Email from Vote Smart From facts to acts.     Vote Smart is grassroots: no ads, no agendas, just facts. Your support helps keep it that way. Donate   Government Shutdown Reaches Record Length  Source 1: Fox News, Source 2: The New York Times   Partial Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Payments Amid Historic Shutdown  Source 1: Newsmax, Source 2: NBC News   Nancy Pelosi Announces Retirement from Congress  Source 1: CNN, Source 2: Breitbart   Share your act of courage this week to be included in next week’s update! Add your Act of Courage Here!   Vote Smart provides easy access to congressional and state voting records and maintains a collection of key votes grouped by issue. Vote Smart uses the following criteria to select key votes: The vote should be helpful in portraying how a member stands on a particular issue. The vote should be clear for any person to understand. The vote has received media attention. The vote was passed or defeated by a very close margin.   Navigate Key Votes total by region visualizations below! Northeast Midwest South West   Congress Congress –Senate Cloture Invoked and Confirmation Vote Passed PN 25-37 - Nomination of Caleb Orr, of Texas, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Economic and Business Affairs) Congress – Senate Passed S J Res 88 - A joint resolution terminating the national emergency declared to impose global tariffs Congress – Senate Joint Resolution Passed S J Res 80 - A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Bureau of Land Management relating to "National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Integrated Activity Plan Record of Decision" State Michigan (MI) – House Passed SB 596 - Requires Legislators to Submit Legislatively Directed Spending Items a Minimum of 10 Days Before a Floor Vote Pennsylvania (PA) – Governor Josh Shapiro Signed SB 475 - Establishes Reforms Intended to Modernize and Strengthen Pennsylvania's Problem Solving Courts Ohio (OH) - Senate Passed SB 156 - Requires Teaching the Success Sequence Curriculum to Students For full details on each bill, visit our Vote Smart Issue Summary page.     Democrat New York City mayor candidate and former state assembly member Zohran Mamdani won his race for Mayor on Tuesday, defeating republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and independent candidate and former Governor Andrew Cuomo. "The future is in our hands," Mamdani told supporters as he claimed victory. In his victory speech, he promised the most aggressive affordability agenda since Fiorello La Guardia. Voter turnout surpassed 2 million, the first time that's happened since 1969. Democrats Abigail Spanberger in Virginia and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey both won in Tuesday’s elections to be governor of their respective states. Spanberger, a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, defeated Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears by a margin of 57.5% to 42.3%, the largest margin for a Democratic candidate in Virginia since 1961. Spanberger will also be her state’s first woman governor. Sherrill, a current member of the U.S. House of Representatives, defeated former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli by a margin of 56.2% to 43.2% to be New Jersey’s second woman governor and the first Democrat to win three consecutive terms since 1961. Democrat Ghazala Hashmi was elected as the next Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. A state senator who has represented the 15th district, which encompasses the southern neighborhoods of Richmond, since 2020. Defeating Republican John Reid, she flipped the seat vacated by Winsome Earle-Sears, who retired to run for governor, and is the first Muslim American woman to win a statewide election. She will take office alongside Abigail Spanberger on January 17th. In California, voters passed Proposition 50, which would re-draw the state’s congressional maps for the next three election cycles. This proposition, which has the “Yes” campaign winning 63.8% to 36.2% with 75% of the vote counted, was written to combat the congressional redistricting in Texas two months ago that was designed to flip five U.S. House seats for the Republican Party. By passing this measure, California voters gave permission to the State Legislature to override the independent redistricting commission that normally draws new legislative maps and draw a new map that would flip five U.S. House seats for the Democratic Party. In Maine, on the statewide ballot, Question 1 asked voters whether they wanted to make changes to election laws, including adding a requirement to show photo identification to vote. This referendum was rejected, making it the only statewide ballot measure to fail in 2025. In Texas, Props 16 and 17 on the statewide ballot both passed with majority approval. Proposition 16 reinforces that only U.S. citizens can vote in state and local elections — something already in law but now cemented in the Texas Constitution. Proposition 17 will give Texans who live along the southern border a property tax break for building projects on their land if they’re related to border security. This week, there were regular and special elections across the country. Click on the link below to view the results:  2025 Ballot Measures: California, Colorado, Maine, New York, Texas, and Washington Georgia Public Service Commission Special General Elections Georgia State Legislative Special Election, House District 106 Minnesota State Legislative Special General Election, Senate Districts 29, 47 Mississippi State Legislative Special General Elections New Jersey Gubernatorial Election New Jersey State House General Elections New Hampshire State Legislative Special General Election, House District Coos 5 New York State Legislative Special General Election, Assembly District 115 Pennsylvania State Judicial Retention Elections South Carolina State Legislative Special Primary Election, House District 98 South Carolina State Legislative Special Primary Runoff Election, House Districts 21, 88 Texas Congressional Special Election, District 18 Texas State Legislative Special General Election, Senate District 9 Virginia Gubernatorial General Election Virginia Attorney General General Election Virginia State House of Delegates General Elections Washington State Legislative Special General Elections   How satisfied are you with the Vote Smart weekly digest?   Thanks to your incredible reviews, we are excited to share that we’ve been recognized as one of the 2025 Best Nonprofits by GreatNonprofits! This honor will be officially promoted by GreatNonprofits after October 31st. This achievement is because of you—our supporters—who took the time to share your stories and experiences with Vote Smart. Your voices made this recognition possible, and we are deeply grateful.   Vote Smart | 1153 24TH ST | DES MOINES, IA 50311-4308 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice