A continuation of the U.S. Climate Politics Almanac’s coverage of the 2025 general election. Yesterday’s post looked the results of the statewide elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and Georgia. Below, we cover highlights for climate hawks in local elections across the nation.

Lead Locally is hosting a climate elections debrief at 6 pm on November 10th, and Climate Cabinet is presenting its new state economic policy roadmap with Hill Heat contributor Jordan Haedtler on November 13th.

Mayoral and City Council Elections

New York City: As mentioned in the U.S. Climate Politics Almanac’s first post on the 2025 general election, N.Y. Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a 34-year-old Muslim Democratic Socialist born in Uganda, is Gotham’s mayor-elect. Mamdani, who sees climate justice and quality of life as “one and the same,” held strong against a wave of Trump and fossil fuel-aligned money to defeat the resolutely creepy Andrew Cuomo in the general election resoundingly, just as he had in the primary. Mamdani’s historic win was fueled by 100,000 volunteers, who made over 4 million phone calls and knocked on over 3 million doors. He was the first mayoral candidate to win over one million votes since John Lindsay in 1969.¹

Seattle: In August, Transit Union leader Katie Wilson, endorsed by Lead Locally, won a surprising primary victory over incumbent mayor Bruce Harrell, who has much more corporate backing. In a recent interview with Volts, Wilson expressed her view that “housing is a climate solution,” described her experience making Washington’s tax system less regressive, and outlined ideas for making Seattle’s Department of Transportation more “ambitious.” As of Wednesday evening, Harrell held an 8-point lead in round two of the contest for mayor, although Wilson could still make up the margin when the tally of mail-in votes is completed.

On the Seattle City Council, Lead Locally-backed progressive Dionne Foster unseated an at-large incumbent and Lead Locally-backed Eddie Lin won the open seat in Ward 2.

Boston: Michelle Wu, perhaps the most prominent big city mayor to explicitly highlight her climate accomplishments as promoting a Green New Deal, easily turned back a challenge from wealthy Trump sympathizer Joshua Kraft to win a second term as Boston’s mayor.

Medford City Council: Liz Mullane took the open seat on the council to join incumbent Matthew Leming as the Lead Locally endorsed climate hawks. Mullane edged out fellow endorsee Miranda Briseño by seven votes.

Revere City Council: Lead Locally backed incumbent Juan Jaramillo lost his at-large seat.

Everett, Mass. City Council: Anti-ICE at-large councillor Katy Rogers, endorsed by Lead Locally, won re-election.

Detroit: Mayor Mike Duggan opted to run a wealthy Trump ally-backed independent bid for governor instead of seeking another term. Council President Mary Sheffield won a ton of establishment support, including from Duggan but also from progressive figures like Minnesota AG Keith Ellison. On Tuesday, Sheffield won election as Detroit’s first female mayor.

Climate Cabinet endorsed Denzel McCampbell, a former communications director for progressive Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, in the open seat election for council district 7. McCampbell defeated state representative Karen Whitsett, whose boycott of the lame duck legislative session at the end of 2024 left Democrats without the votes they needed to pass a hazardous waste reduction fee.

Climate Cabinet endorsee Gabriela Santiago-Romero was re-elected to her district council seat against state representative Tyrone Carter. Santiago-Romero refused money from Rocket Mortgage and DTE, while Carter insisted he could take corporate money while still holding interests like Michigan’s most powerful utility accountable. During the same 2024 lame-duck session that Whitsett boycotted, Carter helped DTE pass data center tax credits that undermined Michigan’s 100% clean energy mandate.

Dearborn: Incumbent mayor Abdullah Hammoud, endorsed by Lead Locally, easily won re-election.

Miami: County Commissioner Eileen Higgins, a Democrat, finished first and is heading to a Dec. 9 runoff against Emilio Gonzalez, endorsed by climate denying governor Ron DeSantis in his attempt to keep Miami under Republican control.

Orlando City Council: Lead Locally endorsed Tom Keen for District 1 and Mira Tanna for District 3; Keen knocked out the incumbent and Tanna is headed to a run-off.

The Twin Cities: In addition to Mamdani, another Democratic Socialist to run for mayor of a major city was Omar Fateh, known for assertively using his leverage as a member of Minnesota’s state senate. Fateh was endorsed by Lead Locally and Climate Cabinet in his challenge to incumbent Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, who has repeatedly used his veto to block climate action. Climate Cabinet also endorsed a slate of pro-climate candidates for city council, but only one of the candidates won.

After all instant-runoff votes were counted, Frey defeated Fateh to win a third term as mayor. Meanwhile, a Frey-aligned centrist PAC called Minneapolis for All gained ground on the city council when Elizabeth Shaffer won her Ward 7 seat over Climate Cabinet and Lead Locally endorsee and incumbent Katie Cashman. The same PAC supported Pearll Warren, who won the Ward 5 race over Climate Cabinet endorsee Ethrophic Burnett. In the open election for Ward 8, Soren Stevenson was elected with Lead Locally and Climate Cabinet’s support. Lead Locally-backed Robin Wonsley and Aisha Chughtai won in Ward 2 and 10 respectively.

In the other Twin City, state representative Kaohly Her won a surprise victory over St. Paul mayor Melvin Carter, who had been endorsed by Sierra Club, although there were not major ideological contrasts in that election.

Albuquerque, N.M.: Albuquerque mayor Tim Keller is favored to win a third term, but is heading to a Dec. 9 runoff against Republican Darren White. Lead Locally’s city council candidates, Daniel Leiva and Athenea Allen, both lost.

Santa Fe, N.M.: Michael Garcia, who was endorsed by New Mexico’s US senators, was elected as the new mayor of Santa Fe over Justin Green and Oscar Rodriguez, who’d been jointly endorsed by Conservation Voters New Mexico in this ranked-choice election. Lead Locally-backed urban planner Pat Feghali won a tight race to join the City Council.

Tuscon, Ariz. City Council: “Avid cyclist” Miranda Schubert, endorsed in her primary by Lead Locally, easily won the Ward 6 seat.

New Orleans: In mid-October, New Orleans council president Helena Moreno, who has spoken about policies the city can adopt to ameliorate the fossil fueled insurance crisis, won election as New Orleans’ new mayor. The election took place as the city commemorated the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which Moreno covered as a TV journalist.

Jersey City: The major issue in the open seat election for mayor in New Jersey’s second largest city was a proposed $10.7 billion expansion of the Jersey Turnpike. Climate Cabinet endorsed councilmember James Solomon, known for his outspoken opposition to the “environmentally disastrous” proposal. Solomon advanced to a Dec. 2 runoff, finishing first with 29% of the vote. In the runoff, he’ll face former governor Jim McGreevey, who has been vague about his position on Turnpike expansion during his attempt to return to office.

Marietta, Ga. 24-year-old Sam Foster, endorsed by Lead Locally, lost to the 78-year-old incumbent by 87 votes.

Atlanta City Council: Of the Lead Locally slate, Democratic Socialist Kelsea Bond won the District 2 seat, challenger Perrin Bostic lost to the District 3 incumbent, and Rohit Malhotra lost the race for City Council President to the establishment favorite.

Columbus, Ohio City Council: District 7 candidate Jesse Vogel, endorsed by Lead Locally, was overwhelmingly backed by the voters in his district, but still lost to the establishment candidate.

Burlington, N.C.: Beth Kennett won the mayoral race, and climate champion Ian Baltutis, Burlington’s youngest mayor, won election to city council but was not joined by the other Lead Locally backed candidate, Donna Vanhook.

Boone, N.C.: Incumbent mayor and climate hawk Dalton George, backed by Lead Locally, ran unopposed for re-election.

Greensboro, N.C. City Council: Climate justice leader CC Crawford, a Lead Locally endorsee, won the District 2 seat.

Smithfield, N.C. Town Council: Environmentalist Abrilla Robinson lost the district 3 race to the incumbent despite a Lead Locally endorsement.

Concord, N.H. City Council: Lead Locally-backed Aislinn Kalob won the race for ward 6.

Kalispell, Mont: City planner and city councillor Ryan Hunter, endorsed by Lead Locally, was elected mayor.

Billings, Mont. City Council: Lead Locally’s candidates, environmentalists Mark Nicholson in Ward 1 and Amy Aguirre, both won.

Bozeman, Mont. City Commission: Longtime climate activist Emma Bode, backed by Lead Locally, won one of the two at-large seats.

Other Municipal Elections

Allegheny County Council: Pittsburgh and the county that surrounds it has long been the hub of fossil fuel extraction in western Pennsylvania. In 2023, climate champ and fracking opponent Sara Innamorato overcame heavy billionaire spending to win election as Allegheny County Executive. Although Innamorato has succeeded in advancing a climate action plan, she has struggled to work with the 15-member county council to raise air quality permitting fees. A proposal to raise fees from major polluters would fund county enforcement to prevent numerous recent deadly explosions and make up for lost federal revenue from Trump’s EPA.

On this basis, Climate Cabinet endorsed a slate of pro-climate candidates in Allegheny County, all of whom won: Kathleen Madonne-Emmerling in District 1; Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis in District 8; Lissa Geiger Shulman in District 3; and Alex Rose for an At-Large seat.

Elsewhere in Pennsylvania, Democrats swept “row offices” and elections for county executive in the politically competitive counties of Bucks, Erie, Lehigh, and Northampton.

Northampton County Executive: The winner Tara Zrinski was an endorsee of Lead Locally, starting with her primary election.

Charlotte, N.C. Transportation Bond Measure: Voters in the rapidly growing city of Charlotte approved a 1% sales tax increase to fund public transit.

Whatcom County, Wash. Council: Fossil fuel interests and climate advocates have fought for years over majority control of the government in this northwestern Washington county, which serves as an export terminal for a major BP refinery. In 2021, climate hawks prevailed when they adopted a land use rule that would bock further expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure in the county. Climate Cabinet and Lead Locally endorsed nurse practitioner Jessica Rienstra in her campaign for district 3. Rienstra holds a sizable lead over “boots on the ground conservative” Kyle Christiansen, seemingly clinching a progressive supermajority on the county council.

1  A side note: At the beginning of 2025, the U.S. Climate Politics Almanac covered the election of Ken Martin as chair of the Democratic National Committee on a platform of relentless organizing, partisan solidarity, and bare-knuckles fierceness for working-class economic justice and civil rights. Unlike the N.Y.C-based Democratic leaders in Congress, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Martin and the D.N.C. enthusiastically supported Mamdani’s candidacy the moment he won the Democratic primary.