Here’s what hangs in the balance for Black Amercians this Election Day

Tuesday marks the first Election Day since Donald Trump’s 2024 victory, giving voters an opportunity to weigh in on his MAGA agenda.

On Tuesday, Nov. 4, millions of eligible voters will cast their ballots in the first election since Donald Trump‘s stunning 2024 presidential victory, which has resulted in his MAGA takeover of the federal government, and to some degree, state and local governments.

The outcome of Tuesday’s elections is seen as a referendum on Trump’s performance as president to date, and will be critical for millions of Americans, most especially Black Americans, 83% of whom did not vote for Trump in the 2024 election.

Since Trump took office, communities across the country have been at the center of Trump’s policies, from mass immigration raids–resulting in protests and sometimes violent encounters with federal law enforcement, to the president’s global tariffs that have left the U.S. economy frazzled and prices uncomfortably high.

Trump and his Republican Party have also passed their “One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” which provides $3.8 trillion in tax cuts that bipartisan experts say will mostly benefit the nation’s wealthiest Americans and corporations. In order to pay for the massive tax cuts at the expense of taxpayers, the OBBBA makes more than $1 trillion in cuts to health care (Medicaid and Medicare) for millions of Americans.

Then there is the current government shutdown that has left more than 1 million federal workers and some National Guard troops without pay, and, most recently, SNAP recipients without critical food assistance.

Black Americans, as in most cases, have disproportionately felt the negative impacts of the shutdown and Trump’s policies. Most notably, the unemployment rate for Blacks–who have also felt the brunt of Trump’s anti-DEI policies–is nearly double the national rate. Black Americans are also at the center of the brewing battle over congressional map redistricting between Democrats and Republicans.

Who comes out victorious in the 2025 elections will help determine the direction of things to come, including which states and cities will comply or resist Trump’s continued deployment of military troops to American streets, and in some cases, Trump’s threat to withhold federal funds for things like infrastructure and education over political disputes with Democratic governors and mayors.

New York Mayoral Race

There is probably no race as closely watched this Tuesday as New York City’s mayoral race, where Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani has momentum on his side to become the city’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest since 1892. However, his candidacy as a Democratic socialist has caused apprehension and some division in Democratic politics.

Not to mention, Mamdami’s opponents, former New York Governor and Independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, have slammed him as too radical. The winner of the mayoral race will be responsible for the world’s largest economy and would have major impacts on the city’s nearly 1.8 million Black residents.

If elected, Zohran Mamdani will become the new face of the Trump resistance in New York City, whose current mayor, Eric Adams, has been criticized for working with the White House after Trump’s DOJ unexpectedly dropped federal corruption charges against him. Mamdani’s campaign platform to raise taxes for the wealthy and corporations is in stark contrast to Trump’s signature national tax cuts and could set a model for Democrats in addressing the longstanding crisis of affordability, particularly for Black and Brown Americans.

Trump, who has repeatedly called Mamdani a “communist,” has already threatened to withhold federal funds from New York City if he wins, setting up a political battle where the livelihood of NYC’s more than 8 million residents hangs in the balance.

Virginia Gubernatorial Race

Voters in Virginia will determine their next governor on Tuesday in the contest between Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger and Republican nominee Winsome Earle-Sears, who is the current lieutenant governor and the first Black woman to hold that role.

Earle-Sears is one of a few Republican Black female elected officials, and if elected, would become the first African American woman to be elected governor in U.S. history.

Spanberger has criticized Earle-Sears’s political positions, which have aligned closely with President Trump’s agenda. Earle-Sears has refused to criticize Trump’s cuts to the federal workforce, despite Virginia being one of the most impacted states of the federal workforce purges. Spanberger has slammed Earle-Sears for not being willing to stand up to Trump and prioritizing her loyalty to MAGA over that of Virginians.

Former President Barack Obama, America’s first Black president, campaigned on behalf of Spanberger on Saturday, telling voters that Virginia’s elections come down to the state and the country choosing between two visions for “who we are and what this nation stands for.”

“The first story says we the people—it just means some of us. That in order to qualify, you have to be the right color or come from the right family or worship in the right way or have enough money,” said Obama during a campaign rally in Norfolk. “And [it] says that even though we got rid of a king, there’s still a caste system in America, a pecking order of who makes decisions and who obeys, who gets opportunity, and who is obliged to serve. And it’s a story that’s policed by fear and force that tries to convince people that for their group to win, another group has to lose.”

Virginia Attorney General Race

Virginia’s attorney general race could add to the number of state attorneys general who have filed numerous lawsuits challenging Trump’s executive actions, from clawbacks in federal dollars already approved by Congress to Trump’s quest to eliminate birthright citizenship and efforts to take over state-run elections.

Democratic nominee Jay Jones has tried to tie his Republican opponent, Jason Miyares, to Trump. He has warned voters that, if elected, Miyares would enforce a MAGA agenda that includes abortion bans and what he describes as “abuses of power,” like the deployment of military troops to U.S. cities.

If victorious, Jones, a state delegate, would become Virginia’s first African-American attorney general. “We have an opportunity to elect the state’s first Black attorney general to be the face of the system that has oppressed Black people for years,” he told Charlottesville Tomorrow. “We are due for a hard look at rewriting our code where a lot of it is rooted in Jim Crow.”

Jones is also running on a platform of criminal justice reform, including ending qualified immunity for law enforcement officers and ending solitary confinement for the incarcerated.

However, Jones’ campaign has faced controversy after old texts of him encouraging violence and the death of Virginia’s then-Republican speaker of the state House of Delegates, for which he has apologized.

Amid rising political violence in the U.S., Miyares has seized on Jones’ text message scandal and leaned on the GOP’s strategy of casting Democrats as too “soft on crime.” The winner of this race in the Purple state of Virginia could provide a meaningful snapshot of how most voters might feel about Trump’s argument that Democratic politics aren’t keeping communities safe.

New Jersey Gubernatorial Race

While New Jersey is traditionally a blue state in presidential politics, it has, over the years, elected both Democratic and Republican governors. Tuesday’s gubernatorial contest between Democratic nominee U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli could provide insight into where voters stand on Trump’s MAGA platform, particularly regarding the deployment of military troops and federal agents to U.S. cities.

Jersey saw one of the biggest controversies surrounding Trump’s immigration policies this year when Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested outside of an ICE holding facility. The mayor had joined New Jersey U.S. Reps. LaMonica McIver and Bonnie Watson Coleman for an oversight visit amid concerns of violations at the facility. Baraka’s charges were later dropped; however, the Trump administration later charged McIver, who now faces jail time for charges she says are politically motivated.

Who is elected New Jersey’s next governor could determine what direction the state sees as necessary amid military and law enforcement escalations from the Trump administration.

President Obama campaigned on behalf of Sherrill, telling a massive rally crowd, “We got masked ICE agents pulling up in unmarked vans and grabbing people off the streets, including U.S. citizens.”

“We don’t need a governor who puts party and ideology ahead of the people…You deserve a governor who’s going to think for herself and work for you,” he said.

California Prop 50 Ballot

Voters in California will decide on an important ballot measure that will determine whether California will be able to redraw its congressional map mid-decade in an effort to balance the scales against Republicans who are gerrymandering maps to their benefit at the demand of President Trump.

The battle over congressional maps also comes as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a decades-old civil rights law that has safeguarded Black voters and other marginalized voters, is in jeopardy of being gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Looking ahead to the 2026 midterm elections, President Trump has urged Republicans in Texas, North Carolina, and other states to redraw maps to ensure they can keep a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and continue implementing Trump’s agenda. As a consequence, Republicans have been accused of violating the VRA as their maps have targeted majority Black and Latino districts or districts represented by Black and Brown lawmakers.

“California’s Prop 50 isn’t just a state ballot measure; it’s a defining moment for Black political power in this country,” said Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP.

“What happens in California reverberates across the nation. When Black voters show up, representation shifts, priorities shift, and Congress reflects the people it serves. At a time when gerrymandering and voter suppression threaten our constitutional rights, this vote is a chance to expand our voice.”