This Tuesday is an off-year election, where the energy is focused in a grab bag of state and local races.
Much of that attention centers on the marquee gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, as well as New York City’s mayoral race, where incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to receive a second term.
But Tuesday also marks major decisions for voters in cities around the country, with fiercely fought mayoral races nearing their ends.
Here are a few to watch (this story will update as results come in):
Atlanta
Democratic Mayor Kasim Reed is approaching the term-limited end of his time as Atlanta mayor, and that exit brings one of the most contested mayoral races in the country.
Reed has endorsed Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms. Bottoms leads the pack in the latest round of polling alongside Mary Norwood, who does not identify with a party. The Atlanta mayoral race, like many mayoral races, is technically a nonpartisan position.
The two face a crowded field, which includes State Sen. Vincent Fort. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders campaigned for Fort and extended fundraising support to the candidate, and the race could be an opportunity for Sanders — whose presidential candidacy failed to win over the south — to expand his movement.
Tuesday night is all but guaranteed, however, not to be the end of the mayoral race. Georgia utilizes a majority rule with a runoff system, so if no candidate emerges with more than 50% of the vote — as is expected — then the top two candidates will face off in December.
Boston
Democratic Mayor Marty Walsh, the incumbent, won his re-election bid, and Tito Jackson, a nonpartisan member of the Boston city council, conceded Tuesday.
Charlotte
Democrat Vi Lyles declared victory Tuesday evening in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Republican Kenny Smith conceded, meaning Lyles will become the first African-American woman elected Charlotte’s mayor.
The Democratic incumbent, Mayor Jennifer Roberts, lost in the primary, which meant voters in Charlotte, North Carolina, faced a new slate of candidates.
Lyles will be the seventh new mayor Charlotte has had since 2009.
Cincinnati
The putatively nonpartisan race pits Democrat against Democrat. Mayor John Cranley seeks a second term and faces off against Cincinnati City Council member Yvette Simpson.
One of the more notable points on the race: the eye-popping funding totals.
By Cincinnati.com’s total, the candidates for mayor and city council raised more than $5 million, with about half of that coming from the sitting mayor’s war chest.
Cleveland
Tuesday will see Mayor Frank Jackson face City Councilman Zack Reed to determine if Jackson nets a fourth term in the northeastern Ohio city.
Detroit
Like Cleveland, Detroit’s election on Tuesday has a Midwestern mayor seeking re-election.
Mayor Mike Duggan faces State Senator Coleman Young after the two emerged from the August primary.
In the August election, Duggan got almost 68% of the vote to Young’s nearly 27% in a field of eight candidates.
Duggan enjoys support from former Vice President Joe Biden, and the sitting mayor said inan interview with Politico that he’d chair a Biden 2020 presidential bid if the former vice president were game.
Miami
The city of Miami on Tuesday night declared Francis Suarez the winner of its election.
Mayor Tomás Regalado is term-limited from seeking re-election. Suarez faced William Armbrister, Christian Canache and Cynthia Mason Jaquith.
The Miami Herald identified Suarez as the favorite and pointed to Suarez’s opposition as limited to unfunded candidates.
Miami’s politics are unique, with a sizable Cuban population and key role in statewide races giving it outsize influence.
St. Petersburg
On the other side of Florida sits St. Petersburg, where Mayor Rick Kriseman declared victory for his re-election bid on Tuesday against Republican Rick Baker, who conceded as votes rolled in.
The Democratic mayor received national backing in this close race.
Politico reported in August that given the closeness of the race, former President Barack Obama was endorsing Kriseman.
Former Vice President Joe Biden added on, backing Kriseman and recording a robocall, according to theTampa Bay Times.
Seattle
A scandal rocked the Seattle mayor’s office and left the field wide open.
Mayor Ed Murray announced in May he would not seek re-election as he denied sexual abuse allegations against him.
Murray resigned in the wake of another allegation in September, when his own cousin went forward saying Murray had abused him while the cousin was a teenager.
The disturbing revelations mean Tuesday will be a face-off between Jenny Durkan and Cary Moon.
In the crowded August primary, Durkan took 27.9% of the vote to Moon’s 17.6%.
Minneapolis
This city does things a bit differently than most. It utilizes a system known as ranked-choice voting, where instead of choosing one candidate and having a potential runoff election, voters rank the candidates from most preferred to least.
The system can encourage support for third-party candidates and make a crowded election more practical.
Mayor Betsy Hodges is seeking re-election and faces more than a dozen people.
One of the candidates is listed on the ballot as Captain Jack Sparrow.
St. Paul
The twin city to Minneapolis — St. Paul — will also hold its mayoral election on Tuesday.
Mayor Chris Coleman is running for governor of Minnesota, leaving the race open.
In late October, a mailer from a political group linked to the police and local business drew a questionable line from the theft of candidate Melvin Carter’s guns, implying without evidence that Carter was responsible for gun violence in the city due to the theft.
