JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Tomorrow is Election Day. It's not a presidential election or a midterm congressional election, but some key races around the country could have national consequences. NPR's Domenico Montanaro takes a look at those contests through their ads.
DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE: There are four big races with national implications. Two of them are for governor, including in Virginia. Here's Democrat Abigail Spanberger.
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ABIGAIL SPANBERGER: Now I'm ready to serve again as governor, to continue our family's tradition of service by serving all Virginia families.
MONTANARO: Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is taking a different approach.
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WINSOME EARLE-SEARS: As your governor, I won't be a polished politician. But as a United States Marine, I'll always fight for Virginia.
MONTANARO: In New Jersey, it's Democratic Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill stressing her military credentials.
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MIKIE SHERRILL: As a Navy helicopter pilot, I learned accountability - that leaders always put the people they serve first. I'm Mikie Sherrill.
MONTANARO: She's running against Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former state legislator who's run and lost twice before for governor.
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JACK CIATTARELLI: Together, I know we can fix New Jersey. It's time.
MONTANARO: Then there's the election for mayor of New York. The Republican in the race is Curtis Sliwa, a perennial mayoral candidate running on familiar GOP turf.
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CURTIS SLIWA: Our schools failing, riots, defunding the police, crime and corruption - we shouldn't have...
MONTANARO: Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: You may not always agree with Andrew Cuomo, but you got to admit he knows what he's doing.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: He'd kick anybody's [expletive] standing in the way.
MONTANARO: Standing in his way is Democratic rising star Zohran Mamdani.
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ZOHRAN MAMDANI: We can tell Donald Trump he cannot buy this election. And we can tell Andrew Cuomo that New York City is not for sale.
MONTANARO: A self-proclaimed democratic socialist, Mamdani has captured the imagination of progressives, but he's also become a lightning rod on the right. Conservatives have labeled him radical for criticisms of Israel and for tweets advocating for the defunding of police. As a candidate for mayor, though, he's disavowed his past stance on police and says safety is a top priority. And in the final days of the race, he launched an ad on Fox News taking on his detractors. It opens with clips of him being criticized on the network, but then this.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Socialist Zohran Mamdani...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Communist (inaudible) .
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: He is a communist.
MAMDANI: Hey. I'm the actual Zohran Mamdani, not the guy they talk about on this channel.
MONTANARO: He's made some big promises - to freeze the rent, make buses faster and provide universal child care. If he wins - and polls show he's favored - getting those things done is going to be a major test. Whether they work may indicate just how far Democrats are willing to run with his message nationally. On the other side of the country is a battle with potentially huge consequences for control of the House.
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UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR #1: Vote yes on Prop 50.
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UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR #2: Stop Newsom's power grab. Vote no.
MONTANARO: In response to President Trump pushing for Texas to redraw districts and try and gain as many as five new Republican seats to shore up control of the House next year, California governor, Democrat Gavin Newsom, is trying to do the same. But to do it, he needs the state to vote in favor of Proposition 50, which would temporarily overturn the independent drawing of districts that's currently mandated by the state. Newsom is getting some high-profile help.
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BARACK OBAMA: Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to rig the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years.
MONTANARO: Yep, that's former President Barack Obama, who remains popular within the Democratic base, and he's also cut ads for Spanberger and Sherrill. But the current president, Donald Trump, is the one on the lips of Democrats in these races. Take this one from Spanberger that ties her GOP opponent to Trump's policies.
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SPANBERGER: What does she say about Trump's bad budget bill?
EARLE-SEARS: The bill, as you know now, does so many great things.
SPANBERGER: What? The Trump...
MONTANARO: In New Jersey, Sherrill says of her Republican opponent...
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UNIDENTIFIED NARRATOR #3: MAGA's coming for New Jersey, with Trump-endorsed Republican Jack Ciattarelli. Trump brags Ciattarelli is now 100% MAGA. We've got to stop him. With Democrats...
MONTANARO: Ciattarelli's response?
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CIATTARELLI: We all know it - New Jersey's a mess. And all Mikie Sherrill wants to talk about is President Trump. Come on. What does the president have to do with rising property taxes and higher electricity bills? New Jersey's a mess because...
MONTANARO: Republicans in these races have largely steered clear of Trump, focusing more on things like crime. But off-year elections tend to test the party in power and give voters aligned with the party out of power their first chance to register their frustration.
Domenico Montanaro, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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