November 4, 2025
First nationwide test of Trump's second term delivers Democratic sweep as approval drops during shutdown crisis
Election Day on Nov. 4, 2025, was the first nationwide off‑year test since President Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.
High‑profile contests included the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races, the New York City mayoral contest and California Proposition 50 on congressional redistricting.
The votes took place amid an ongoing federal government shutdown that had lasted into early November and that left many federal workers without pay and disrupted benefits programs.
Nov. 4, 2025, was Election Day for major off‑year contests, including the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races, the New York City mayoralty, and California Proposition 50 on congressional redistricting. These contests were widely framed as an early test of voters’ response to President Trump’s return to the White House.
Multiple national polls conducted the week of Oct. 24–28 2025 showed Trump’s approval in the low‑40s; news coverage reported the approval figure around 40–41 percent across several surveys, but the draft incorrectly attributes the NBC number to Gallup. Use the individual poll releases for precise question wording and topline numbers.
The elections occurred while a federal government shutdown was ongoing; reporting described federal workers missing paychecks and interruptions to some benefit distributions. Coverage noted the shutdown had lasted several weeks going into Nov. 4 and that it was among the longest in recent U.S. history.
