direction.

Republican Zac Haines and Democrat Cara Jacob, both political newcomers, are competing to represent Ohio Senate District 7, covering all of Warren County and part of Hamilton County, in the Nov. 3 election. The seat is open because incumbent Sen. Steve Wilson is term-limited. Haines, of Symmes Township, is CEO of a Blue Ash marketing agency; Jacob, of Montgomery, is a neurologist and professor at the University of Cincinnati.

The candidates diverge sharply on key issues. Haines favors continued income tax cuts, property tax relief tied to homeownership tenure or age, and lighter business regulation, including on data centers, which he wants governed by stronger transparency and accountability rules. Jacob opposes recent state tax cuts she says favored corporations, including the stadium subsidy for the Cleveland Browns, and calls for a property tax "circuit breaker," expanded homestead exemptions, and an end to tax exemptions for data centers. On housing, Haines emphasizes boosting supply through deregulation, while Jacob backs wage growth, limits on bulk housing purchases by investors, and expanded childcare access. Both say the state should better fund local schools and services.