Richmond, Virginia - Democrat Abigail Spanberger will be the first woman to run the state of Virginia after her party won back the governor's mansion from Republicans Tuesday, US media projected, in voters' first significant verdict on Donald Trump's return to office.

While the high-profile mayoral contest in New York City grabbed the headlines, the race in Virginia – alongside a gubernatorial election in New Jersey – was seen as offering a sharper critique of Trump 2.0 and a clearer preview of how next year's midterm elections might play out.

Pitting centrist Democrats against Trump-aligned Republicans, both elections were seen as signaling whether middle-of-the-road voters had made peace with the president's radical cost-slashing agenda – or plan to give his party a bloody nose in 2026.

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Trump has driven a steamroller through the federal bureaucracy since returning to office in January, shuttering entire agencies and cutting an estimated 200,000 jobs even before the government shutdown.

The result in Virginia – which is second only to California in the size of its federal workforce – was no surprise, as polls had shown Spanberger holding a steady lead of seven to 12 points throughout the campaign.

The former CIA officer and three-term congresswoman was projected to beat Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, a Marine veteran and staunch Trump ally, by a comfortable margin that even threatened to end in double digits.

"All year, Virginians have seen our economy come under attack, jobs get ripped away, and prices skyrocket," Spanberger posted on social media before the polls closed.

"They're tired of the chaos. They're ready for a Governor who will be laser-focused on growing our economy and lowering costs – a Governor who will put them first."

Casting herself as a bulwark against Trump's aggressive federal downsizing, Spanberger vowed to be "a governor who will stand up" for the thousands of federal workers laid off by Trump's Department of Government Efficiency.

Earle-Sears ran a campaign aimed at firing up conservatives, mirroring the playbook of outgoing, term-limited Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin to focus on culture war issues such as transgender athletes and abortion.

In another first, Ghazala Hashmi was projected to beat Republican talk show host John Reid in the Virginia lieutenant governor's race, becoming the first Muslim woman to win a statewide race in US history.

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In New Jersey – which was due to be called later Tuesday – Democratic former Navy pilot Mikie Sherrill was also seen as the favorite, but locked in a tighter battle with Republican businessman Jack Ciattarelli.

Trump's decision to freeze funding for the Hudson Tunnel project – a vital link between New Jersey and New York -- was seen as a boost for Sherrill, who has vowed to "fight this tooth and nail."

On a pivotal day in US democracy, with elections at various levels of government taking place across the country, Pennsylvanians were picking new state supreme court justices while California was delivering its verdict on redistricting measure Proposition 50.

California Governor Gavin Newsom spearheaded the plan to redraw congressional districts in response to Trump pressuring Texas into a rare and contentious mid-decade redistricting.

The Texas move, aimed at yielding five more Republican seats in the closely divided Congress, would likely be canceled out by approval for Proposition 50 in left-leaning California.