Voters went to the polls in cities and states across the country Tuesday — choosing mayors, governors and an assortment of other ballot measures. Here's a roundup of some of the more contentious races and surprising outcomes.
A night of firsts
- Charlotte elected its first female African-American mayor, Democrat Vi Lyles.
- Hoboken elected city councilperson Ravi Bhalla as mayor — the first Sikh mayor in New Jersey.
- Danica Roem beat incumbent Republican Va. Del. Robert Marshall — who sponsored a bill similar to House Bill 2 earlier this year — to become one of the country's first openly transgender elected officials.
- Andrea Jenkins became the first openly transgender woman of color to be elected to public office in the United States. She won a seat on the Minneapolis City Council.
- St. Paul, Minn. elected its first African-American mayor, Melvin Carter II.
Democrats hit back, one year after President Trump's election
- Va. Lt. Gov. Graham Northam, a Democrat, defeated Republican Ed Gillespie in Virginia's gubernatorial race.
- New Jersey elected Phil Murphy, a Democrat with no previous political experience, as its next governor, over Republican N.J. Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno.
- Democrats flipped at least 15 seats in Virginia's House of Delegates. Control of the chamber may not be determined for a few days as provisional ballots are counted in too-close-to-call races, according to The Washington Post.
- One of the Virginia's House seats was won by Chris Hurst, a former news anchor whose girlfriend, a reporter, was shot and killed while on television. He unseated a Republican incumbent.
- Maine became the first state in the nation to approve an expansion of Medicaid.
North Carolina results
- Nancy McFarlane was reelected as Raleigh mayor, defeating Charles Francis.
- Durham elected city council member Steve Schewel as mayor, over former council member Farad Ali.
- Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan, a Democrat, won her third term, defeating Rev. Diane Moffett.
- Lumber Bridge and Orrum — both in Robeson County — had no official candidates for mayor or any of the open town council seats. William Davis received 17 write-in votes in Lumber Bridge's mayoral race — 100 percent of the vote. Wilton Caulder received two write-in votes in Orrum's mayoral race — also 100 percent of the vote. According to the News & Observer, it is unclear what will happen if the write-in candidates don't want to serve.
