What's at Stake on This Election Day

It's an off-year election, but nonetheless a busy Election Day across America, with voters in nearly 40 states heading to the polls. Afterward, expect much reading of the tea leaves on the politics of abortion and its implications for 2024. Some of the marquee races on pundits' radar:

• Ohio abortion: In one of the mostly closely watched contests of the day, voters here will decide whether to pass a constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right to abortion access. Ohio would become the seventh state to pass abortion rights since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, reports NPR. The results might provide a sense of voter sentiment on the issue heading into the 2024 election, per the AP.

• Kentucky governor: Popular incumbent Andy Beshear, a rarity as a Democrat in the red state, faces a challenge from Republican state attorney general Daniel Cameron, who is endorsed by Donald Trump. At Politico, Jonathan Martin writes that the winner might well go on to become his party's presidential nominee in a future election. Beshear is 45 and could wind up being one of only two Democratic governors in the South in 2024. Cameron is only 37, and he would become the first Black GOP governor since Reconstruction should he win.
• Mississippi governor: GOP incumbent Tate Reeves is challenged by Democrat Brandon Presley. The New York Times notes that Presley, a public service commissioner labeled as a moderate Democrat, is a second cousin to Elvis Presley. More to the point in regard to Tuesday's voting, the Hill reports that Presley has made it a surprisingly competitive race in the conservative state. Still, Reeves is favored, though he has been dogged by a scandal involving the expenditure of state funds while he was lieutenant governor, per CBS News. For the record, Presley was born a few days before his famous cousin died in 1977, notes the AP.
• Virginia: This one is all about control of the state legislature. Republicans hope to flip the state Senate and retain control of the House of Delegates, giving GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin freer reign to enact his agenda, per the Politico Playbook. The right to abortion has been the dominant issue in the local campaigns, with Youngkin hoping to enact a ban after 15 weeks with exceptions for rape, incest, and the mother's health, per the AP.
• Also: Pennsylvania is picking a Supreme Court justice, a contest that has implications for abortion and voting rights; multiple cities are picking mayors, including Uvalde, Texas, where the mother of a shooting survivor is running; and Rhode Island might elect its first Black representative to Congress.

(More Election Day stories.)