The off-year elections feature major races in just a handful of states, but networks are deploying midterm-level coverage, seeing it not just as an indicator of the future of the Democratic party but a referendum on Donald Trump.
Fox News, CNN and MSNBC featured countdown clocks to the first poll closings in Virginia at 7 p.m. ET, while revealing some results of exit polls.
One of the questions highlighted on CNN in races in New Jersey and Virginia: Was one of your reasons for your vote to support or oppose Trump, or was it not a factor? Far more said oppose than support, albeit majorities said he was not a factor.
“There’s only so much a candidate can outrun a president who is underwater, who is an albatross around their neck,” CNN’s Jake Tapper said after the results were revealed.
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On Fox News, panelists on The Five focused heavily on one of the signature races of the night, as Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani faces independent Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa in the race for New York mayor. Other races also were discussed, with a chyron, “Democrats want to make races all about Trump.” MSNBC’s rad, “Trump’s agenda put to the test in off-year elections.”
Like past election nights, networks are capitalizing on the expected attention to the races, even if just four states have major contests. In addition to the New York mayor’s race, voters will decide on the governorships in Virginia and New Jersey, and on a redistricting proposition in California.
The broadcast networks are planning extensive coverage on their streaming platforms, while the elections marked the first major news event since CNN debuted the All Access service, providing subscribers with feeds of the main network and CNN international that largely mirrors the linear channels. The exception is a streaming-only “livecast” with Harry Enten and guests including Charlamagne tha God and Ben Shapiro.
MSNBC’s coverage, led by Rachel Maddow, will mark the final election night at 30 Rockefeller Center, and even for the network’s name. A rebranding campaign will be launched during the evening to the slogan, “We The People.”
Coverage also will be found across an array of other channels, including PBS, NewsNation, C-SPAN and Newsmax, as well as upstarts like a Decision Desk 2025 livestream featuring two legacy media veterans who have gone on to the digital realm: Chuck Todd and Chris Cillizza.
Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, was planning coverage on Lindell TV followed by coverage on X and other social media platforms.
Trump did not campaign in Virginia or New Jersey, and weighed in on the New York mayor’s race from time to time, finally endorsing Cuomo on Monday. “You really have no choice,” Trump said, as he has branded Mamdani a “communist” and a vote for Sliwa as futile.
He also has threatened California and Proposition 50, Governor Gavin Newsom’s response to Trump’s efforts to get states to redistrict so as to boost GOP chances in next year’s midterms. “All ‘Mail-In’ Ballots, where the Republicans in that State are ‘Shut Out,’ is under very serious legal and criminal review. STAY TUNED!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday.
But Newsom has cast the proposition — which would redraw districts to favor more Democrats — as an up or down vote on Trump. “Donald Trump is already doing everything he can to suppress the vote,” Newsom said in a video message posted on X, noting that the president has sent federal agents to monitor polling sites “to intimidate and chill free expression.”