The final preelection poll showed Reeves slightly ahead of Hood, but the Republican has one major structural advantage: a two-step, Electoral College-style system in which the winning candidate must capture both a majority of the vote and carry a majority of districts in the state House.

Republicans drew the map and enjoy a significant majority in the state House, making it an uphill battle for Hood. Democrats’ last-minute attempt to shelve the Jim Crow-era law for the election was rejected by a court, but the judges said they would be willing to consider the case if the scheme resulted in the popular-vote winner failing to win election.

Virginia state Legislature

Republicans’ tenuous majorities in both chambers of Virginia’s state Legislature are in peril on Tuesday. Democrats need to flip only two seats in the state House and one seat in the state Senate to take full control of state government.

Democrats have mounted an eight-figure spending push in the state, seeing Virginia as the first step to reclaiming majorities in state legislatures ahead of the next redistricting cycle in 2021. Democrats also hope to push through longtime party objectives on guns, health care and other issues that have been blocked by Republican legislators in recent years.

Democrats expect to win the state House but have a less rosy outlook about the state Senate. Either way, the races could go into overtime: In 2017, control of the state House came down to a random drawing of lots after one race finished tied in the final vote count.

Trump has been a major issue in a number of races, particularly in the Washington and Richmond suburbs, where he’s unpopular. But Republicans are counting on some serious Democratic baggage — the blackface allegations against Gov. Ralph Northam and the sexual assault allegations against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax — to keep them competitive.

Kentucky attorney general

The race to succeed Beshear as state attorney general is drawing massive interest and cash from Washington. Republicans haven’t held the post since the 1940s, but the GOP is banking on a 33-year-old newcomer, Daniel Cameron, to change that.

Cameron is a former staffer in Washington for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has championed Cameron’s candidacy. Democrats nominated Greg Stumbo, who actually held the post 12 years ago before jumping ship to run unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor.

Stumbo has been a Frankfort figure for decades, and Cameron has pitched himself as a fresh face. But Stumbo has hit Cameron for his inexperience and ties to McConnell, airing an ominous ad in the final days that suggests the two men are “birds of a feather.”

Republicans’ national group focused on attorney general races has dropped about $4 million onto the Kentucky airwaves, where ads for the contest are almost as numerous as for the governors race in the final days. The Democratic counterpart has spent about half that amount on TV.

Kentucky secretary of state

Democrats have the benefit of a celebrity candidate as they try to hold on to this statewide office: Heather French Henry, who won the Miss America pageant in 2000.

Republicans, meanwhile, nominated Michael Adams, a well-connected election lawyer who has represented Vice President Mike Pence and the Republican Governors Association.

Based on candidate profiles, Democrats have the advantage here. But Republicans have reason for hope: The current Democratic incumbent, Alison Lundergan Grimes, has faced significant scandal, including her father’s conviction for campaign finance violations related to Grimes’ unsuccessful 2014 Senate campaign against McConnell.

If the GOP claims this office on Tuesday, it likely means a clean sweep for the party’s ticket.

New Jersey state Legislature

Democrats’ solid majorities in Trenton aren’t in jeopardy, but the state’s off-year legislative elections still have some intrigue.

Jon Bramnick, the GOP leader in the state Assembly, is facing a stiff challenge in his suburban, Central Jersey district — exactly the type of seat that was reliably Republican until the Trump era. Democrats flipped four of the state’s GOP-held congressional districts in the 2018 midterms.

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In an interview with POLITICO New Jersey last month, Bramnick acknowledged Trump isn’t popular in his district. But he said voters should elect him as a check on Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who isn’t up for reelection until 2021.

Mayors

A dozen large cities are holding mayoral races on Tuesday, including seven of the top 20 most populous ones in the U.S.: Houston (4th-largest); Philadelphia (6th); Columbus, Ohio (14th); San Francisco (15th); Charlotte, N.C. (16th); and Indianapolis (17th).

In Houston, Mayor Sylvester Turner is favored to win reelection amid a large field of candidates, though he needs to clear a 50 percent threshold to clinch the race.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney isn’t at risk of losing to his GOP opponent, but his performance Tuesday will be closely watched, as Kenney is reportedly eyeing a run for governor in 2022, when Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf will be term-limited out of the office.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther is unopposed, and Vi Lyles, the Charlotte mayor, is favored to win a second term after significant turnover in the office in recent elections.