Ximena Solorzano, Head Photography Editor

It’s Election Day. As New Jersey and Virginia prepare to elect new governors, voters in cities across the country are headed to the polls to elect new mayors — including in New Haven. 

Three-term incumbent Justin Elicker is facing Republican challenger Steve Orosco. New Haven’s public schools and their perennial woes along with crime and policing have emerged as major issues in their campaigns. 

Meanwhile, there are contested races for alder in seven of the city’s 30 wards. In four of those, the incumbent is not running for reelection.

In the Hill’s Ward 3, half-term incumbent Angel Hubbard is facing a rematch against Miguel Pittman, who is running on the Republican and Independent lines. In Wooster Square’s Ward 8, Republican Andrea Zola and incumbent-endorsed Democrat Amanda Martinelli are each vying for the alder seat. 

In Quinnipiac Meadows’ Ward 12, one-term incumbent Theresa Morant is facing Robert Vitello, who is running on the Independent and Republican lines. In Fair Haven Heights’ Ward 13, Democrat Mildred Melendez is running against Green candidate Paul Garlinghouse and Independent Luis Jimenez. 

In Fair Haven’s Ward 16, Democrat Magda Natal is squaring off against Independent Rafael Fuentes. In East Shore’s Ward 18, there’s a three-way contest between Democrat Leland Moore, Anthony Acri, who is running on the Republican and Independent lines, and petitioning candidate Zelema Harris. And in West Rock’s Ward 30, Perry Flowers, a Republican, is challenging three-term incumbent Honda Smith.

This election has been New Haven’s first with early voting. In total, from Oct. 20 through Nov. 2, 1,560 New Haveners cast their ballots early across two locations, according to the city’s Registrar of Voters. Another 77 voted via same-day registration. 

In that same period, the city’s number of active registered voters increased by only 16. Head election moderator Kevin Arnold speculated that the discrepancy might have stemmed from the Department of Motor Vehicles removing voters who had moved away from voter rolls.

The polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday. Registered voters can find their polling place here.

New Haven’s last Republican mayor left office in 1953, and its most recent non-Democratic alder in 2011.