While too much shouldn't be made out of off-year elections, today's will be the first major electoral sign of the political mood and what voters think of the president.

Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says the party needs to address high electric bills, healthcare costs and housing affordability to win voters.

As Democrats are riding the high of several notable electoral victories on Tuesday, the outlook for 2026 appears a bit tougher.

The elections came as residential electric bills have increased about 10% in the U.S. this year. In New Jersey, bills surged 20%. Renewables such as wind and solar are the cheapest forms of new electricity generation, data show.

Trump's second term agenda faces first major ballot box test as voters decide key 2025 elections in New Jersey, Virginia gubernatorial races and NYC mayoral contest on Tuesday.

According to unofficial results, 5,854 residents, 19.97% of the 29,308 registered voters, made their voices heard in Westfield’s municipal election where there were contested races for mayor, at large City Council and Ward 2 City Council.

Democrats’ hopes of securing control of the Senate next year begin with defending a freshman from a Southern swing state that Donald Trump narrowly carried in 2024. And Republican efforts to maintain their Senate majority center on a longtime incumbent who has managed to hang on despite representing a state that leans blue.

In his first Truth Social post commenting on the election results, Trump suggested that the reasons why Democrats won is because he was not on the ballot and because of the government shutdown. Trump has repeatedly blamed Democrats for the shutdown despite Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House.