Off-year elections in the U.S. can't compete with the number of November races held in midterm and presidential years. But in 2025, the stakes are more considerable than in the past.

Take 2021, for example. The biggest story was likely Glenn Youngkin's victory, as the Virginian campaigned for governor as a moderate Republican, attracting independents and casual conservatives who might have been turned off by Donald Trump's false statements and unwillingness to accept his 2020 presidential election loss.

Fast forward to the present day, and Youngkin is on his way out — Virginia prohibits consecutive terms for governors — and whatever designs he had on an even higher office will have to wait, as Trump completed a remarkable political comeback to occupy the Oval Office through January 2029.

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