The Races to Watch Across All 50 States

Alabama By ASHLEY SOUTHALL Alabama Election Results »

Governor

Despite high unemployment, incumbent is popular

Despite rising unemployment and a sluggish economic recovery, Gov. Robert Bentley, a Republican, enjoys high approval ratings that are likely to carry him into a second term. His campaign has more than $5.7 million to fend off a challenge from Parker Griffith, a former congressman who has switched from Democrat to Republican and back again. The state’s unemployment rate is among the highest in the nation, but that fact alone has not been enough to help Mr. Griffith overcome his lack of money and name recognition.

U.S. Senate

A Republican runs unopposed for a fourth term

Senator Jeff Sessions, in his bid for a fourth term, has the distinction of being the only Republican senator running unopposed; no Democrat rose to challenge him and his $3.4 million war chest. Instead, Mr. Sessions is waiting to see whether Republicans will win a Senate majority and install him as the chairman of the Budget Committee.

U.S. House

District 6 A conservative stronghold

In one of the most conservative districts in the country, the Republican nominee, Gary Palmer, a staff member at a conservative public policy center, appears poised to replace Representative Spencer Bachus, a Republican who is retiring after more than two decades in office. His Democratic opponent, Mark Lester, a college history professor, has raised virtually no money since entering the race in August after the party’s original nominee withdrew.

Alaska By JULIE TURKEWITZ Alaska Election Results »

U.S. Senate

Money pours in for a crucial race

The race between Mark Begich, the Democratic incumbent, and Daniel Sullivan, a Republican, could decide who controls the chamber, and outside groups have poured money into the contest. But there are few clear signals of the race’s momentum: Alaska is notoriously difficult to poll, and 59 percent of voters are unaffiliated with either major party.

Mr. Begich is a first-term senator who won by fewer than 4,000 votes in 2008. Born and raised in Alaska, he has a moderate voting record and is casting his opponent as an East Coast outsider. Mr. Sullivan, born in Ohio, is a former state attorney general who has played up his service in the Marine Corps. His campaign ads and website have sought to tie Mr. Begich to policies of the Obama administration that are unpopular among many here, including the Affordable Care Act.

They differ on issues like Social Security: Mr. Begich wants to raise revenue by eliminating a provision that exempts high earners from Social Security taxes. Mr. Sullivan has called for reform but said he would like to explore other options.

Governor

Democrat drops out to help independent

The battle for the state’s executive seat will be anything but ordinary. The Republican incumbent, Sean Parnell, faces a challenge from Bill Walker, a lawyer and former fisherman who is running as an independent and has not held political office since the 1980s. Byron Mallott, who won the Democratic primary, withdrew to help Mr. Walker by running for lieutenant governor.

Mr. Walker and Mr. Mallott disagree on some issues, but are united in their opposition to Mr. Parnell’s crowning legislative achievement, an overhaul of the state system of taxing oil industry profits. Critics of the plan say it gives too many tax breaks to the companies. An effort to repeal the overhaul failed. But Mr. Walker has vowed to continue to look for ways to protect voters from company interests. “People are ready for a separation of oil and state in Alaska,” he said last month.

Ballot Measures

A vote on the legalization of marijuana

A proposal to permit the recreational use of marijuana has received little official support. It has, however, found a vocal champion in Charlo Greene, a local television reporter who quit on air while announcing that she owned a cannabis shop and would dedicate her time to advancing the proposed legalization. The decision may rest on how many smokers vote: Marijuana use among Alaskans 26 and older is more than twice the national rate, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Raising the minimum wage

Voters will decide whether to raise the state minimum wage to $8.75 in 2015, and then to $9.75 in 2016 from the current $7.75. Thereafter, it would be pegged to inflation. Alaska is one of four red states that will decide on a minimum-wage increase, and supporters generally believe it will pass. Nationally, wage increases have appeared on ballots 10 times since 2002, and voters have approved them every time.

Arizona By MATT FLEGENHEIMER Arizona Election Results »

Governor

Ex-Clinton aide takes on ex-ice cream chief

Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, will leave office because of term limits, and the race to succeed her appears relatively tight. The Republican nominee, Doug Ducey, the state treasurer, is a former executive for the Cold Stone Creamery, an ice cream company. His campaign has framed his time at the company as valuable leadership experience, producing an advertisement that includes testimonials from Cold Stone franchise holders. Mr. Ducey has earned the support of some high-profile Republicans, including Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who campaigned for the candidate in Arizona in early October.

The Democrat, Fred DuVal, was an aide to President Bill Clinton and chairman of the Arizona Board of Regents. He has cast himself as a palatable choice for Republicans in a state that often trends red, releasing a “G.O.P. for Fred” list that named nearly 200 Republicans supporting his candidacy. Mr. DuVal has also tried to associate Mr. Ducey with the stances of some extreme conservatives, saying Mr. Ducey’s positions aligned him with the “Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz wing” of the party.

U.S. House

District 1 Vulnerable Democrat digs in

In one of the most competitive districts in the country, Representative Ann Kirkpatrick, the incumbent Democrat, is trying to turn back a challenge from Andy Tobin, the speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives. Mr. Tobin has taken pains to tie Ms. Kirkpatrick to President Obama’s positions, particularly the Affordable Care Act. Ms. Kirkpatrick has criticized her opponent’s support for budget cuts in education and child welfare services, according to The Arizona Republic, which endorsed the Democrat.

District 2 Striking histories in a critical race

This race is a rematch from 2012, when Representative Ron Barber, a Democrat and former aide to Gabrielle Giffords, edged the Republican challenger, Martha McSally. Mr. Barber, who was by Ms. Giffords’s side when she was shot in 2011 and was himself seriously wounded, has carried the mantle of his former boss, campaigning to, among other things, curb gun violence. Ms. McSally has a compelling biography as well. An Air Force veteran, she was the first woman to fly a combat mission and command a fighter squadron. The race is a virtual toss-up.

Ballot Measures

New drug standards for terminally ill

Proposition 303 would permit a manufacturer to make “a drug, biological product or device” available to a terminally ill patient if it has cleared the first phase of a clinical trial. As a result, a drug, product or device would not need to be approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration. So-called right-to-try laws have been passed in other states, which are facing questions about possible conflicts with federal regulations. Gov. Jan Brewer is among the proposal’s supporters.

Arkansas By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS Arkansas Election Results »

U.S. Senate

An incumbent faces a state shifting right

The Senate race in Arkansas is one of the key competitions for control of the chamber. The incumbent is Mark Pryor, a Democrat, who has been in a close competition against Tom Cotton, a combat veteran and a first-term Republican in the House of Representatives with a conservative voting record.

Mr. Pryor is running for a third term in a Senate seat once held by his father, David Pryor, also a Democrat. But the dynamics of Arkansas are changing. The state that brought the nation Bill and Hillary Clinton has moved increasingly to the right in recent years, which poses a challenge for the incumbent. Mitt Romney beat President Obama by 24 points there in 2012, and Democrats have lost ground in elected offices across the state.

Outside spending has been substantial, flooding Arkansas’s inexpensive news media market with a torrent of advertisements — some say as never before. The race is very tight, but Mr. Cotton appears to have a slight edge.

Governor

A close race between two ex-congressmen

The race to replace the state’s popular governor, Mike Beebe, a Democrat who is ineligible to run again because of term limits, is a close contest between two former members of Congress: Mike Ross, a Democrat, and Asa Hutchinson, a Republican.

Mr. Hutchinson has run for statewide office several times, most recently for governor in 2006 against Mr. Beebe, and he has lost each time. The state’s changing political leanings, however, are expected to give him a strong boost. The race is one of several being watched for signs that Arkansas’s last tinges of blue may be fading after decades of strong Democratic showings.

The contest is close, but recent polls appear to show Mr. Hutchinson pulling ahead.

State Legislature

Races with implications for Medicaid

Republicans control both houses of the Arkansas Legislature — they won control of the Legislature in 2012 for the first time in 138 years — but their majority in the House of Representatives is very narrow.

Also at stake is the future of the state’s private Medicaid expansion, which some Republican candidates ran against in their primaries this cycle. If Republicans make strong gains in the Legislature, the plan will face a steep climb.

Ballot Measures

Votes on the minimum wage and alcohol

One ballot measure will ask Arkansans to raise the minimum wage to $7.50 an hour in January from the current $6.25, and by another 50 cents per hour in 2016 and 2017. Democrats are hoping this will encourage voters who might otherwise stay home to come out to the polls. The measure is being challenged in court.

Also on the ballot is a measure that would eliminate dry counties in the state. Currently, nearly half of the state’s 75 counties prohibit the sale of alcohol, and the hurdles to rolling back those prohibitions are high.

California By JULIE TURKEWITZ California Election Results »

U.S. House

District 52 A tight race for an incumbent

Several pundits are calling the race between Scott Peters, a Democrat and the incumbent, and Carl DeMaio, a Republican and former San Diego councilman, one of the most competitive races in the country. Mr. DeMaio has considerable name recognition, is openly gay and barely 40 years old, and has seized on Congress’s unpopularity, calling himself a “new generation” leader. During a September debate the men criticized each other’s records. Mr. DeMaio blamed his opponent for a San Diego pension crisis (Mr. Peters said the city suffered from “a couple decades of bad financial practices” before his election), while Mr. Peters suggested that his challenger had aligned himself with the Tea Party (something Mr. DeMaio has denied).

District 7 Centrist tries to win re-election

In a district that is evenly split between the two major parties, the incumbent, Ami Bera, a Democrat and first-time congressman who is a doctor, has highlighted his centrist views and distanced himself from his chamber’s lackluster record. He has promoted his opposition to congressional pay raises and perks, as well as his membership in a bipartisan group called No Labels. This has not stopped his challenger, Doug Ose, who served as a representative for three terms starting in 1998, from criticizing him. “I think No Labels is a do-nothing group,” he has said. “I think Congressman Bera has established a record as a do-nothing member.” Mr. Ose supports a repeal of the Affordable Care Act and has highlighted his support of legislation that reduced taxes.

District 26 Both sides worrying in a ‘sleeper’ race

Assemblyman Jeff Gorell is a Republican who supports abortion rights and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. He is seen as a real threat to the incumbent, Julia Brownley, a first-time congresswoman representing a heavily Latino, traditionally Democratic district in Southern California. Ms. Brownley is a former state assemblywoman who recently claimed a critical role in the passage of a federal bill designed to address shortcomings in accessibility and accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs. This was once considered a “sleeper” race, but both sides are worrying. As of Oct. 24, Ms. Brownley had spent nearly $2.3 million on her bid for re-election, while Mr. Gorell had spent just under $1 million.

Ballot Measures

Drug tests may be required for doctors

Supporters of Proposition 46 say that it would address a host of consumer safety concerns by requiring drug tests for doctors and mandating that doctors check a database before prescribing painkillers to a patient — a measure intended to prevent drug abuse that is already in effect in New York and other states. One controversial aspect of the ballot measure seeks to more than quadruple the maximum medical malpractice award, which proponents say is necessary to give lawyers incentive to take on cases. The “No on 46,” campaign, however, warns that the measure would place such a financial burden on physicians that it would drive them out of the state.

More power for an insurance commissioner

Also on the ballot is Proposition 45, which would allow the state’s insurance commissioner, an elected official, to regulate insurance premiums. Those in favor say the move would “put the brakes on rates,” limiting consumer costs. But those opposed, including insurance companies that have spent more than $30 million to try to defeat the measure, say that it would concentrate too much power in the hands of one politician.

Downgrading certain felonies

Voters will also decide on Proposition 47, which would reclassify many felonies as misdemeanors. Supporters are calling it the “Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act” and say that the move would reduce prison spending and many of the negative effects of decades of “tough on crime” policies, allowing the state to invest in education, drug and mental health treatment and victim services. But critics, including the California Police Chiefs Association, say that the measure goes too far, reducing penalties for serious offenses like stealing a handgun and possessing certain date-rape drugs.

A push to repair water infrastructure

Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat who is strongly favored to win re-election this year, has made the passage of a water initiative, Proposition 1, an important part of his campaign. But environmental groups are split over the proposal, which posits borrowing more than $7 billion to improve state water supply infrastructure.

Critics, including the group Food and Water Watch, say it would pour money into the coffers of “mega growers” but do little to address the state’s staggering drought. Others, however, say that shoring up water infrastructure is critical to the state’s future — and that taking on additional debt is the only way to do it.

Colorado By JULIE TURKEWITZ Colorado Election Results »

U.S. Senate

Tying an incumbent to President Obama

Early this year, many thought that Mark Udall, the Democrat elected to this seat in 2008, would sail into a second term. Then Cory Gardner entered the race — and this matchup is now considered one of the closest in the nation.

Mr. Gardner, a two-term Republican congressman, has capitalized on local disillusionment with the Obama administration. He has tied Mr. Udall to the president’s policies in campaign ads, stating repeatedly that Mr. Udall voted with the president “99 percent” of the time. Mr. Udall has countered that Mr. Gardner is out of touch with Coloradans on social issues. In particular, Mr. Udall has suggested that Mr. Gardner’s ideas on abortion — including co-sponsoring a 2007 bill that would have made abortion a felony — are too far to the right of the general electorate.

Governor

Incumbent faces challenge from the right

The race for governor is also neck-and-neck. Supporters of the Democratic incumbent, John Hickenlooper, have pointed out that his state’s economy is growing, and that he has guided the state through a particularly brutal gantlet of shootings, fires and floods. But supporters of the Republican challenger, Bob Beauprez, have introduced a wave of attack ads trying to portray Mr. Hickenlooper as a weak leader. Among other issues, they cite his turnaround on the state’s gun restrictions: He originally voiced support for them but later waffled, saying a staff member had committed him to the measure.

U.S. House

District 6 Candidates court the Latino vote

Both candidates have worked to court Latino voters in this district, which includes several increasingly diverse Denver suburbs. The incumbent, Mike Coffman, a Republican, once drew ire after calling for a repeal of a rule that ballots be printed in more than one language. Now he is learning Spanish.

But he disagrees markedly with his Democratic challenger, the former state House speaker Andrew Romanoff, on immigration reform: Mr. Coffman supports creating a path to citizenship for children who are in the country illegally, but not adults. Mr. Romanoff supports more sweeping changes. The two are set for an all-Spanish debate on Oct. 30 on a local Univision affiliate.

Ballot Measures

A vote on ‘personhood’

There are four initiatives on the ballot this cycle. Initiative 67 would include unborn children in the definition of a person and a child in the Colorado criminal code. Proponents say that, among other effects, the change would allow pregnant women involved in violent incidents to seek justice if the encounter is linked to the death of the fetus. Opponents say the measure goes too far; a group called Vote No 67 asserts that it “would ban all abortions, including for victims of rape and incest, and when a woman’s health is in danger.”

Connecticut By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS Connecticut Election Results »

Governor

A replay of a 2010 contest

The most hotly contested race in Connecticut, and one of the most competitive of its kind in the country, is for the governor’s mansion, where the Democratic incumbent, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, faces an intense challenge from Thomas C. Foley, a Republican. It is a replay of the 2010 contest, in which Mr. Malloy beat Mr. Foley by only a few thousand votes.

Mr. Foley, a businessman and former ambassador to Ireland, has focused on the state’s economy, highlighting its relatively slow growth. Mr. Malloy has tried to paint Mr. Foley as out of touch with middle- and working-class voters.

Ballot Measures

Voting on voting rules

Voters will be asked to approve a constitutional amendment that would change the way voting rules are made in the state, giving the Legislature the power to loosen restrictions on absentee and early voting.

Connecticut has strict voting rules. For example, the state does not allow absentee voting unless there is a specific reason, such as if a voter is in the military or cannot reach the proper polling place on Election Day.

Democrats tend to favor rules that make it easier for people to vote, while many Republicans say looser rules invite voter fraud. Democrats control both chambers of the State Legislature, and the two main candidates for governor have expressed support for measures to make voting easier, so if the amendment is approved, new voting rules are likely to follow.

Delaware By PATRICIA COHEN Delaware Election Results »

State Attorney General

Race impacts an important post

The decision by Beau Biden, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s eldest child, to step down as attorney general after completing his second term to run for governor two years from now has focused attention on the state’s top law enforcer.

The lieutenant governor, Matt Denn, a Democrat in the middle of his second term, has decided to make a bid for the post, facing off against Ted Kittila, a corporate lawyer and a Republican, who has never run for elected office before.

If Mr. Denn wins, as is widely expected, Delaware could be left without a second in command until the 2016 election: The state’s Constitution does not allow for filling an empty seat midway through a term.

U.S. Senate

Coons remains favorite

President Obama maintains his popularity in the state, so Democrats may not have much to worry about on election night. Senator Chris Coons is a comfortable favorite over his Republican challenger, Kevin Wade. Mr. Coons took over Vice President Biden’s old seat after winning a special election in 2010.

U.S. House

Carney expected to remain

The state’s sole representative in the House, John Carney, is a big favorite over his Republican challenger, Rose Izzo, with a scattering of support for two third-party candidates.

District of Columbia By EMMARIE HUETTEMAN District of Columbia Election Results »

Ballot Measures

Marijuana possession may become legal

The District of Columbia looks poised to legalize marijuana possession in November, joining Colorado and Washington State. In September, an NBC4/Washington Post/Marist poll found 65 percent of voters supported Initiative 71, which would allow adults to have up to two ounces of the drug and cultivate some plants for personal use. The measure would allow an adult to give another adult up to an ounce of marijuana, but it would not legalize sales, a task supporters expect the D.C. Council to undertake.

However, Congress has the constitutional authority to intervene in D.C. law, and many lawmakers oppose the city easing restrictions in their own backyard on a drug that remains illegal under federal law. Most recently, Representative Andy Harris, Republican of Maryland, tried to block a new D.C. law that reduced the penalty for some marijuana possession to a $25 fine.

Mayor

Democrat appears to have solid lead

In the liberal-leaning district, the Democratic primary has historically been the real contest for mayor, with the winner easily taking the general election. But Muriel E. Bowser, the Democratic councilwoman who upset Mayor Vincent C. Gray in the April primary, faces a stronger challenge this year in David A. Catania, an independent who has won citywide races for one of the D.C. Council’s at-large seats. But in a recent NBC4/Washington Post/Marist poll, Ms. Bowser led with the support of 43 percent of likely voters to Mr. Catania’s 26 percent. Carol Schwartz, a former Republican councilwoman who began her fifth bid for mayor in June, is running as an independent.

Attorney General

The first election of a top legal officer

November will mark the first time that D.C. residents vote for their attorney general, thanks to a charter amendment approved by voters in 2010. But the race for the city’s top legal official, who has always been appointed by the mayor, was not added to the ballot until June, when the city’s highest court overruled the D.C. Council’s efforts to delay the election until 2018.

Since the contest was added after the April primary, all five candidates are running as Democrats. Less than two months before Election Day, 57 percent of likely voters were undecided, according to an NBC4/Washington Post/Marist poll. Paul Zukerberg, a litigator who sued to get the race on the ballot, held a slight lead with 14 percent.

U.S. House

Delegate seeks re-election

While the District of Columbia is not allowed voting representatives in Congress, it has one nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives, a position created by Congress in 1970. That individual is permitted to speak on the House floor and serve on committees, but not vote.

Eleanor Holmes Norton, who is up for re-election in November, has served as delegate since 1991. Her challengers are Natale Stracuzzi, known as Lino, a member of the Statehood Green party; Nelson F. Rimensnyder, a Republican who advocates making the city a United States territory; and Timothy J. Krepp, an independent.

Florida By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA Florida Election Results »

Governor

Tough battle for unpopular governor

After looking highly vulnerable for most of his term, Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, is locked in a close race against his predecessor, Charlie Crist, a Republican-turned-Democrat, in one of the most closely watched and expensive contests in the country.

Four years ago in this swing state, Mr. Scott made his first run for public office as a fiscally conservative technocrat, with experience as a venture capitalist and as an executive of a hospital chain. He won narrowly, then steered farther to the right than many Floridians expected. Democrats have portrayed him as extreme. But the governor has pulled even in the race with a shift to the center and a flood of ads calling Mr. Crist a flip-flopper on issues like abortion and same-sex marriage. The economy has also improved.

In his first year, Mr. Scott carried out budget cuts, killed a high-speed rail project and signed a law — later struck down in court — requiring drug testing of welfare applicants. He had not campaigned on social issues, but he signed anti-abortion bills, including one requiring that a woman have an ultrasound before the procedure. Early in his term, he was being called the nation’s most unpopular governor, with approval ratings below 30 percent.

An opponent of the Affordable Care Act, he at first rejected its offer of Medicaid expansion, turning down billions of dollars in federal aid, and then took steps making it harder to get low-cost insurance under the law. He reversed his position on Medicaid expansion, but did not push it through the Legislature, where it died.

Columbia/HCA, the nation’s largest hospital company, was accused of cheating government health programs while Mr. Scott was its chairman and chief executive, allegations that forced him to step down in 1997. Over the next several years, the company pleaded guilty to multiple felonies and paid the government $1.7 billion to settle claims against it, easily the largest sum ever paid in a health care fraud case. Mr. Crist, elected governor in 2007 as a Republican, alienated conservatives by embracing President Obama, literally and figuratively, and angered them by running for Senate in 2010 as an independent. Two years after his loss in that race, he became a Democrat, but many voters in that party still view him warily.

The race has left many voters unsure of their allegiances and unhappy with their choices, and a Libertarian candidate, Adrian Wyllie, has enough support to play the spoiler.

U.S. House

Gerrymandering may help Republicans

In August, a state judge ruled that the congressional districts drawn by the Legislature were gerrymandered to benefit Republicans, but that it was too late to change them for this year’s election.

Two House races feature vulnerable first-term Democrats, in districts that Mitt Romney carried, who were able to win in 2012 partly because they faced damaged Republican incumbents. In the 26th District, at the southern tip of the state, Representative Joe Garcia, a Democrat, faces Carlos Curbelo, a Republican on the Miami Dade County school board. In the 18th District along the Atlantic coast north of Palm Beach, Carl Domino, a Republican businessman and former state legislator, is challenging Representative Patrick Murphy, a Democrat.

In the 2nd District, in the northwest panhandle, Representative Steve Southerland, a two-term Republican, faces a challenge from Gwen Graham, daughter of Florida’s former governor and senator, Bob Graham.

Ballot Measures

Medical marijuana use faces a threshold

Polls show a majority of voters support a measure to make Florida the first Southern state to legalize marijuana for medical use — but that may not be enough. The measure would amend the state Constitution, which requires the approval of 60 percent of voters.

Another amendment would significantly increase the state’s purchase of land to preserve water resources and wildlife habitat.

Georgia By EMMARIE HUETTEMAN Georgia Election Results »

U.S. Senate

Democrat seeks gain in conservative state

The tight race between Michelle Nunn, a Democrat, and David Perdue, a Republican, is among the most closely watched of the year. Democrats hope it will help them gain a foothold in a conservative state with shifting demographics. Republicans hope they can hold the seat to help them take control of the Senate.

Ms. Nunn, the daughter of former Senator Sam Nunn, had an early financial advantage in one of the most expensive races of the election cycle. Mr. Perdue, former chief executive of Dollar General stores, emerged battle-tested from a tough Republican primary runoff. He defeated six contenders for the seat vacated by Senator Saxby Chambliss, a Republican, who is retiring.

In addition to having family ties to politics — Mr. Perdue’s cousin is former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue — both candidates are running for public office for the first time and are portraying themselves as Washington outsiders.

Amanda Swafford, a libertarian, is also running. With Ms. Swafford on the ballot, neither of the other candidates may crack 50 percent, in which case the race would not be decided until a runoff in January.

Governor

Jimmy Carter’s grandson in close race

State Senator Jason Carter, a Democrat who is former President Jimmy Carter’s grandson, is locked in a close contest with Gov. Nathan Deal, the Republican incumbent. Less than two months before Election Day, Mr. Deal held the support of 43 percent of likely voters, a virtual tie with Mr. Carter’s 42 percent, according to a poll conducted for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Andrew Hunt, a libertarian, carried 7 percent, and his presence could force a runoff if neither candidate gains at least 50 percent of the vote.

The Republican Governors Association has committed more than $3.5 million to Mr. Deal’s re-election effort, almost $700,000 of that in October alone, the Journal-Constitution reported less than two weeks before the election. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, the association’s chairman, also visited Georgia to stump for the governor as he has for other Republicans in close races around the country.

U.S. House

District 12 Targeting a rare Deep South Democrat

Represented by the House’s last white Democrat from the Deep South, this district in the southeastern part of the state has been flooded with national party money as a businessman tries to unseat Representative John Barrow in the state’s most competitive House race.

Less than two weeks before Election Day, the National Republican Congressional Committee had spent nearly $1.93 million to oust Mr. Barrow, the Democrat who is fighting for a sixth term, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee had spent about $1.96 million on the race, most of it dedicated to opposing Rick Allen, the Republican challenger who owns a construction company based in Augusta, Ga.

Secretary of State

Charges of hindering voter registration

The contest began grabbing national headlines in September when Brian Kemp, the Republican incumbent, confirmed that his office was investigating allegations of fraud against The New Georgia Project, a group dedicated to registering and mobilizing minority voters. Some Democrats have criticized Mr. Kemp for what they see as an effort to hinder voter registration efforts, while the secretary of state counters that he is responding appropriately in his capacity to ensure fair elections.

Doreen Carter, a Democrat who is the president of the chamber of commerce in Lithonia, Ga., and served as a city councilwoman, is challenging Mr. Kemp.

Ballot Measures

A proposal to cap taxes

Georgians will vote on whether to cap state income taxes at the rate effective on Jan. 1, 2015, which would enshrine in their state Constitution a prohibition on raising these taxes any further. The state’s top personal income tax rate is currently 6 percent.

The bill was introduced by David Shafer, a Republican and the state Senate’s president pro tempore, who said he hoped the measure would make Georgia more competitive among its neighboring states. Neither Florida nor Tennessee taxes individual incomes, though Tennessee collects revenue on investments. But an analysis by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute in February cautioned that the amendment could hamper future efforts at reforming the tax system and limit lawmakers’ options in the event of an economic downturn or other financial demands.

Hawaii By JULIE TURKEWITZ Hawaii Election Results »

Governor

A three-way race with no incumbent

There is no incumbent in this race: David Ige, a state senator, walloped the increasingly unpopular Gov. Neil Abercrombie in the Democratic primary, beating him 66 percent to 31 percent.

That sets up Hawaii for a three-way race among Mr. Ige, who has served in the Legislature since 1986; Duke Aiona, a Republican former lieutenant governor; and Mufi Hannemann, a former mayor of Honolulu, who is running as an independent.

Mr. Ige beat out the governor with his low-key style, holding coffee hours around the state. He has the support of Hawaii’s two most powerful labor unions, opposes a proposal to put public money into private preschools, and plans to push development of the local tech industry. But a Democratic victory is not a sure thing, even in this traditionally blue state. It is not clear whether Mr. Abercrombie’s defeat will help or hurt Mr. Ige. At issue: the state’s troubled health exchange, rising homelessness and questions about how to balance tourism — the state’s economic engine — and sustainability.

U.S. Senate

Hoping to finish Daniel Inouye’s term

Senator Brian Schatz was appointed to this seat after the 2012 death of Daniel Inouye, who was much-admired. This year’s election will decide who fills the remainder of the former senator’s term. In August, Mr. Schatz won a hard-fought primary by fewer than 1,800 votes, less than 1 percent of the total cast. With this behind him, however, many expect him to cruise to the chamber. His Republican opponent, Cam Cavasso, is a three-term state legislator. But Mr. Cavasso is a strict social conservative who opposes gay marriage and marijuana legalization, positions that may not resonate with Hawaii’s overwhelmingly liberal voters.

U.S. House

District 1 Former member seeks return

This race also has no incumbent, opening an opportunity for either Mark Takai, a Democrat and state representative since 1994, or Charles Djou, a Republican who served in the House from 2010 to 2011, filling Mr. Abercrombie’s vacant seat. (He was also a member of Honolulu City Council and the state House of Representatives). The outcome is uncertain: Mr. Djou has billed himself as a moderate in a blue state, a fiscally responsible candidate who aims to lower the state’s “crushing cost of living” and who already has a foot in the door in Washington. Mr. Takai has promoted his work with veterans, as well as his coordination of a six-year effort that brought more than $40 million in federal aid to the state education system.

Ballot Measures

Financing for early education

There are five amendments on the ballot in Hawaii. The most talked-about is a proposal to put public funds toward private early education programs. Supporters say it would double the number of 4-year-olds attending preschool. Opponents say that private schools are attended mostly by children from affluent families, and that expanding them would benefit only the rich.

Idaho By ASHLEY SOUTHALL Idaho Election Results »

Governor

Incumbent fighting costly challenge

The biggest challenge to Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, a Republican seeking his third term, might not be his opponent, Anthony Joseph Balukoff, known as A.J., who is trying to become the state’s first Democratic governor in 20 years. That distinction might belong to voters affiliated with the Tea Party, who were crucial to the governor’s previous two victories.

This year, many are disenchanted by Mr. Otter’s decision to set up a statewide health care exchange under the Obama health care plan, and some could skip the election, or fail to pull the lever for governor.

Mr. Balukoff, a millionaire businessman who said he was willing to spend heavily on his campaign, has paid for tens of thousands of dollars of ads and criticized the government’s shortcomings, while Democrats have been working to increase the statewide turnout of Latino voters. But polls over the summer showed Mr. Otter with a double-digit lead.

U.S. House

District 1 Republican may be hard to beat

Representative Raúl R. Labrador, a Republican, seeks his third term, representing this district covering northern and southwestern Idaho, including the west side of the state capital, Boise. He faces Shirley Ringo, a veteran Democratic state lawmaker, who hopes to galvanize voters frustrated with Congress and the Republican Party. But she faces long odds: Mr. Labrador has been described as a Puerto Rican version of John F. Kennedy with the rock star appeal of Elvis.

State Superintendent of Schools

A hope for the Democrats

Jana Jones might be the Democratic Party’s best hope for winning a statewide office in Idaho. Ms. Jones, a former chief deputy state superintendent, is running to replace Tom Luna, a Republican she almost beat for the job in 2006. She faces Sherri Ybarra, an educator and Republican newcomer, with little political experience and a modest campaign. Ms. Jones’s advantages include her administrative experience and greater name recognition, and some voter dissatisfaction with cuts to education spending. News reports state that Ms. Ybarra rarely voted in elections, but she is buoyed by the Republican advantage in Idaho. The party holds every statewide office and Congressional seat, as well as dominating the state legislature.

State Legislature

District 26 Fosbury of flop fame seeks another win

Dick Fosbury is famous for “the Fosbury Flop,” the now-standard high-jump technique that catapulted him to a gold medal in the 1968 Olympic Games. Now, he is trying to clear another high bar: win election as a Democrat in Idaho. Mr. Fosbury is challenging the Republican incumbent, Steven Miller, in this southern district, which leans Democratic. But Mr. Miller, a rancher, is popular in a region that is rural and heavily agricultural.

Illinois By PATRICIA COHEN Illinois Election Results »

Governor

A tight race for an incumbent

“This is going to be bloody and nasty,” Bruce Rauner, the Republican candidate for Illinois governor, said of his neck-and-neck race with Pat Quinn, the Democratic incumbent. Mr. Quinn has been campaigning around raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour from $8.25, but he engendered animosity among public-sector unions with last year’s overhaul of the state’s critically underfunded pension system. Mr. Rauner, who has showcased his business credentials, has been focusing recently on Ebola, by urging a travel ban on visitors from the most affected three West African nations.

U.S. Senate

Durbin expected to coast to victory

Senator Richard J. Durbin, a Democrat, won this seat in 1996 and most analysts think he will have few problems keeping it. Jim Oberweis, the Republican challenger, has criticized Mr. Durbin for being a “career politician,” while Mr. Durbin has repeatedly reminded voters that his opponent has been supportive of the Tea Party movement.

U.S. House

Republicans run to regain old seats

The state’s 18 House races are providing some of the closest congressional contests in the country. A handful of Republicans who lost their seats in 2012 are back, hoping to push out the Democrats who beat them. In the 10th Congressional District, encompassing Chicago’s northeast suburbs, Bob Dold, a Republican, is hoping to turn out Representative Brad Schneider, the Democrat who won in a close election last time around. In the 17th Congressional District, Bobby Schilling, a Republican who opposes the Affordable Care Act, is trying to retake the seat he once held from Representative Cheri Bustos, the freshman Democrat.

In the 11th Congressional District, Representative Bill Foster, a Democrat, is fending off a challenge from Darlene Senger, a three-term Republican state lawmaker. And in the closely watched 12th Congressional District race in the southwest part of the state, Bill Enyart, a freshman Democrat, is trying to beat back an aggressive challenge from Mike Bost, a Republican state representative. A third candidate, Paula Bradshaw, is running on the Green Party line.

Indiana By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA Indiana Election Results »

U.S. House

District 2 Climate seems right for Republicans

In an unusually quiet election year in Indiana, the congressional race in the 2nd District, in the north-central part of the state, is drawing the most attention and money.

When the seat was open in 2012, Jackie Walorski, a Republican supported by Tea Party activists, won in a tight race. This year, she has a strong challenger in Joe Bock, but conditions are more favorable for Republicans than they were two years ago.

Ms. Walorski has voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, supported privatizing Social Security and opposed legislation to address climate change. When she served in the state Legislature, she was a sponsor of one of the first state laws requiring voters to present identification at the polls.

But in this campaign, she has emphasized the bipartisan measures she has supported, like legislation to address sexual assault in the military. And her advertising has attacked Mr. Bock for votes he cast more than two decades ago, as a state legislator in Missouri, for tax increases and higher pay for lawmakers.

Mr. Bock, a professor in the University of Notre Dame’s global health program, has organized humanitarian aid efforts in several countries, most recently in Haiti, after the 2010 earthquake there. His campaign presents him as a pragmatic problem-solver, while tying Representative Walorski to Washington’s ideologically-driven gridlock, especially to the 2013 government shutdown.

In the last decade, Indiana had a number of tight House races, but the redistricting carried out by Republicans in 2012 made the seats much less competitive, with two leaning strongly Democratic, and seven leaning solidly Republican. In the presidential race, the 2nd was the most closely contested district in the state, and Mitt Romney carried it by 14 percentage points.

Republicans are solidly in control of the statehouse, with big majorities in both chambers of the Legislature. Gov. Mike Pence is less than halfway through his term.

Iowa By ROBERT PEAR Iowa Election Results »

U.S. Senate

Hogs, towels and a tight race

The race to succeed Senator Tom Harkin, a liberal Democrat, has been one of the nation’s hottest, most entertaining contests. The Republican, State Senator Joni Ernst, attracted national attention last spring with a television commercial in which she declared: “I grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm. So when I get to Washington, I’ll know how to cut pork.” Since winning her party’s nomination, she has moderated her message a bit.

Her Democratic opponent, Representative Bruce Braley, has stumbled on the campaign trail, but keeps fighting back. In a radio interview during the government shutdown last year, Mr. Braley lamented the fact that “there’s no towel service” in the House gym. Speaking to lawyers in July, he disparaged Senator Charles E. Grassley, a Republican and one of the state’s most popular politicians, as just a “farmer from Iowa who never went to law school.” Mr. Braley, a lawyer, also got into an embarrassing spat with a neighbor whose chickens had strayed on to his property. Mr. Braley has described Ms. Ernst as a tool of Charles G. and David H. Koch, the conservative billionaires; attacked her for suggesting that she would consider privatizing Social Security; and warned that she would curb abortion rights.

Governor

A long tenure may grow longer

Terry E. Branstad, a Republican, appears to be on the way to re-election, which would secure his status as the longest-serving governor in American history. First elected in 1982, just before his 36th birthday, Mr. Branstad went on to serve four consecutive terms, stepped down in 1999 and was elected again in 2010, when he defeated Gov. Chet Culver, a Democrat. A mainstream conservative, Mr. Branstad has skirmished more than once with Tea Party leaders.

The Democratic challenger, State Senator Jack Hatch, is a real estate developer and has been a leader on health care issues in the State Legislature. But he is less known than the governor and has had difficulty raising money to match advertising for Mr. Branstad.

U.S. House

District 1 Jobs at center of close campaign

Pat Murphy, a Democrat and former speaker of the Iowa House, is in a tight race with Rod Blum, a Republican businessman from Dubuque, for the seat being vacated by Mr. Braley. Mr. Blum said that he created jobs in the private sector as a software company executive and a real estate developer. In a television commercial, Mr. Murphy says Mr. Blum “cheated his workers out of overtime” and laid off more than 70 employees. Mr. Blum responded by saying that Mr. Murphy, with more than two decades as a state legislator, was an angry career politician. The district, in the northeastern corner of the state, leans Democratic.

District 3 Washington ties and Iowa roots

David Young, a former chief of staff to Mr. Grassley, is the Republican candidate in the district, which covers Des Moines and southwest Iowa. His campaign has strong support from Mr. Grassley and Representative Tom Latham, a Republican retiring after 20 years in Congress. The Democratic nominee, former State Senator Staci Appel, says Mr. Young has worked on Capitol Hill for 20 years and is “a Washington insider.” Ms. Appel, who says she has lived in Iowa all her life, lost her seat in the State Legislature in the Tea Party wave of 2010.

Kansas By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS Kansas Election Results »

U.S. Senate

An unexpectedly close race

Republicans tend to win statewide races in deep-red Kansas. Nonetheless, longtime Senator Pat Roberts, a Republican, is in a tight, heated race to hang on to his seat in the face of a strong challenge from Greg Orman, 45, an independent and an investor. What was expected to be a safe Republican seat has become perhaps the most closely watched Senate contest in the country, as Democrats struggle to keep their majority in the chamber and national Republicans flood the state with big-name supporters like Senator John McCain of Arizona and former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas.

The Democratic candidate, Chad Taylor, dropped out of the race in early September, improving Mr. Orman’s chances of victory.

Mr. Roberts has been in Congress since 1981, and he has been hammered during this campaign for becoming too much a creature of Washington. In February, The New York Times reported that he did not have a home in Kansas, but instead stayed with donors when in the state. His campaign manager, Leroy Towns, did him no favors after the primary in August by saying the senator planned to go “back home for two days or three to rest.” When he said “home,” he meant Alexandria, Va.

Mr. Orman has said he will caucus with whichever party is in the majority after the election.

Governor

Incumbent runs on conservative record

Another tight race in Kansas is between Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, and State Representative Paul Davis, the Democratic minority leader.

Mr. Brownback has enacted a remarkably conservative agenda since taking office three years ago, making it easier to carry guns in public buildings, increasing scrutiny of voter registration, reducing the number of people on welfare and whittling down the state’s bureaucracy.

He also ushered in the biggest income tax cuts in Kansas’ history, which caused revenue to plummet so drastically that it spurred worries about whether the state would be able to finance education adequately. Concerns about the budget, including projections that the state would face hundreds of millions of dollars in annual budget shortfalls, have alienated even some reliably Republican voters.

Secretary of State

An immigration crusader beyond the state

Secretary of State Kris W. Kobach, a Republican, has a national profile in the immigration debate: He had a hand in writing the strict Arizona law that allows law enforcement officials to check the immigration status of people they suspect may be in the country illegally. He was the architect of “self-deportation,” a philosophy that pushes for ramping up enforcement to such a degree that unauthorized immigrants leave the state of their own accord because day-to-day life has become too difficult. And he has pushed for very tough voter ID laws in Kansas.

He has also played an important role in the state’s hotly contested Senate race. The Democratic candidate sent a letter to Mr. Kobach in early September withdrawing from the race, but Mr. Kobach tried to keep him on the ballot. The Kansas Supreme Court overruled Mr. Kobach and said the candidate could withdraw.

Mr. Kobach is running against Jean Schodorf, a former Republican state senator who became a Democrat after she lost a race for re-election in 2012 against a more conservative challenger.

Kentucky By MATT FLEGENHEIMER Kentucky Election Results »

U.S. Senate

Republican leader looks to hang on

In one of the most closely watched races in the country, Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican minority leader, is seeking a sixth term. Though he remains a modest favorite, Mr. McConnell has faced a spirited campaign from the Democratic nominee, Alison Lundergan Grimes.

Ms. Grimes, the secretary of state, has enjoyed the support of many high-profile party leaders, including Bill Clinton, who has traveled to Kentucky to campaign for her. She has sought to portray Mr. McConnell as the consummate Washington insider, out of touch with the needs of his constituents. Mr. McConnell has tried to tie Ms. Grimes’s positions to those of President Obama, who remains deeply unpopular in many parts of the state.

U.S. House

District 3 A blue patch in a red state

In one of the rare parts of Kentucky to favor Democrats, Representative John Yarmuth, a Democrat from Louisville, is expected to win a fifth term after a lopsided primary victory. His opponent is Michael Macfarlane, a surgeon. He has highlighted the high marks he received from the National Rifle Association, compared with the “F” the group gave Mr. Yarmuth, and he has spoken against the Affordable Care Act, which Mr. Yarmuth has defended.

District 6 Another run for an Obama critic

Representative Andy Barr, the Republican incumbent from Lexington, is hoping to extend his time in Washington after first winning a seat in 2012. He has spoken critically of President Obama’s health care overhaul, among other administration initiatives. At the 2012 Republican National Convention, he made a speech criticizing the president’s coal policies. His opponent, Elisabeth Jensen, is a former executive with Disney Consumer Products and the president of an education nonprofit. On her campaign website, she has made an appeal to voters based, at least in part, on her gender, noting that Kentucky “has never had a Democratic woman in Congress.”

State Legislature

G.O.P. vies for House control

Republicans, who already control the State Senate, hope to win a majority in the House of Representatives for the first time since 1921. Democrats now hold a 54-46 edge, meaning that party control of the chamber would flip if the Republicans gain five seats. The state’s governor, Steven L. Beshear, is a Democrat. In May, The Louisville Courier-Journal predicted that a Republican House could resuscitate several measures that failed to gain traction in past years, including limits on abortion and lawsuit damages, and restrictions on the Affordable Care Act.

Louisiana By PATRICIA COHEN Louisiana Election Results »

U.S. Senate

A race that could be run twice

Louisiana voters may determine whether Republicans or Democrats control the United States Senate, but it is possible that Election Day could end without anyone knowing who has won the seat. That is because state law requires that the winning candidate capture at least 50 percent of the vote.

If none of the three major contenders vying for the job — the Democratic incumbent, Mary L. Landrieu; a Republican congressman, Bill Cassidy; and a retired Air Force colonel, Rob Maness, also a Republican — can accomplish that feat, the top two vote-getters will face off in a runoff election scheduled for Dec. 6.

Mr. Cassidy, a doctor, is backed by the Republican establishment, but Tea Party supporters have castigated him as insufficiently conservative and are rallying behind Mr. Maness’s long-shot candidacy.

Ms. Landrieu, the three-term senator, is on the defensive for her support of President Obama’s health care overhaul, which is unpopular in this right-leaning state. She is facing an onslaught of withering attack ads from her opponents, as well as from groups like the National Rifle Association.

Voters, who name the economy and foreign policy as their top concerns, are aware of just how critical their state is in the national electoral battle. According to a recent poll by Louisiana State University’s Public Policy Research Lab, both Republicans and Democrats say that control of Congress will play a role in their decision this fall.

U.S. House

District 5 Challengers stalk an incumbent

Five of Louisiana’s six congressional seats are held by Republicans, and are likely to remain in that party’s column, even though it is unclear just who will be sitting in some of them. That is because the state holds an open primary on the same day as the general election. Runoffs are likely in at least two districts, the Fifth and Sixth.

The Fifth Congressional District, perhaps best known as home to the Robertson clan of the “Duck Dynasty” reality TV show, is currently represented by Vance McAllister, a Republican. He won a special election in 2013 by a hefty margin, but almost pulled out of the race after being caught on tape kissing a member of his staff. He is now facing a slew of challengers, including Zach Dasher, a Republican who is related to the Robertsons. Mr. Dasher has attacked Mr. McAllister over his vote to use federal funding to expand the Medicaid program in Louisiana.

District 6 A wide field of Republicans

In the Sixth Congressional District, a conservative southeastern area that includes the state’s capital, Baton Rouge, Representative Bill Cassidy, the Republican incumbent, dropped out of the race to run for Senate, leaving a free-for-all contest that has attracted 12 candidates. The best known is Edwin Edwards, the 87-year-old former Democratic governor who served eight years in federal prison on corruption charges and briefly starred in his own reality television series. Paul Dietzel, a 28-year-old Republican, has won the support of the Tea Party Express political action committee. Meanwhile, Garret Graves, a Republican and former head of the state’s Coastal Protection and Recovery Authority, has raised more money than anyone else in the race, attracting support from the political network overseen by the billionaire brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch, as well as environmentalist groups. A runoff is expected.

District 2 Sole Democrat defends seat

The lone Democratic representative, Cedric L. Richmond, represents the Second Congressional District, which includes New Orleans, and his seat is considered secure. Despite the partisan-fueled campaigns, a recent poll found that most Louisiana voters did not know the party of their own representative. Only 38 percent of registered voters surveyed by Louisiana State University’s Public Policy Research Lab correctly identified the party of their representative; the national average is 53 percent.

Maine By ROBERT PEAR Maine Election Results »

Governor

Outspoken incumbent is in danger

Paul R. LePage, the tough-talking former mayor of Waterville, is one of the nation’s most endangered governors. Mr. LePage, a Republican, faces a challenge from Representative Michael H. Michaud, a six-term Democratic member of Congress, and Eliot Cutler, an independent who won more than one-third of the vote for governor in 2010. Mr. LePage drew national attention in 2011 when he had a mural depicting the state’s labor history removed from the lobby of a state office building. A spokesman said the art was not in keeping with Maine’s pro-business goals.

Mr. Michaud, a former paper-mill worker, represents the northern part of the state, the largest congressional district east of the Mississippi River. As the senior Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, he helped write bipartisan legislation to improve medical care for veterans. Independents account for 37 percent of the state’s electorate, according to the secretary of the state, but polls show Mr. Cutler running a distant third in the race.

U.S. Senate

Republican incumbent holds big lead

Senator Susan Collins, a three-term Republican who has emerged as a deal maker and a swing vote on major legislation, appears headed toward re-election. Polls show her with a big lead over the Democratic challenger, Shenna Bellows, who was executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine for the last eight years. Ms. Bellows walked the length of the state during the summer, but has scarcely made a dent in support for Ms. Collins, whose family has been in the lumber and hardware business in rural Caribou for more than 150 years.

The race took a negative turn in recent weeks. Ms. Bellows said Ms. Collins had “voted lock-step with Washington Republicans” to block bills increasing the minimum wage and requiring equal pay for equal work. The Collins campaign said the charges were preposterous and called Ms. Bellows “the most far-left candidate running for the Senate this year.”

U.S. House

District 2 Parties jostle for open seat

Polls show Bruce Poliquin, a Republican and former state treasurer, ahead of the Democrat, State Senator Emily Cain, in the race for an open seat in this vast district. Democrats have held the seat for two decades, since it was vacated by Olympia J. Snowe, a Republican. The race is competitive, and both national parties have taken an interest. Speaker John A. Boehner visited the state in September to help raise money for Mr. Poliquin. National Democratic groups say they will pour money into advertisements assailing Mr. Poliquin’s record.

Ballot Measures

Restrictions on bear hunting

For the second time in 10 years, Maine will vote on a ballot measure to ban the use of bait, dogs and traps in bear hunting. Proponents, including the Humane Society of the United States, say those techniques are cruel to bears and the dogs that chase them. After luring bears with food like doughnuts, hunters shoot at close range for “an easy trophy kill,” says Mainers for Fair Bear Hunting, a nonprofit seeking to protect the animals. Opponents include the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. “The traditional hunting methods that would be banned by this referendum are the only effective tools that are available to control the state’s large bear population,” the department said. Without them, an agency official said in a video, “our bear population will explode,” and people will see bears “much more regularly in their backyards, in schoolyards and in playgrounds.”

Maryland By EMMARIE HUETTEMAN Maryland Election Results »

Governor

Democrats hope to retain post

With Gov. Martin O’Malley unable to run because of term limits, Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown and Larry Hogan, a businessman, emerged from crowded primaries as the Democratic and Republican nominees. The Democratic Governors’ Association has invested more than $1 million in television advertising this fall, The Washington Post reported in October, in the hope of bolstering Mr. Brown in a state President Obama won in 2012 with 62 percent of the vote.

Mr. Hogan is the founder and chief executive of a cluster of real estate companies, as well as a former state cabinet secretary. Mr. Brown, a retired Army colonel, would be Maryland’s first black governor. Shawn Quinn, who served in the Navy, is also on the ballot as a libertarian.

U.S. House

District 6 Republican may unseat incumbent

Representative John Delaney is one of a slew of Democratic incumbents from Maryland up for re-election. Unlike his colleagues — who include Representatives Steny H. Hoyer, the Democratic whip, and Elijah E. Cummings, the ranking member of the House oversight committee — Mr. Delaney faces a slightly more formidable challenger in Dan Bongino, a Republican and former member of the Secret Service. However, the Cook Political Report still lists the district among its “solid Democratic” seats.

Mr. Delaney, a one-term Democrat known for his bipartisan efforts, had raised a little more than $887,500 compared to Mr. Bongino’s $603,500 by the end of June, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Interestingly, neither candidate lives in the district they are fighting to represent. A candidate needs only to live in Maryland.

Ballot Measures

Making it harder to reallocate funds

If approved, Question 1 would further secure the state’s Transportation Trust Fund from being used for nontransportation purposes, a salient issue in an era of state budget shortfalls.

The fund, which is largely financed by gas and other transportation-related taxes and fees, is currently designated for expenses like highway maintenance unless a three-fifths majority of each Maryland legislative chamber’s relevant committee votes to divert it. Under the proposed change, any other use of the fund would require an executive order from the governor declaring a fiscal emergency, as well as the approval of a three-fifths majority of each chamber, not just the committees.

Attorney General

Democrats’ lock on job seems secure

When Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, a Democrat, chose to make what turned out to be an unsuccessful bid for governor rather than run for re-election, three Democratic state lawmakers jockeyed to replace him as the state’s top legal official. In the end, state Senator Brian E. Frosh won a contentious primary with 49.6 percent, defeating Delegates Aisha Braveboy and Jon S. Cardin, nephew of Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, another Maryland Democrat.

Mr. Frosh is expected to defeat Jeffrey Pritzker, the Republican nominee, in a state that has not had a Republican attorney general since 1954.

Massachusetts By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA Massachusetts Election Results »

Governor

A surprisingly competitive race

In a state that usually strongly favors Democrats, the race for governor is surprisingly close, and one of the most competitive in the country.

Both major candidates are well known — Martha Coakley, the Democrat, a two-term state attorney general, is running against Charlie Baker, the Republican, a former health insurance executive who held high-ranking, appointed state posts under previous governors. Both lost close contests in 2010, when Ms. Coakley fell short in a special election for the United States Senate, and so did Mr. Baker in a bid for governor.

Despite their high name recognition — or maybe because of it — polls suggest that voters are not enthusiastic about either candidate. Mr. Baker has been challenged for changing positions since 2010, moving from right to center on important issues, and Ms. Coakley for being unwilling to take positions on some issues.

Ms. Coakley frequently reminds voters that she supports a popular ballot initiative that would require paid sick leave for most workers and a major expansion of schooling for 4-year-olds.

Mr. Baker opposes both. He has a bigger financial war chest than Ms. Coakley, who had to fight her way through a tough and expensive primary. But both candidates have been outspent by outside groups and party organizations trying to influence the race.

Massachusetts has voted Democratic in seven straight presidential elections and in 14 of the last 15 races for United States Senate, and it has not sent a Republican to the House of Representatives in almost two decades. But close races for governor have been the norm, and Republicans won four of them in a row from 1990 to 2002.

U.S. Senate

Incumbent Democrat maintains big lead

After winning a hard-fought special election last year, Senator Edward J. Markey is having a much quieter contest, with polls showing him running comfortably ahead of his Republican challenger, Brian Herr. Mr. Markey is running for his first full term; last year, as a veteran House member, he won the race to finish the term of John Kerry, who stepped down to become secretary of state. Mr. Herr is unlikely to have the money or the fame to overcome this state’s deep-blue tint.

Ballot Measures

Votes on sick leave and gambling

If voters approve Question 3 on the ballot, Massachusetts could outlaw casino gambling, reversing a national trend toward more gambling venues. But the measure, which is opposed by both major candidates for governor, is trailing in the polls.

Polls show voters strongly supporting Question 4, which would require sick leave for private-sector employees. Employers with 11 or more workers would have to provide 40 hours of paid sick time, while smaller employers would have to provide unpaid time.

U.S. House

Republican tries once again to win seat

Incumbency is usually a powerful advantage, but many Democrats are relieved that their incumbent in the 6th Congressional District, Representative John F. Tierney, is out of the picture. Wounded by his wife’s tax fraud conviction, Mr. Tierney barely won re-election in 2012, and he lost the Democratic primary this year to Seth Moulton, a military veteran.

The Republican nominee is Richard Tisei, a businessman who was a state legislator for 26 years, and is one of only three gay Republicans running for the House this year. He is the same challenger who nearly beat Mr. Tierney two years ago.

Polls show close races there, and also in the 9th district, where Bill Keating, a two-term incumbent, faces a stiff challenge from John Chapman, a lawyer who has worked in the state and federal governments.

Michigan By EMMARIE HUETTEMAN Michigan Election Results »

Governor

Incumbent Republican in tight race

In one of the nation’s most closely watched campaigns for governor, Mark Schauer, a former Democratic congressman, is trying to unseat the incumbent, Gov. Rick Snyder. With just over two weeks to go, an EPIC/MRA poll showed Mr. Snyder with 47 percent to Mr. Schauer’s 39 percent, an eight-point lead within the poll’s margin of sampling error of plus or minus four points for each candidate. Two months ago, the race was essentially tied: Mr. Schauer with 45 percent and Mr. Snyder with 43 percent.

In 2012, union leaders promised to strike back against Mr. Snyder after he signed into law the Republican-dominated legislature’s effort to significantly limit financing for labor unions, reducing their power. But the first-term Republican governor avoided being a rubber stamp for his party, hastening to set up Michigan’s health insurance exchange under President Obama’s health-care law while other Republican governors across the country resisted.

U.S. Senate

Democratic Party’s spending may pay off

Representative Gary Peters, a Democrat, has been staying just out of reach of Terri Lynn Land, a former Republican secretary of state, in the race to replace Carl Levin, the longest serving senator in Michigan’s history who is retiring at the end of his term. Just over two weeks before Election Day, 45 percent supported Mr. Peters and 34 percent backed Ms. Land in an EPIC/MRA poll, showing the Democratic nominee was maintaining his lead from previous months.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has outspent the National Republican Senatorial Committee in Michigan as the party has in other crucial Senate races, devoting more than five and a half times as much to holding onto the seat just under two weeks before Election Day, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

U.S. House

District 1 Republican gains as parties spend lavishly

In a race that has gained the attention of the national parties, Representative Dan Benishek, the Republican whose district includes the Upper Peninsula, is fielding a challenge from Jerry Cannon, a Democrat who is a retired military general and a former sheriff. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee had spent more than $889,000 in total on the race by mid October, which the Cook Political Report had characterized as “likely Republican” less than two weeks before Election Day.

Mr. Benishek entered Congress during the Republican wave in 2010, defeating State Representative Gary McDowell after Bart Stupak, a nine-term incumbent Democrat, decided not to run. But facing Mr. McDowell again in 2012, Mr. Benishek won re-election by fewer than 2,000 votes, less than 1 percent of the total cast.

District 12 Seat will probably stay in the family

Representative John Dingell may be retiring after a record tenure that started in 1955, but do not expect the title Representative Dingell to disappear from this southeast Michigan district. Mr. Dingell’s wife, Debbie — who has built her own brand in Michigan as a former General Motors executive and an active figure in the state’s Democratic Party — is expected to win his seat, becoming the third Dingell to hold it after John and his father John Sr.

Her Republican opponent, Terry Bowman, works at a Ford plant and, as a member of the United Automobile Workers, is an active proponent of labor unions.

Ballot Measures

Deciding the best way to control wolves

Michigan voters will weigh in on two referendums on laws passed by the state legislature regarding hunting wolves. Proposal 1 would authorize the creation of wolf hunting season, establishing the animals as legal game. Proposal 2 would primarily grant the National Resources Commission the authority to designate wolves and other animals as game without the input of the state legislature, as well as giving the legislature the sole authority to remove an animal from that list.

The gray wolf was once thought close to extinction, but its population in the Great Lakes region has grown so robustly that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service removed it from the endangered species list in 2012. Opponents of the proposals argue that wolves remain vulnerable and worry about taking the power to designate animals as game out of the hands of elected officials.

Minnesota By ASHLEY SOUTHALL Minnesota Election Results »

U.S. Senate

Democrat looks for clearer win

Senator Al Franken, a Democrat, is looking for a more decisive victory than six years ago, when a mandatory recount and a lawsuit by the Republican incumbent, Norm Coleman, delayed his freshman term for six months. In this year’s race, he has spent more than $22 million against his Republican challenger, Mike McFadden, a co-chief executive of a Minneapolis-based investment bank and a political newcomer. Mr. Franken holds a double-digit lead in recent polls, but Mr. McFadden is hoping to lure voters turned off by Mr. Franken’s liberal voting record, including his support of the Affordable Care Act, in a state where President Obama’s popularity is low. Both candidates have tapped vast donor networks that extend beyond the state, making this the most expensive Senate race in the country in terms of money spent so far, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

U.S. House

District 8 An expensive and colorful contest

Outside groups are pouring millions of dollars into the colorful contest between Representative Rick Nolan, 70, an old-school Democrat seeking a second term, and Stewart Mills, 42, a vice president of his family’s chain-store business, Mills Fleet Farm. Political advertisements have painted Mr. Nolan as a Washington insider who is out of touch with his district’s needs, while Mr. Mills has drawn scrutiny for his long hair and what opponents say is a lack of achievement. Republican groups hoping to flip the district have spent about $2.3 million, while Democratic groups have spent $1.3 million to keep it. The race is one of the 10 most expensive House contests, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

District 7 G.O.P. seeks an upset

Republicans are looking for an upset in this rural district, which covers the western part of the state from the Canadian border almost to the Iowa state line. Although voters here favor Republican presidential candidates, Representative Collin C. Peterson, the ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, has coasted to re-election through 12 terms. This time, he faces an aggressive challenge from Torrey Westrom, a veteran state lawmaker and conservative. Outside groups have spent $2 million on political ads in the race, underscoring the high stakes.

District 1 Underdog tailed by past comments

Representative Tim Walz, a Democrat, is seeking a fifth term in this district covering the southern part of the state. He faces Jim Hagedorn, a Republican underdog who defeated the establishment pick in an August primary. Mr. Hagedorn, the son of a former Minnesota congressman, has struggled to raise cash and to explain inflammatory online comments he made in the past about gays, American Indians and women.

State House

Democrats on the defensive

About 20 close contests are expected to determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the 134-seat chamber for the next two years. Republicans, who are the minority in both chambers of the State Legislature, need to pick up seven seats to wrest control from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, which holds a 73-61 majority. Democrats hold most of the seats in play, putting them on the defensive.

Mississippi By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA Mississippi Election Results »

U.S. Senate

An unpredictable story line

In this deeply conservative state, Senator Thad Cochran, a Republican, is expected to win handily against Travis Childers, a Democratic former congressman, but that ho-hum story line conceals unpredictable currents in Mississippi politics.

Mr. Cochran’s appeal to voters can make him sound like a pro-government candidate — hardly the preferred stance for Southern conservatives in the Tea Party era. With 36 years’ seniority in the Senate and a seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee, Mr. Cochran has campaigned as the candidate who has brought federal spending to Mississippi, and will continue to do so.

Mr. Childers, meanwhile, trumpets the support he has received from National Right to Life, the National Rifle Association and the United States Chamber of Commerce.

But the general election is unlikely to match the drama of the Republican primary, when Mr. Cochran narrowly survived a political near-death experience. Chris McDaniel, a state senator, challenged Mr. Cochran from the right, sharply questioning the senator’s conservatism, blaming him for excessive spending and calling him a creature of Washington.

Mr. McDaniel finished barely ahead in the initial primary vote, just under 50 percent, forcing a runoff. Mr. Cochran then turned to an unexpected force to save him: black voters.

African-Americans are 37 percent of Mississippi’s population, the highest of any state, but they usually vote Democratic, so they have little sway under the Republican dominance of recent years. The senator urged them to cross party lines and vote in the Republican primary, arguing, in essence, that he might not be their cup of tea, but they would like Mr. McDaniel even less — a strategy the challenger called a betrayal of the party.

It worked. Black voters turned out in unusually large numbers, and Mr. Cochran barely won the runoff.

What the outcome means for the state’s political future is unclear. While neighboring states have become more Republican in recent years, Mississippi has not. President Obama lost there by 11.5 percentage points in 2012, but it was one of just six states where he performed better than he had in 2008.

U.S. House

Another stunning primary race

Like the Senate race, the excitement in the House race lay in the Republican primary. Four years after Steven Palazzo unseated Representative Gene Taylor, a Democrat, Mr. Taylor returned — as a Republican. But Mr. Palazzo held off the challenge in the 4th Congressional District primary. Mississippi’s districts were redrawn in 2012 to heavily favor one party, leaving little doubt that the delegation would remain at three Republicans and one Democrat.

Ballot Measures

The right to hunt and fish

Like their neighbors in Alabama, Mississippi voters will decide whether to amend the state Constitution to include a right to hunt and fish. Seventeen states have such constitutional guarantees, all but one of them adopted since 1996.

Missouri By PATRICIA COHEN Missouri Election Results »

St. Louis County Executive

Black leaders are supporting a Republican

The fallout from the death in August of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager who was shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb, has added an unexpected twist to the race for St. Louis County executive.

A coalition of about two dozen African-American Democratic officials are snubbing the Democratic candidate, Steven Stenger, and throwing their support behind the Republican, Rick Stream, a state legislator.

Both candidates are white, but Mr. Stenger defeated the incumbent, Charlie Dooley, who is black, in an August primary with the help of an endorsement from Robert P. McCulloch, the county prosecutor, who has been accused of harboring a pro-police bias in the investigation into Mr. Brown’s killing.

Mr. McCulloch’s father, a police officer, was shot and killed by a black man in the 1960s, and his mother and other relatives worked for the St. Louis Police Department.

“We’re called on when it’s time to turn out the vote, but we don’t have input in the issues that matter in our community,” said Hazel Erby, a county councilwoman who spoke for the group supporting Mr. Stream. African-Americans accounted for about 24 percent of the county’s population in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.

Other Races

Contests for U.S. House and state auditor

There are few political cliffhangers in Missouri this election season. With the governor staying in place and no Senate seat up for grabs, the only statewide race before voters on Nov. 4 is for state auditor, and the incumbent, Tom Schweich, a Republican, is running with only token opposition. In the House of Representatives, Missouri’s two Democrats and six Republicans are all likely to remain in office. Republicans, who previously won 110 seats in the State Legislature, already have a veto-proof majority, and that dominance is unlikely to change much. The name of the Republican candidate in the 24th senatorial district, which covers St. Louis County’s central corridor, is drawing some attention: John Ashcroft. Mr. Ashcroft, who is known as Jay and is the son of John D. Ashcroft, a former Missouri governor and attorney general under President George W. Bush, is challenging Representative Jill Schupp in a Democratic-leaning district.

Montana By ASHLEY SOUTHALL Montana Election Results »

U.S. Senate

Tough road for last-minute candidate

After the incumbent’s unexpected retirement, a campaign-killing plagiarism scandal and the last-minute nomination of a political newcomer, Democrats are poised to lose a Senate seat that they have held for about a century. Representative Steve Daines, a Republican and the state’s only congressman, has a big fund-raising and polling edge over his Democratic opponent, Amanda Curtis. Ms. Curtis, a high school teacher who served one term in the State Legislature, has been fighting almost insurmountable odds since stepping in to take over for Senator John Walsh, who ended his candidacy in August after it was revealed that he plagiarized large chunks of his thesis for a master’s degree from the United States Army War College.

U.S. House

Republicans helped by political climate

An unfavorable national climate toward Democrats is likely to help Republicans extend their hold on the state’s only congressional seat. The Republican nominee, Ryan Zinke, a retired Navy SEAL officer who served one term in the State Senate, holds a slim polling lead over his Democratic challenger, whom he has outraised and outspent with the help of funds from a super PAC he started in 2012 for special operations forces. He faces John Lewis, a state campaign director for the former Senator Max Baucus, who is trying to win the seat from Republicans after 20 years. The incumbent, Representative Steve Daines, is seeking a Senate seat.

Ballot Measures

Adding limits to voter registration

After the Democratic governor vetoed repeated efforts to end late voter registration, the Republican-controlled legislature has put the question to voters in Legislative Referendum 126.

The measure would eliminate registration on Election Day, which began in 2006; the deadline to register would move to the Friday before the election. Proponents contend that the changes would protect the integrity of the voting process and reduce delays and long lines at the polls. But opponents say that it would make voting difficult for tens of thousands of eligible voters, including farmers, single parents, students and veterans.

Nebraska By ROBERT PEAR Nebraska Election Results »

U.S. Senate

Tea Party appears to have a winner

Tea Party forces fizzled in many states this year, but one of the movement’s favorites, Ben Sasse, won the Senate primary in Nebraska and appears to be on track to win the race to succeed Senator Mike Johanns, a Republican.

The National Review magazine has described Mr. Sasse as a “rising conservative star” and “Obamacare’s Nebraska nemesis” and says he would be one of the Republicans’ “most visible and articulate experts on the health care law’s defects and the ways to replace it.” He has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard and a Ph.D. from Yale.

Under President George W. Bush, he held a senior position at the Department of Health and Human Services, as assistant secretary for planning and evaluation. The Democrats’ Senate nominee, Dave Domina, has been a lawyer in a number of high-profile cases, including one in which he represented Nebraska landowners opposed to use of their property for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Governor

Republican candidate enjoys a lead

Warren Buffett contributed $100,000 to Chuck Hassebrook, the Democratic candidate for governor of Nebraska, but that may not be enough to put him over the top in this state, which President Obama lost by more than 20 percentage points in 2012. Mr. Hassebrook was executive director of the Center for Rural Affairs, a national advocacy group based in northeast Nebraska. Even if he does well in the state’s two large cities, Omaha and Lincoln, he faces long odds in the race against Pete Ricketts, the Republican nominee and former chief operating officer of Ameritrade, the online brokerage based in Omaha. Mr. Ricketts spent millions of dollars of his own money in an unsuccessful campaign for the United States Senate in 2006. Mr. Hassebrook opposes construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Mr. Ricketts supports it, saying it would bring jobs and tax revenue to the state while increasing national energy security.

U.S. House

District 1 Republican seat will stay that way

In the First Congressional District, which is heavily Republican, Jeff Fortenberry, the Republican incumbent, is being challenged by Dennis Crawford, a lawyer in Lincoln, the state capital. Mr. Crawford says he wants to increase spending on highway construction and wind energy and take steps to reverse the Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case, which he says “allowed special interests to pour large amounts of anonymous money into political campaigns.”

District 2 Strong challenge from Democrat

State Senator Brad Ashford, a Democrat, has mounted a strong challenge to Lee Terry, a Republican who has been in the House of Representatives for 16 years, representing Omaha and surrounding areas. Mr. Ashford, a lawyer and former director of the Omaha Housing Authority, says he would take a pragmatic, centrist approach in a polarized Congress. He promises to “reduce partisanship in Washington.” Democrats, hoping for an upset, have been pounding Mr. Terry over a comment he made during the government shutdown last year, when he said he would not give up his congressional paycheck. He quickly reversed his position. More generally, Mr. Ashford says, “Congressman Terry clings to pay raises and perks.” Republicans have a clear edge among registered voters in the district, but Mr. Terry won with just 51 percent of the vote in 2012, down from 61 percent in 2010.

District 3 Incumbent is heavily favored

Representative Adrian Smith, a Republican, is expected to win re-election easily. Mr. Smith is seeking a fifth term representing the district, which covers the western three-fourths of Nebraska. Republicans have held the seat for more than 50 years. The Democratic challenger, Mark Sullivan, is a farmer and feedlot owner. He says he will fight to preserve Social Security, Medicare and the United States Postal Service and wants to “fix the junk” in the Affordable Care Act without totally repealing the law.

Nevada By STEVEN GREENHOUSE Nevada Election Results »

Governor

Sandoval faces low-profile challenger

Brian Sandoval, a Republican, was elected governor in 2010 soon after he stepped down from his position as a United States District Court judge, the first Hispanic federal judge in Nevada’s history. His Democratic opponent is Robert E. Goodman, a trade expert and relative political unknown who ran the Nevada Department of Economic Development in the 1970s and is now chairman of the Sino-American Trade Development Association.

Mr. Sandoval is so popular that no prominent Democrat stepped forward to oppose him. Mr. Goodman won the Democratic primary in June against seven opponents, receiving 25 percent of the vote, while 30 percent voted for “none of the above.” Senator Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader and the state’s most powerful Democrat, told reporters in August that campaigning for Mr. Goodman would be a waste. “He spends most of his time in China,” Mr. Reid said. Mr. Sandoval is widely seen as a possible challenger to Mr. Reid in 2016.

Lieutenant Governor

A race of uncommon significance

Most races for lieutenant governor receive scant attention, but not this year in Nevada. Republicans are especially eager for State Senator Mark Hutchison to win the lieutenant governor’s race in case Gov. Brian Sandoval moves on before the end of the next term. Speculation abounds that Mr. Sandoval, a Republican expected to win re-election handily, will challenge Senator Harry Reid in 2016 or be named to the Cabinet if a Republican wins the presidency that year. Some political analysts say Mr. Sandoval may even be tapped to run for vice president.

Mr. Hutchison, a champion of vouchers for charter schools, leads in the polls, having marketed himself as a significant ally of the governor. His Democratic opponent, Lucy Flores, is member of the State Assembly. A former high-school dropout and gang member who went on to the University of Southern California and law school, Ms. Flores hopes that a large turnout of Hispanic voters will lift her to victory.

U.S. House

District 3 Going for three in a tough district

In what is often called a true swing district — the suburbs south of Las Vegas — Joe Heck, a Republican, was first elected to Congress in 2010, defeating the district’s Democratic incumbent, Dina Titus, by one percentage point. He won the district again in 2012 by eight points even though he faced a strong challenge from the speaker of the Nevada Assembly, John Oceguera. This year, Mr. Heck faces Erin Bilbray, a Democratic political consultant who runs a nonprofit children’s health clinic with her husband, a pediatrician. She is the daughter of James Bilbray, who represented Nevada’s first congressional district. Mr. Heck, a former military doctor and a brigadier general in the Army Reserve, is considered a moderate Republican who says he supports immigration reform. He sits on the House Armed Services Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence. Mr. Heck leads in the polls, but the district has bounced back and forth between Republicans and Democrats.

District 4 Republican hoping for upset

Representative Steven Horsford, a first-time member of Congress, represents the northern suburbs of Las Vegas and several rural counties. Seen as a rising Democratic star, Mr. Horsford has led in recent polls, but his Republican opponent, Cresent Hardy, a member of the State Assembly, hopes to pull off an upset. His chances might improve if the turnout among Hispanic voters, discouraged by the impasse on immigration reform, is far lower than in 2012. That year, Mr. Horsford defeated Danny Tarkanian, the son of Jerry Tarkanian, the famed former basketball coach for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, by eight percentage points. The district narrowly supported George W. Bush in 2004, but went for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. Mr. Horsford is the first African-American member of Congress from Nevada and was the first black majority leader of the State Senate. He has embraced Democratic positions on the minimum wage, equal pay for women and immigration reform. Mr. Hardy describes himself as a “constitutional conservative” who opposes same-sex marriage, wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act and favors cutting social programs.

New Hampshire By JOHN SCHWARTZ New Hampshire Election Results »

U.S. Senate

Carpetbagger charge may not stick

The race that is drawing the most attention is for the seat currently held by Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat and former governor. Her Republican challenger, Scott P. Brown, is a former senator from Massachusetts who moved to New Hampshire after being defeated for re-election in Massachusetts by Elizabeth Warren. Ms. Shaheen has been polling ahead of Mr. Brown, who has worked under the burden of a carpetbagger label, but her victory is not assured.

U.S. House

All-female delegation is at risk

Both of the races are competitive. In the Second Congressional District, Representative Ann McLane Kuster, a Democrat, faces Marilinda Garcia, a Republican member of the state House of Representatives, in what appears to be a close race. In the First Congressional District, Representative Carol Shea-Porter, the Democratic incumbent, faces Frank C. Guinta, who is seeking a rematch after she defeated him in 2012. But wait — that came after his defeat of Ms. Shea-Porter in 2010. Should Ms. Shaheen lose her Senate race, or Mr. Guinta win — again — New Hampshire will lose a national distinction of great symbolic importance: the state’s governor and the entire Washington delegation are all women.

New Jersey By MATT FLEGENHEIMER New Jersey Election Results »

U.S. Senate

Democratic star seeks a full term

Senator Cory Booker, a Democrat, is seeking his first full term after winning a special election last year to fill the seat vacated by the death of Frank R. Lautenberg. Mr. Booker, the former mayor of Newark, is considered a rising star in the Democratic Party and is widely expected to win. His opponent, Jeff Bell, a former aide to Ronald Reagan, was endorsed by Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican with whom Mr. Booker has often enjoyed a good relationship. Mr. Bell, who was also the party’s Senate nominee in 1978, has staked much of his campaign on a discussion of returning the United States to the gold standard.

U.S. House

District 3 Retirement makes race a tossup

The race for a seat left open by the retirement of Representative Jon Runyan, a Republican, has drawn modest national attention as a possible tossup. The Republican nominee, Tom MacArthur, is the former mayor of Randolph and a longtime insurance industry executive. His Democratic opponent, Aimee Belgard, is a Burlington County freeholder and lawyer. At a recent debate, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported, Ms. Belgard called Mr. MacArthur a “disaster profiteer” for his work in insurance, noting that many residents in the district were still recovering from Hurricane Sandy. Mr. MacArthur called the attack disingenuous because Ms. Belgard had represented insurance companies as a trial lawyer.

District 12 Democrats try to hold open seat

Representative Rush D. Holt, a Democrat, is retiring, but the seat is unlikely to switch parties. The Democratic candidate, Bonnie Watson Coleman, is a state assemblywoman, former chairwoman of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee and a vocal critic of Mr. Christie. Her opponent, Alieta Eck, a physician, ran unsuccessfully last year for the Republican nomination in the special election to fill Mr. Lautenberg’s Senate seat.

Ballot Measures

Tougher bail guidelines

Voters will be asked to consider changes to the state’s bail system, allowing courts to order that a person remain in jail if deemed a threat to public safety or a flight risk. The measure has been a favored cause of Mr. Christie, who months ago called legislators back to Trenton for a special session to consider the legislation, which passed both chambers to be included on the November ballot.

More money for open space

Another proposed measure would amend the State Constitution to dedicate 6 percent of the corporation business tax to “the preservation of open space, farmland and historic sites” each year, for the next 30 years. The amendment would override the current dedication of 4 percent. Mr. Christie said at a news conference in August that he would vote against the initiative, calling it “irresponsible.”

New Mexico By PATRICIA COHEN New Mexico Election Results »

Governor

Republican governor adds to lead

With a well-funded campaign war chest, Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican, has been bolstering her lead against her Democratic challenger, Attorney General Gary King. Ms. Martinez, who became the nation’s first Latina governor in 2010, gained a national profile when the Republicans gave her a prime-time platform at their 2012 convention. New Mexico, with an electorate that is estimated to be about 35 percent Hispanic, is still suffering the effects of the Great Recession. Its unemployment rate is still well above the national average, but Democrats have failed to make the case that the governor is to blame.

U.S. Senate

Incumbents expected to retain seats

Senator Tom Udall, a Democrat, is favored to keep the seat he won in 2008, beating back a challenge from Allen Weh, the former state Republican Party chairman. Mr. Udall has a well-known political lineage (his father, Stewart Udall, was a former secretary of the interior, and the long-serving Representative Mo Udall, who died in 1998, was his uncle). New Mexico’s three incumbent congressional representatives — the Democrats Michelle Luján Grisham and Ben Ray Luján and the Republican Steven Pearce — are all considered safe.

State Legislature

Democrats’ hold is tenuous at best

The fiercest campaigns are occurring on the local level in New Mexico as Democrats struggle to hold onto their decades-long majority in the state’s House of Representatives. The party’s 37 to 33 edge is endangered given that races for 10 seats, two of them covering the Santa Fe area, are close. Democrats are on the defensive, said Brian Sanderoff, president of Research and Polling, a political research firm in Albuquerque. After analyzing voter trends in New Mexico, Mr. Sanderoff found that historically, the party of the midterm president tends to lose Statehouse seats.

New York By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS New York Election Results »

Governor

Margin of victory may be notable

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, is running for a second term, and despite an explosive report earlier this year about his handling of a statewide ethics panel — which he created and then abruptly shut down — is widely expected to defeat his competitor, Rob Astorino, a Republican and the Westchester County executive.

The margin by which he wins, however, may be worth watching. Mr. Cuomo has raised more than $40 million since he took office nearly four years ago, which gave him an enormous financial advantage in the Democratic primary over his more liberal challenger, Zephyr Teachout, a law professor. Ms. Teachout had little cash and perhaps less name recognition, but still managed to come away with about a third of the vote in the primary.

U.S. House

District 11 Republican candidate faces 20-count federal indictment

Representative Michael G. Grimm, a Republican who was charged with fraud in April, is facing a stiff challenge for his Staten Island seat by Domenic M. Recchia, a Democrat and former member of the New York City Council. A 20-count indictment accused Mr. Grimm of hiding about $1 million in wages and sales at a Manhattan health food restaurant called Healthalicious. While Mr. Grimm has insisted he is innocent, Mr. Recchia has hammered him with ads highlighting the charges. Mr. Grimm’s trial is scheduled after the election.

Mr. Grimm also attracted unwanted national attention in January. Just hours after President Obama’s State of the Union address, he told a reporter he would “break you in half. Like a boy.” That exchange was caught on a live microphone.

Ballot Measures

Redistricting commission may be created

One measure on the ballot would establish a redistricting commission. This move, a compromise between the governor and legislators, comes after decades of complaints from watchdog groups that said the majority party in each legislative house could redraw district lines, seemingly to benefit incumbents.

In September, a judge ruled that the ballot measure could not describe the commission as “independent,” however, because most of its members would be appointed by legislative leaders.

Districts are next scheduled to be redrawn after the 2020 census.

Allowing electronic delivery of bills

Another measure springs from an obscure provision in the state Constitution, which requires that bills “shall have been printed and upon the desks of the members” at least three days before a vote. The ballot measure would allow electronic delivery of those bills, and cut down on 19 million pages of paper printed in the State Capitol every two years.

North Carolina By STEVEN GREENHOUSE North Carolina Election Results »

U.S. Senate

Democrat distances herself from Obama

Earlier this year, Republicans saw Kay Hagan, a first-time Democratic senator, as a prime target. But in one of the nation’s most closely watched races, she has maintained a narrow lead in the polls in recent weeks as she has outspent her opponent, Thom Tillis, the Republican speaker of the North Carolina Statehouse.

While Mr. Tillis, 54, asserts that Ms. Hagan is President Obama’s ideological clone, Ms. Hagan, 61, has called him too conservative for the state, which went for Mr. Obama in 2008 before flipping to Mitt Romney in 2012. Helped by Mr. Obama’s 2008 victory, Ms. Hagan defeated Elizabeth Dole, 53 percent to 44 percent.

The Hagan campaign has criticized Mr. Tillis for backing restrictions on voters, resisting Medicaid expansion, slashing jobless benefits and supporting deep cuts in the state’s education budget, before the State Legislature voted to increase school spending this year. Mr. Tillis has accused her of being too liberal for North Carolina by supporting the Affordable Care Act.

Ms. Hagan has not disassociated herself from Mr. Obama, but she has not hesitated to underline her differences with him: about the oversight of veterans’ hospitals, the Keystone XL pipeline debate, immigration and trade agreements. The National Journal has called her “the most moderate senator in the nation.”

Ms. Hagan has emphasized her ties to the military, which holds great sway in North Carolina. Her husband is a Vietnam veteran, her brother and father were Navy officers, and her father-in-law was a Marine general.

U.S. House

District 2 Clay Aiken brings celebrity factor

Buoyed by his celebrity and by campaign contributions from his famous friends, Clay Aiken, the singer and former “American Idol” runner-up, is making the race in the state’s Second Congressional District interesting. The Republican incumbent, Renee Ellmers, defeated Bob Etheridge, a seven-term Democrat, in 2010, lifted by the Tea Party wave as she campaigned against the Affordable Care Act. Redistricting has increased her chances by subtracting heavily Democratic parts of Raleigh from the district while adding stretches of the state’s more conservative Piedmont area. Ms. Ellmers has attacked Mr. Aiken, her Democratic opponent, as a rubber stamp for the president, attacking what she calls the “Obama-Aiken” economy. Mr. Aiken, who was a special-education teacher before “Idol” made him famous, has said he has nothing to do with the Obama economy.

District 7 Libertarian could steal Republican votes

With the retirement of Representative Mike McIntyre, a Democrat, this November might be the first time that the state’s Seventh Congressional District elects a Republican congressman since Reconstruction. It is the last part of the state that has not been represented by a Republican in Congress in modern times. Mr. McIntyre is one of many conservative Democrats to represent the district, which stretches from the southern suburbs of Raleigh to the South Carolina border.

David Rouzer, a Republican and former state senator, is running again, after narrowly losing to Mr. McIntyre in 2012. Mr. Rouzer has more name recognition and campaign funds than his Democratic opponent, Jonathan Barfield Jr., a real estate agent and member of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners. Many Democrats hope Mr. Barfield will emerge victorious if the Libertarian candidate, J. Wesley Casteen, a lawyer and certified public accountant, draws enough votes from Mr. Rouzer.

Ballot Measures

Choosing the decider at trial

A proposed constitutional amendment that would give many criminal defendants the choice of whether they want to be tried by a judge or a jury is on the ballot. The amendment would let any criminal defendant not facing the death penalty choose a type of trial.

North Carolina is the only state that does not let defendants waive their right to a jury trial, according to a study by the University of North Carolina School of Government. The study said the amendment would save money and time when defendants chose a bench trial, meaning a trial by a judge only. Some argue, however, that the amendment would give judges too much power and that the judge might tilt in favor of certain defendants.

Most states also require the consent of the prosecutor before permitting a bench trial. The proposed amendment requires permission from the judge and defendant, but not the prosecutor.

North Dakota By STEVEN GREENHOUSE North Dakota Election Results »

U.S. House

Republican seeks to retain only seat

Representative Kevin Cramer, a first-term Republican, is running to retain North Dakota’s sole House seat against State Senator George Sinner, a Democrat whose father was the state’s governor from 1985 to 1992. They both describe themselves as pragmatists, with Mr. Cramer, 53, criticizing his fellow Republicans for the government shutdown.

Mr. Cramer served on the state’s Public Service Commission from 2003 to 2012 and was state economic development director from 1997 to 2000. Mr. Sinner, 61, who trails in the polls, has worked as a banker and agribusiness executive.

Mr. Sinner supports ending tax breaks that allow the foreign subsidiaries of American corporations to avoid taxes, while Mr. Cramer says his opponent wants to punish companies that already face high taxes. Mr. Sinner backs a five-year extension of the wind tax credit to encourage alternative energies, while Mr. Cramer faults the idea, saying it would distort electricity prices. Mr. Cramer opposes additional regulations on business, the Affordable Care Act, and what he calls overreach by federal agencies, especially the Environmental Protection Agency.

Jack Seaman, the Libertarian candidate, said he would be an independent alterative who could help end gridlock in the two-party system. He favors abolishing what he called the “criminal and corrupt” Internal Revenue Service and would replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax.

Ballot Measures

Defining when life begins

North Dakota would become the first state to define life as beginning at conception if voters approve this amendment to the state Constitution. The measure, called the “Life Begins at Conception” Amendment, says, “The inalienable right to life of every human being at any stage of development must be recognized and protected.” Supporters say their primary goal is to define “fetal development” as a “stage of life.” North Dakota Right to Life and other supporters of the amendment say it would protect existing anti-abortion laws and enable state lawmakers to enact stronger measures against abortion. Planned Parenthood and other opponents argue that the amendment is too broad and say it could ban in vitro fertilization and hurt couples that are storing frozen embryos. Opponents also maintain that the amendment could make it difficult for women with life-threatening ectopic pregnancies and could allow a ban on certain forms of birth control, causing more unintended pregnancies.

Using oil taxes to help the environment

This measure would require 5 percent of the state’s oil extraction tax revenues to go toward improving water quality, aiding fish and wildlife and improving and expanding parks. With the state’s oil and gas industry booming, the 5 percent would amount to an estimated $150 million per year. Complaining that the oil and gas boom has damaged the environment, supporters of the constitutional amendment praise the idea of having a commission called the Clean Water, Wildlife and Parks Commission use the money to improve depleted grasslands and wetlands and to increase the population of fish, wildlife and even honey bees. Opponents argue that the amendment is financed primarily by out-of-state groups and would divert too much money each year for what they say could be undefined, wasteful and irresponsible spending.

Ohio By JOHN SCHWARTZ Ohio Election Results »

Governor

Indiscretion undermines Democrat

The race in the Buckeye State has been short on electoral drama but long on personal drama. The campaign by Ed FitzGerald, a Democrat and the Cuyahoga County executive, to unseat Gov. John Kasich has all but imploded. Staffers quit and donors dropped away after revelations about Mr. FitzGerald that included reports that police had found him parked two years ago in a car at 4:30 a.m. with a woman who was not his wife. Mr. FitzGerald, a former F.B.I. agent, said nothing inappropriate had occurred, but a second blow came when it was revealed that he had been driving for years without a valid license.

Secretary of State

Arguing over cuts in voting hours

The collapse of the FitzGerald campaign has focused the Democratic Party’s attention on down-ballot statewide races, especially those for secretary of state and attorney general. For secretary of state, Nina Turner, a Democratic state senator from Cleveland, has conducted a lively campaign against the Republican incumbent, Jon Husted. The secretary of state oversees the elections process and issues business licenses, articles of incorporation and performs other commercial state functions. Much of the heat in this race has concerned Republican-led cuts in voting days and hours, which Ms. Turner, who is a frequent commentator on MSNBC, has said amounts to voter suppression and is “immoral.”

Attorney General

Challenge for longtime Ohio politician

The incumbent, Mike DeWine, a Republican who has served in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives faces a challenge from David Pepper, a Democrat and former president of the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners. Mr. Pepper has fought a vigorous campaign, and the two candidates have staked out opposing positions on a wide range of topics. On same-sex marriage, for example, a federal judge has, like many members of the federal judiciary in other states, struck down Ohio’s ban; it is currently before the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Mr. DeWine has defended the law, and says he is obligated to, while Mr. Pepper has argued that the attorney general should not argue on behalf of a law that is clearly unconstitutional.

Oklahoma By JOHN SCHWARTZ Oklahoma Election Results »

U.S. Senate

Seats expected to remain Republican

Both of Oklahoma’s seats are up for grabs in November — the first time that has happened in the history of the state. One of the races opened up out of rotation because Senator Tom Coburn, a Republican who is battling cancer, is retiring at the end of the year. The winner will serve the final two years of Mr. Coburn’s term. Representative James Lankford a Republican, won a tough primary battle and is expected to defeat his Democratic opponent, State Senator Constance N. Johnson.

Mark T. Beard, an independent candidate, is also in the race. In a debate earlier this month, the two leading candidates took opposite sides on such issues as same-sex marriage, which Mr. Lankford opposes, and legalization of marijuana, which Ms. Johnson said she favored for medical but not general use.

The other race pits Senator James M. Inhofe, a Republican, against the Democrat, Matt Silverstein, an investment planner. Mr. Inhofe, the state’s senior senator, was first elected to the Senate in 1994 and has staked out a position as one of its most conservative members; he has called climate change “the greatest hoax,” a phrase that he has also used in the title of a 2012 book. He is expected to defeat Mr. Silverstein, a relative unknown.

Governor

Republican incumbent looks strongest

Gov. Mary Fallin, a conservative Republican who champions smaller and more efficient government, is expected to be re-elected in November. Her opponent, Joe Dorman, a Democratic member of the state House of Representatives who bills himself as a “bipartisan” and wants to spend more on education funding in the state, retains an outside chance of success.

Oregon By JULIE TURKEWITZ Oregon Election Results »

Governor

A dent in an incumbent’s lead

Gov. John Kitzhaber, a Democrat and a doctor, holds a sizable lead over his challenger, Dennis Richardson, a little-known Republican state representative who opposes abortion and the state’s assisted suicide law. But Mr. Kitzhaber has some reason to worry: The disastrous rollout of the state’s health care exchange, Cover Oregon — and perhaps some voter fatigue after three terms — has weakened him, leaving space for Mr. Richardson to swoop in.

U.S. Senate

Republican tries to make history

Republicans have not won a statewide race in Oregon in more than a decade, but Monica Wehby, a pediatric neurosurgeon and the Republican in the race, is trying to change that. Ms. Wehby styles herself as a moderate conservative, an independent voice who supports same-sex marriage and believes the federal government should stay out of reproduction issues. She has criticized the Democratic incumbent, Jeff Merkley, a senator since 2008, as a supporter of big government and overregulation. Mr. Merkley has promoted his tough-on-Wall Street stance and highlighted accusations that Ms. Wehby’s campaign directly copied passages of her health care platform from the websites of other Republican candidates.

Ballot Measures

A vote on marijuana use

A proposal to legalize recreational marijuana and have it be regulated by the state’s liquor control commission has divided voters in traditionally progressive Oregon, making it the state’s biggest tossup this election. People 21 and older would be able to purchase up to an ounce of marijuana, and 16 ounces of marijuana products in solid form — rules that are more permissive than those in Colorado and Washington. Oregon legalized the use of cannabis for medical purposes in 1998 — it was among the first states to do so — but the vote on recreational use may come down to young voters, who generally favor legalization but are less likely to turn out for midterm elections.

Labeling genetically modified foods

Oregonians will also vote on a proposal requiring manufacturers to label genetically modified foods in the state. While polls indicate that residents are largely in the yes camp, it is going to be an expensive fight between companies like PepsiCo, Hershey, the J.M. Smucker Company and Monsanto, which oppose the idea, and a group called Yes on 92, supported by organic goods producers and a scientist from Consumer Reports, among others.

Pennsylvania By STEVEN GREENHOUSE Pennsylvania Election Results »

Governor

Incumbent criticized over education

Trailing badly in the polls week after week, Gov. Tom Corbett, the Republican and first-time incumbent running for re-election, has appeared to be one of the nation’s most endangered governors. His opponent, Tom Wolf, a Democratic businessman who runs a building company specializing in kitchen cabinets, has battered Mr. Corbett for letting education funds fall — even as the governor pushed through more than $300 million in business tax cuts that were enacted in 2011 and 2012.

Mr. Corbett, a former federal prosecutor and state attorney general, argued that overall state spending on education had increased, but when $1 billion in federal stimulus money for education expired in 2011, net school aid in the state plunged, causing widespread teacher layoffs and sizable increases in school property taxes.

Mr. Corbett accuses his challenger of wanting to raise taxes on the middle class, but Mr. Wolf, without spelling out details, says he supports increasing taxes on the wealthy to reduce reliance on school property taxes. Mr. Wolf has called for raising the state minimum wage to $10.10 an hour from $7.25 an hour. Mr. Corbett opposes an increase, fearing businesses would expand and create jobs in other states with a lower minimum wage.

U.S. House

District 6 Redistricting gives Republican an edge

The seat is open in Pennsylvania’s Sixth Congressional District, which runs from the Philadelphia suburbs, including the well-heeled towns of the Main Line, out to rural Lebanon County. Ryan Costello, a Republican and Chester County commissioner, is facing Manan Trivedi, a Democrat, a doctor and former Navy surgeon who served in the first Iraq War. Mr. Trivedi, lost in 2010 and 2012 against Jim Gerlach, a Republican who is stepping down this year after serving a decade in the House.

Mr. Costello, a real estate and land-use lawyer, is seen as having an edge, helped by the most recent redistricting. Strongly supported by the National Rifle Association, he has said his priorities include easing regulations and taxes that he claims hamper business and job growth. Mr. Trivedi has said he wants to overhaul the campaign finance system and limit corporate spending in campaigns.

District 8 Incumbent is popular with independents

If Democrats are ever to retake the House, they need to win districts like Pennsylvania’s Eighth, which includes northeast Philadelphia and Bucks County. Representative Mike Fitzpatrick, the two-term incumbent, is rated near the center of the House’s political spectrum and is popular with independents. That makes it harder for the Democratic challenger, Kevin Strouse, a former Army ranger who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Mr. Strouse grew up in Delaware County and moved back to the district last year after national Democrats recruited him to run. Saying he believes in term limits, Mr. Fitzpatrick — who has an immense fund-raising edge — said this would be his last run for Congress.

Rhode Island By ELIZABETH A. HARRIS Rhode Island Election Results »

Governor

Democratic candidate irks unions

The Democratic candidate for governor of Rhode Island is Gina M. Raimondo, the state treasurer, who faces Republican Allan W. Fung, the mayor of Cranston.

Ms. Raimondo made powerful enemies among public employees unions when she overhauled the state pension system in 2011. The move increased the state retirement age, cut benefits and suspended cost-of-living adjustments until the system’s financial position improved; it was intended to save $4 billion and slow the increase of property taxes in the state.

The issue became the centerpiece of a hard-fought primary, which Ms. Raimondo won with 42 percent of the vote. The support of the public unions was split between two other primary candidates.

If elected, Ms. Raimondo would be the first female governor of the state.

Mr. Fung, a lawyer, is pushing a platform calling for lower taxes and regulatory reform.

Mayor of Providence

Third comeback try for ex-mayor

In Providence, the three-way contest for mayor includes a familiar face: Vincent A. Cianci Jr., a former mayor who ran the city for more than 20 years and is trying his third comeback — despite being convicted twice of felonies.

Mr. Cianci, 73, was first elected as a Republican in 1974, and he served as mayor for nearly a decade. That came to an end in 1984 when he was convicted of assaulting his wife’s lover with an ashtray, a cigarette and a fireplace log. Mr. Cianci, who is widely known as Buddy, returned to office in 1991, but was indicted again 10 years later. He was then convicted of racketeering conspiracy and spent more than four years in federal prison. Since his release in 2007, he has been a regular on local television and radio.

In 1974, Mr. Cianci ran on an anticorruption platform. This time, he is running as an independent.

His Democratic opponent is Jorge Elorza, a law professor and former Housing Court judge, who is pushing an education and jobs platform. Daniel Harrop, a psychiatrist who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2006 and 2010, is the Republican candidate

South Carolina By STEVEN GREENHOUSE South Carolina Election Results »

Governor

Challenger may be falling short

Four years ago, Vincent Sheheen, a longtime Democratic state senator, came surprisingly close to defeating Nikki R. Haley, a Republican, in the race for governor in this highly conservative state. In losing by just 4.5 percentage points, Mr. Sheheen, 43, won the right to challenge her again, and many Democrats have harbored high hopes that he could defeat Ms. Haley, who at 42 is the nation’s youngest governor.

But Mr. Sheheen’s campaign has been seen as lacking the pizazz of his run in 2010. Ms. Haley has repeatedly boasted that she is responsible for South Carolina’s strong rebound from the recession, although the South Carolina news media has often faulted her for exaggerating the number of jobs created on her watch.

Mr. Sheheen has criticized Ms. Haley for education cuts in her early years in office and for not expanding Medicaid. Ms. Haley has attacked Mr. Sheheen as a spendthrift who would expand Medicaid. She announced a budget plan this year to increase K-12 education spending by $160 million.

Two other candidates, Steve French, of the Libertarian Party, and Tom Ervin, who calls himself an “independent Republican,” could siphon votes from Ms. Haley.

Ms. Haley’s campaign has easily outraised her opponents’, and she is also getting support from outside Republican groups.

U.S. Senate

Lindsey Graham seeks third term

One of the nation’s best-known senators, Lindsey Graham, a Republican, is running for a third term. He is well ahead in the polls, but his Democratic opponent, state Senator Brad Hutto, says that he can take down Mr. Graham, campaigning on the theme that the incumbent is far more focused on international affairs than he is on South Carolina. Mr. Graham has been highly visible in repeatedly condemning the Obama administration over the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead. Mr. Hutto supports a higher minimum wage and increased funding for education.

Mr. Graham won the Republican primarily handily with 56 percent of the vote, even though he faced six challengers and attacks from the Tea Party. He has the highest disapproval rating of any Republican in the state, yet his campaign has far more money than his opponents.

Complicating the race for Mr. Graham are two candidates running to his right: Victor Kocher, a Libertarian, and Thomas Ravenel, a Republican former state treasurer and cast member of “Southern Charm,” a reality show on Bravo. In 2007, after he was elected treasurer, he pleaded guilty to cocaine distribution charges.

Scott seeks to continue tenure

In South Carolina’s second United States Senate campaign, Tim Scott, 49, a Republican, is seeking to add two years to his tenure. Ms. Haley selected him for the seat that former Senator Jim DeMint, a Republican, left in January 2013 to lead the Heritage Foundation, the conservative policy organization. If Mr. Scott wins, he could run for his first full term in 2016.

He faces Joyce Dickerson, a Democrat and Richland County councilwoman, who is not widely known in the state and has far less campaign funding than her opponent.

This is the first race for the United States Senate in South Carolina with two African-American major party candidates.

Jill Bossi, a self-described centrist who was a vice president of the American Red Cross, is running as the American Party candidate.

U.S. House

District 1 Ex-governor is unopposed

Mark Sanford, a Republican representing the state’s First Congressional District, which includes Charleston, is running unopposed, disregarding the widespread sniping at him for having a much-publicized affair while he was governor and for writing about his troubles on Facebook. In September, Mr. Sanford wrote a 2,346-word Facebook post announcing that he was ending his engagement to María Belén Chapur, an Argentine woman he secretly visited in Argentina in 2009 while telling his constituents he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. His wife, Jenny, left him as a result. In his Facebook post, which has been deleted, Mr. Sanford wrote that it was too difficult to continue his relationship with Ms. Chapur while facing a lengthy, costly legal battle with his former wife.

South Dakota By EMMARIE HUETTEMAN South Dakota Election Results »

U.S. Senate

Republican ahead in three-way race

The retirement of Senator Tim Johnson, a Democrat, left his seat vulnerable to Republicans in a state that strongly opposed President Obama in 2012. Mike Rounds, a former governor, is seen as critical in the Republicans’ effort to take control of the Senate. Recent polls suggest Mr. Rounds has a comfortable advantage over Rick Weiland, his Democratic opponent.

Mr. Weiland, a former longtime aide to Tom Daschle, served as a regional director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency after an unsuccessful congressional run in 1996.

Larry Pressler, a former Republican congressman and senator who lost his seat to Mr. Johnson and has repeatedly endorsed President Obama, is running as an independent, and Democrats are concerned he could take votes from Mr. Weiland.

Governor

A big lead for an incumbent

Gov. Dennis Daugaard, a Republican running for his second term, is expected to soundly defeat Susan Wismer, a Democratic state representative. According to recent polls, Mr. Daugaard has a considerable lead over Ms. Wismer. Mike Myers, an independent, is also on the ballot. With a strongly Republican state legislature, Mr. Daugaard signed bills during his first term that made South Dakota the first state to explicitly allow school employees to carry firearms and to require women seeking abortions to first attend consultations encouraging them to give birth.

U.S. House

District 1 Tea Party favorite outspending rival

With fewer than one million residents, South Dakota has just one congressional district. Representative Kristi Noem, a Republican who found favor with the Tea Party, has held that seat since 2011. By the end of June, Ms. Noem had raised nearly $1.8 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Her Democratic opponent, Corinna Robinson, a retired Army officer who served in Iraq, had raised just $137,000. South Dakota favors conservative candidates, backing the Republican presidential candidate in every election since 1968. Though Ms. Noem’s predecessor, Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, was a Democrat, she voted against President Obama’s health care law in 2009.

Ballot Measures

Ending out-of-network rules

South Dakota voters will weigh in on whether many health insurers should be required to cover visits with all willing, qualified health care providers within their coverage area. The supporters of Initiated Measure 17, generally known as an any willing provider law, argue it allows patients more flexibility to choose their doctors and save on out-of-pocket costs by eliminating the out-of-network provider. Critics counter that it would raise insurance costs because it would complicate the insurers’ ability to negotiate rates with providers, among other issues. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 27 states have enacted some form of this law. South Dakota already has an any willing provider statute that applies only to pharmacies, as it is in many states.

Raising the minimum wage

With workers’ compensation on the minds of many Americans, South Dakota will consider raising its hourly minimum wage to $8.50 from $7.25. The law, which would take effect next year if approved, would also increase the state’s minimum wage annually for nontipped and tipped employees, based on the cost of living. Employees who earn tips would have their starting hourly rate raised to $4.25 from $2.13. Opponents say the change would make the state’s minimum wage among the highest in the country. And because cost-of-living adjustments are based on federal data, the wage would continue to grow regardless of how South Dakota’s economy is faring.

An amendment to expand gambling

A proposed change to South Dakota’s Constitution would authorize the Legislature to allow more forms of gambling — specifically roulette, keno and craps — in the city of Deadwood and in tribal casinos on reservations. While slot machines and a limited number of card games are currently legal, proponents of the measure say the additional games would help the state compete with neighboring states that already offer them. Critics contend that giving the state legislature that authority takes the decision out of the hands of the local voters.

Tennessee By MATT FLEGENHEIMER Tennessee Election Results »

U.S. Senate

Challenger’s long shot chance gets longer

The Republican incumbent, Lamar Alexander, a former governor of the state who was elected to the Senate in 2002, is heavily favored to retain his seat. Though his campaign website notes that he had “spent more adult years in the private sector than in public life” at the time of his Senate election, he has also sought to frame his Washington experience as a virtue. He is the ranking member of his party overseeing education, labor, health and energy appropriations, according to the site.

The underdog campaign of Mr. Alexander’s Democratic opponent, Gordon Ball, took a hit in early October when Buzzfeed reported that the issues pages on his campaign website were largely plagiarized from other politicians.

Governor

A slam dunk for an incumbent

Gov. Bill Haslam, a Republican, does not face a serious challenge in his re-election bid. The winner of the Democratic primary was a retiree named Charles V. Brown, listed on the ballot as Charlie, who has barely campaigned.

U.S. House

District 4 Lawmaker seeks another chance

Representative Scott DesJarlais, (pronounced DAY-zhar-lay) the Republican incumbent in the state’s Fourth Congressional District, survived a primary challenge that many expected him to lose. Mr. DesJarlais, a doctor, has faced withering criticism in recent years amid allegations that he pressured a girlfriend, who was his patient, to have an abortion. The Democratic nominee, Lenda Sherrell, seemed to allude to Mr. DesJarlais’s personal life in her first television ad, which aired in early October. Its title: “Worthy of your trust.”

Ballot Measures

More state control over abortion

A proposed measure would amend the state’s constitution to add language allowing state lawmakers to “enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion,” including laws regarding pregnancies resulting from rape or incest “or when necessary to save the life of the mother.” The amendment has the support of many powerful Republicans in the state, including Mr. Haslam. It has been the subject of an intense campaign from groups that include “Vote No On One Tennessee,” which have argued that the carefully-worded measure masks a sweeping intrusion of government into private lives.

A new (old) way to choose judges

Another amendment would call for judges to serve eight-year terms, then be allowed another term through an election by voters. This would essentially codify the current system. Despite language in the state Constitution that calls on voters to elect the judges of Tennessee’s Supreme Court, the state has long relied on a merit-selection system. The amendment has faced some controversy in recent months over the role of Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey in opposing the retention of three Supreme Court justices appointed by the former Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat. (The justices were retained.) Mr. Bredesen and his successor, Mr. Haslam, support the amendment.

Texas By JOHN SCHWARTZ Texas Election Results »

Governor

20-year drought expected to continue

The most visible race in the Lone Star State is not the closest. The decision by Gov. Rick Perry not to run for a fourth full term opened a race between Greg Abbott, a Republican who is the state’s attorney general, and Wendy Davis, a Democratic state senator.

Ms. Davis, who represents Fort Worth, rose to national prominence with an 11-hour filibuster last year that temporarily blocked a bill restricting access to abortion.

While Ms. Davis is a prodigious fund-raiser, she has run a troubled campaign. Still, a victory would be a steep climb in any case: Texas has not elected a Democrat to statewide office in 20 years.

Lieutenant Governor

Tea Party gain expected

Texas’ constitution makes the governor’s office relatively weak aside from the power of appointment; on a day-to-day basis, the lieutenant governor, who presides over the state Senate, has more oomph. The fight in November comes down to two state senators, Dan Patrick and Leticia Van de Putte. Mr. Patrick, a Houston talk-show host and Tea Party favorite, defeated Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in the Republican primary in March; he has been polling far ahead of Ms. Van de Putte, a Democrat who has long represented San Antonio and is a pharmacist.

Attorney General

Democrat trails despite rival’s misstep

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the race to replace Mr. Abbott as Texas’ top legal official is that one of the candidates has pleaded guilty to violating the law. Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate and a member of the state Senate, admitted seeking clients for investment advice without having registered for the Texas State Securities Board. He was fined $1,000. His Democratic opponent, Sam Houston, has capitalized on the controversy but is still trailing Mr. Paxton.

Utah By ASHLEY SOUTHALL Utah Election Results »

U.S. House

District 4 Republicans can win the delegation

The retirement of the state’s lone Democratic congressman, Representative Jim Matheson, has given Republicans a good shot at capturing the entire congressional delegation. They are pinning their hopes on Mia Love, a former mayor and the daughter of Haitian immigrants who narrowly lost to Mr. Matheson in 2012. This time around, polls show her comfortably ahead of her Democratic opponent, Doug Owens, a corporate defense attorney and the son of a former congressman.

District 1 A rematch in a conservative district

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index ranks this district, in the northern and eastern part of the state, among the 10 most conservative in the country. So Representative Rob Bishop, a Republican, has the edge in his rematch with Donna McAleer, a Democrat he defeated handily in 2012. Mr. Bishop is next in line to become chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources; Ms. McAleer is a West Point graduate and former Army officer.

District 3 Republican looks most likely to return

Utah’s Third Congressional District is its most conservative, which practically assures re-election for Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Republican. The Democratic nominee, Brian Wonnacott, a software engineer, is a political newcomer with no name recognition and only a few hundred dollars in his campaign chest. Republicans have this seat since it was created in 1983, except for the period between 1991 and 1997 when Bill Orton held the seat for Democrats. Stephen Tryon, a West Point graduate and the senior vice president for the Internet retailer Overstock.com, is running as an independent.

Attorney General

Incumbent appears safe

Charles Stormont, in his bid for attorney general, may be the Democrats’ best hope to break the Republican hold on statewide offices. Corruption charges against two former Republican attorneys general have spurred widespread calls to clean house. And Mr. Stormont, an assistant attorney general who took unpaid leave to run for office, is the face of Democrats’ efforts to capitalize on the desire for reform. But in a statewide election in a solidly Republican state, the sitting attorney general, Sean Reyes, most likely still has the edge.

Vermont By JOHN SCHWARTZ Vermont Election Results »

Governor

Incumbent’s re-election is anticipated

Gov. Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, appears to be gliding to re-election. Mr. Shumlin, seeking a third two-year term, is the heavy favorite even though his poll numbers have been relatively weak. The Republican challenger, Scott Milne, who runs a travel agency, points to poverty data as evidence that “things are not getting better in Vermont, they are getting worse.” Vermont’s health insurance exchange, like those of several other states, was plagued by technology problems, and Mr. Milne calls the governor a poor manager. But Mr. Shumlin, a former state legislator, is forging ahead with plans to set up the nation’s first single-payer health care system.

In recent decades, Vermont had a couple of well-regarded moderate Republican governors, Richard A. Snelling and Jim Douglas. But Mr. Milne has less experience in politics and government, and he trails far behind Mr. Shumlin in fund-raising.

U.S. House

A rematch from 2012

Representative Peter Welch, a Democrat, is heavily favored to win a fifth term as Vermont’s sole congressman. Although his voting record is liberal, he has shown a knack for working with Republicans to pass legislation on issues like energy efficiency. This is a rematch with Mark Donka, the Republican nominee, who won 23 percent of the vote against Mr. Welch in 2012. Mr. Donka, a police officer in Woodstock who calls himself “a limited government conservative,” says he is “much more frugal” than Mr. Welch and would oppose tax increases of any kind.

Virginia By JOHN SCHWARTZ Virginia Election Results »

U.S. Senate

Mark Warner leads ex-G.O.P. chairman

Incumbent Mark Warner, a Democrat, is expected to defeat his challenger, Ed Gillespie, a lobbyist who is former chairman of the Republican National Committee, although polls show Mr. Gillespie has narrowed Mr. Warner’s lead.

U.S. House

District 10 Republican expected to replace another

The contest to watch is the one to fill the Northern Virginia seat vacated by Representative Frank Wolf, a Republican who is retiring after more than three decades in office. State Delegate Barbara J. Comstock, a Republican, faces John W. Foust, a Fairfax County supervisor. Ms. Comstock has come under fire for opposing an expensive transportation bill that was popular in this traffic-clogged part of the state. Recent polls, however, have her ahead of Mr. Foust.

District 7 Republican ahead in Cantor’s old district

Another race that has drawn interest is the contest between Dave Brat, the Republican who toppled Eric Cantor, the House majority leader, in the primary. Mr. Brat, who remains the front-runner, and Jack Trammell, his chief opponent and a Democrat, both serve on the faculty of Randolph-Macon College, a small liberal-arts college in Ashland, Va. Both are new to politics. A Libertarian candidate, James Carr, is also in the race.

Washington By EMMARIE HUETTEMAN Washington Election Results »

Ballot Measures

Voters to choose gun control measures

Washington voters will be presented with two conflicting ballot initiatives regarding background checks for gun buyers: Measure 591, if approved, would loosen firearm regulations in the state, while Measure 594 would tighten them.

Measure 591 would eliminate background checks on gun sales except those mandated under federal law, which generally requires checks for firearms purchased only from dealers. It would also require due process before firearms could be confiscated, which supporters says has been happening in other states despite constitutional protections.

Measure 594 would implement near universal background checks, expanding them to most firearms sales and transfers, whether they are bought at a gun show or online or traded privately between individuals.

As of early October, 60 percent of voters said they were inclined to vote for Measure 594, while only 39 percent supported Measure 591, according to an Elway Research poll. Support has weakened for both measures since the first Elway survey in April, when Measures 594 and 591 had the backing of 72 percent and 55 percent of voters.

It is unclear what will happen in the event that both measures pass, although it would most likely set up a court battle.

More than $11.3 million had been raised by Oct. 16 to support and oppose the measures, with the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility, the group behind Measure 594, collecting $8.9 million, according to the Public Disclosure Commission. The National Rifle Association had given nearly $432,600 by that date, while Everytown for Gun Safety — the organization founded by Michael R. Bloomberg, the former New York mayor, to counter the N.R.A. — contributed about $648,000 to the effort to expand background checks.

U.S. House

District 4 2 Republicans vie to replace a Republican

In a contest that looks more like a primary than a general election, two Republicans are vying to replace Representative Doc Hastings, a Republican who is retiring after 10 terms in Congress.

In a 12-candidate race, Clint Didier, a former professional football player who is backed by the Tea Party, and Dan Newhouse, a former state representative and former head of the state Agriculture Department, were the top two vote-getters in the state’s unique nonpartisan primary. Mr. Didier took first place with 31.8 percent, while Mr. Newhouse came in second with 25.6 percent.

Mr. Hastings has endorsed Mr. Newhouse, whom Mr. Didier has dismissed as one of the “establishment party insiders.”

District 5 Charges seem to slide off incumbent

Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers is up for re-election for the first time since becoming the chairwoman of the House Republican Conference. She is being challenged by Joseph Pakootas, a Democratic businessman and former tribal council leader. Ms. McMorris Rodgers, the highest ranking woman in House leadership, gave the party’s official response to President Obama’s State of the Union address in January, gaining more recognition on the national stage.

The House Ethics Committee said in March that it was investigating accusations that she improperly used her staff and funds during her last campaign. But the allegations do not appear to have seriously damaged her — she garnered about 51.8 percent of the vote in Washington’s nonpartisan primary and, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, had raised about $2.26 million more than Mr. Pakootas by the end of September.

District 1 Former Microsoft employees face off

In the district that encompasses Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Wash., a former Microsoft engineer will challenge a former Microsoft executive for her congressional seat. Representative Suzan DelBene, a Democrat, is running for a second term against Pedro Celis, a Republican who immigrated from Mexico.

Ms. DelBene commanded a solid 50.7 percent of the vote in Washington’s nonpartisan primary, with Mr. Celis narrowly coming in second with 16.5 percent. She also has a fund-raising advantage on her Republican opponent, having collected nearly $1.8 million by mid-July compared to Mr. Celis’ about $429,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

West Virginia By ROBERT PEAR West Virginia Election Results »

U.S. Senate

Republican favored as Rockefeller departs

Representative Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican who won a seventh term in 2012 with nearly 70 percent of the vote, is favored in the race to replace Senator Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat who is retiring after three decades. Her Democratic opponent, Natalie Tennant, a onetime television reporter, has been the West Virginia secretary of state since 2009.

President Obama is deeply unpopular here, and Ms. Tennant has put distance between herself and the White House, saying she would stand up to Mr. Obama and anyone else who “tries to undermine our coal jobs.” Ms. Capito, the daughter of a former governor, would be the state’s first Republican senator since 1959.

The Tennant campaign has accused Ms. Capito of conflict of interest, asserting in a television commercial that she used her position on the House Financial Services Committee to help banks, whose employees contributed to her campaign. Moreover, the ad says, “while West Virginians were losing their jobs and savings to Wall Street,” Ms. Capito “gave her husband, a Wall Street banker, insider tips, and they made more than $100,000.” Ms. Capito denounced the ad as false and deceptive.

U.S. House

District 2 Ties to state are questioned

Alex Mooney, a former state senator in Maryland, is the Republican running against Nick Casey, a Democrat, in the Second Congressional District, for the seat being vacated by Ms. Capito. Mr. Mooney, the son of a Cuban refugee, says he will fight for “conservative values” and “defend West Virginia from President Obama’s disastrous policies.” Mr. Casey, a lawyer and accountant, is treasurer of the American Bar Association and a former chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party. He has deep roots in the state and some Republican support, but faces a stiff challenge from Mr. Mooney, a newcomer to West Virginia, who is tapping into widespread disapproval of Mr. Obama. The Casey campaign describes Mr. Mooney as “a chameleon that can’t be trusted.” A Casey campaign ad says that Mr. Mooney claims to be a West Virginian, but he is “really a career politician from Maryland who moved here just to run for Congress.”

District 3 A vulnerable Democrat

Representative Nick J. Rahall II, a Democrat, has served in Congress for almost 38 years and is one of the most vulnerable House Democrats in a year when anti-Washington, anti-Obama sentiment is running high. Mr. Obama lost the district to Mitt Romney by 32 percentage points in 2012, and Republicans are doing everything they can to tie Mr. Rahall to the president this year. The Republican candidate, State Senator Evan Jenkins, is executive director of the West Virginia State Medical Association and has been an outspoken critic of the health care law since it was enacted in 2010. Mr. Rahall, the senior Democrat on the House Transportation Committee, boasts of his efforts to stop regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

District 1 Medicare an issue in the north

Representative David B. McKinley, a Republican from Wheeling, has a fund-raising advantage as he seeks a third term in the First Congressional District, which covers the northern part of the state. He occasionally splits from his party — as, for example, when he opposed changes in Medicare that could upset the large number of older voters in the state. The Democratic candidate, Glen B. Gainer III, is well known, having been the state auditor for 22 years. But the seat appears to be safe for Republicans.

Wisconsin By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA Wisconsin Election Results »

Governor

Tea Party hero faces difficult contest

In one of the hottest races in the country, Gov. Scott Walker, a hero to conservatives and a villain to liberals for his campaign against public employee unions, is seeking a second term.

Polls show him in a close contest with Mary Burke, a former executive of the Trek Bicycle Corporation and a former state commerce secretary. Her lack of a political track record, and Mr. Walker’s contentious term in office, make this race primarily a referendum on the governor, a Tea Party favorite who is seen as a possible presidential contender.

In a state that President Obama has carried twice, Mr. Walker won a close race for governor in 2010, the year of a Republican wave. In his first months in office, he pushed through budget-cutting legislation that included deep reductions in public employee benefits and stripped those unions of most of their collective bargaining power.

That legislation sparked weeks of raucous protests that drew national attention, with thousands of people crowding into and around the statehouse in Madison. It also prompted legislators in the Democratic Party to leave the state in an unsuccessful effort to block the bill by preventing a quorum. But the bill became law, weakening the unions’ political power, which Mr. Walker’s opponents charged was his intent all along.

The governor further cemented his conservative standing by favoring antiabortion measures, rejecting the federally financed expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and signing a law requiring voters to present identification at the polls.

For much of the year, the voter identification law loomed as a factor in the election, as analysts predicted that it would lower turnout among minority, poor and young voters, favoring Republicans. Democrats and civil liberties groups called it a partisan attempt at voter suppression that would produce election-day chaos – a charge that Democrats used to try to rally their base. But on Oct. 9, the Supreme Court blocked implementation of the law. Mr. Walker has proposed mandatory drug testing for people receiving government benefits, and his ads have accused Ms. Burke of copying parts of her economic recovery plan from other states. Ms. Burke has countered that it is natural to borrow good ideas, while criticizing the governor’s handling of state finances — all in keeping with her self-described image as a nonideological pragmatist.

Mr. Walker survived a recall election in 2012, with 53 percent of the vote. Ms. Burke has called for prosecutors to resume a stalled investigation into possible illegal coordination among his recall campaign and outside groups that supported him.

Attorney General

A tight, if overshadowed, race

Polls show a tight race between two county district attorneys, Susan Happ, a Democrat, and Brad Schimel, a Republican. But those same surveys show that in the shadow of the race for governor, the candidates for attorney general remain virtually unknown.

U.S. House

District 6 Long shots see chances dwindle

Democrats thought they had a long shot’s chance in two Republican-held districts, but those hopes have faded, with the Republicans raising far more money for these races.

In the 7th Congressional District, which Mitt Romney carried by 3 percentage points in 2012, Representative Sean P. Duffy, a two-term Republican incumbent, is favored over his little-known challenger, Kelly Westlund. In the 6th Congressional District, which has an open seat and leans more strongly Republican, Glenn Grothman, a state senator and outspoken conservative, is expected to hold the upper hand against the Democrat, Mark Harris, the Winnebago County executive.

Wyoming By MATT FLEGENHEIMER Wyoming Election Results »

U.S. Senate

A G.O.P. veteran breathes easier

It was expected to be one of the country’s most fascinating primary showdowns: Senator Michael B. Enzi, a three-term Republican incumbent, was facing a challenge from a candidate with one of the party’s most recognizable last names: Liz Cheney, the eldest daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney. But in January, Ms. Cheney announced she was leaving the race, citing “serious health issues” in her family. Her candidacy had struggled to gain traction in the state, where she had not lived for decades, amid grumbling that she should not have taken on a well-liked member of her own party. Mr. Enzi, whose seat is now considered among the safest in this election cycle, will face Charlie Hardy, a Democrat who has served as a Roman Catholic priest, missionary and educator.

Governor

Coal advocate likely to stick around

Gov. Matt Mead, a Republican, overcame two primary challengers to set himself up as a clear re-election favorite in November. A vocal advocate for the state’s coal industry, Mr. Mead has won support from a long list of local groups and officials — though the first two endorsements on his website are from Mitt Romney, the former presidential candidate and governor of Massachusetts, and the National Rifle Association.

Mr. Mead’s Democratic opponent is Pete Gosar, the treasurer of the State Board of Education, who has also worked as a teacher and commercial pilot. One of Mr. Mead’s other general election opponents, Don Wills, who is running as an independent, attracted attention to his campaign in early October after urging state officials to defy a federal judge’s order returning wolves to federal protection. (Mr. Wills said a trophy wolf hunt should go on as planned, according to The Billings Gazette.)

Taylor Haynes, a rancher and retired physiscian who lost to Mr. Mead in the Republican primary in August, announced on Oct. 22 that he would continue his campaign as a write-in candidate, according to The Wyoming Tribune Eagle. The announcement came despite the fact that Mr. Haynes had signed a “unity pledge” earlier in the year that he would support the winner of the Republican primary.

U.S. House

A Brooklynite on the ballot

The incumbent Republican, Representative Cynthia Lummis, who represents the state’s at-large congressional district, is well-positioned to remain in power. The winner of the Democrat primary was Richard Grayson, a self-described “hip-hop candidate” who, according to The Associated Press, divides his time between Arizona and Brooklyn. He has run for Congress previously in Arizona and Florida.

Ballot Measures

Outside input for a university board

An amendment would allow the governor to appoint nonresidents of the state to serve as trustees for the University of Wyoming. The measure stipulates that no more than 20 percent of the appointed trustees can come from outside the state. It earned the endorsement of The Casper Star-Tribune, which wrote in an editorial that “there are people with special ties” to the school who should be permitted to serve, despite the possible geographic hurdles.

The Races to Watch Across All 50 States.