5 under-the-radar races to watch in 2025

While elections in Virginia, New Jersey and New York City will receive the most attention next year, 2025 will also see plenty of lower-profile — but no less interesting — races. 

From a judicial race in the battleground state of Pennsylvania to several notable mayoral races, political observers will be watching to see how these races could signal which way the political winds are blowing. 

Here are five under-the-radar races to watch in 2025. 

New York 21st District special election 

A special election to fill Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R) seat in New York’s 21st Congressional District hasn’t actually been set yet, but it is likely to come in the first few months of the year. Stefanik is vacating the seat ahead of her expected confirmation as President-elect Trump’s United Nations ambassador.

The election is one of at least three that will happen early next year for vacant House seats, but the race to replace Stefanik is the only one that could be somewhat competitive. 

The district, which encompasses much of the northernmost part of the state, still leans conservative and has comfortably elected Stefanik to her House seat for the past decade. But elections in the year following a presidential election often demonstrate backlash to the sitting president’s party, giving Democrats an opportunity to flip it. 

Special elections also tend to be low-turnout events with the most committed voters going to the polls, a group with which Democrats have performed well in recent cycles. 

A few notable names have expressed interest on both sides, including 2024 Democratic nominee Paula Collins and state Assembly member Billy Jones (D). On the GOP side, 2022 U.S. Senate nominee Joe Pinion appears likely to enter the race, and outgoing Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) is a rumored possible candidate, among others. 

The 15 county chairs for each party in the district will decide their party’s nominees, who will then face off in the general election. 

Oakland special mayoral election 

Oakland, Calif., voters successfully voted to recall Sheng Thao as mayor during November’s elections with 60 percent voting in favor, the first time the city has ever recalled a mayor. That vote triggered a special election to have someone else serve the remaining two years of Thao’s term. 

The recall vote was the culmination of several factors causing Thao to lose support. Previously a member of the City Council, she narrowly won the nonpartisan election in 2022 to become the first Hmong American woman to serve as mayor of a major U.S. city. 

Thao faced criticism over a significant rise in robberies in the city, poor relations with the police union and missing a deadline for a grant that would have given Oakland millions to address retail theft. But she also faced personal controversy following an FBI raid of her home in June, though the FBI hasn’t commented on what the purpose was and hasn’t accused her of wrongdoing. 

Thao has repeatedly said she hasn’t committed any crime. 

A few candidates have entered the race to succeed Thao, including Loren Taylor, a former City Council member who was the runner-up in 2022. A few others may also jump in, including outgoing Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who has said she is considering it and will announce her decision in January. 

Pittsburgh mayoral race 

Mayor Ed Gainey (D) ousted two-term incumbent Bill Peduto (D) in 2021 to win the Democratic nomination before easily clinching the general election — but now he’s looking to avoid the same fate as his predecessor. 

The first African American mayor of Pittsburgh, Gainey is seeking a second term but faces a primary challenge from Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor, the son of former Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O’Connor (D). 

O’Connor slammed Gainey’s administration Gainey’s administration during his announcement, arguing it isn’t showing “vision” for the city to grow. He said neighborhoods need more funding and criticized a “lack of leadership” in the city’s public safety department. 

Gainey in his reelection announcement pointed to decreasing homicides and shootings, measures to calm traffic and the rebuilding of the collapsed Fern Hollow Bridge as successes. 

At least one poll showed the race could be competitive, with Gainey and O’Connor tied at 37 percent with 25 percent undecided in July. 

Whoever wins the nomination will be the favorite to win in the heavily Democratic-leaning city. 

Atlantic City mayoral race 

Marty Small Sr. (D) rose to become mayor of Atlantic City, N.J., in 2019 after charges of wire fraud caused his predecessor, Frank Gilliam (D), to resign. But Small now faces his own criminal charges as he looks to run for a second term next year after winning his first full term in 2021. 

Small and his wife, Atlantic City School District Superintendent La’Quetta Small, were both charged in April on accusations that they physically and emotionally abused their teenage daughter in December of the prior year to January of this year. An additional charge of witness tampering was formally added this month following allegations that Small instructed his daughter to change her story to law enforcement about the alleged abuse. 

Both of them have denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to the original charges. 

No other candidates have yet to enter the race to challenge Small, but a few possibilities have been rumored. One name being floated is Bob McDevitt, a former longtime head of a casino workers union. 

Pennsylvania Supreme Court retention elections 

The most high-profile state Supreme Court race of 2025 will be in Wisconsin in April, but a few in Pennsylvania could get some attention next year. 

Three sitting Democratic justices — Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht — are up for retention election.

Justices on the court in Pennsylvania serve 10-year terms and must stand for these elections at the end of the term to serve another one. 

The question on the ballot is a yes or no on whether the justice should serve another term. 

Justices up for retention have almost always won their elections to be retained for 10 more years. WHYY reported that Pennsylvania voters have denied only one appellate judge’s retention bid since the state constitution was last updated in 1968. 

But some observers have said they believe this year’s elections could become a major partisan fight, with both sides expecting them to receive national attention. 

State supreme court races have increasingly received more attention and spending in recent years, and the three justices help make up the 5-2 Democratic majority in Pennsylvania.