Four Big Races To Watch, Partial SNAP Funding, Famine In Sudan

Summary

Up First from NPR

Episode: Four Big Races To Watch, Partial SNAP Funding, Famine In Sudan
Date: November 4, 2025
Hosts: Steve Inskeep, Michelle Martin

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Overview

This episode covers three urgent stories shaping politics, policy, and humanitarian developments:

1. Four pivotal elections, including a controversial redistricting vote in California with national consequences.
2. The partial restart of federal SNAP food benefits during a government shutdown, putting millions of vulnerable Americans in limbo.
3. The worsening famine and atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur region after a major city fell to a paramilitary force accused of genocide.

The hosts and NPR correspondents break down the context, stakes, and human impact behind the headlines.

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1. Four Big Political Races to Watch (02:00–05:40)

Key Points:

• California's Redistricting Ballot Measure:

  • A rare, single-issue election where voters decide if state lawmakers can bypass the independent redistricting commission to redraw congressional maps, potentially favoring Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterms.
  • Seen as a direct response to Texas Republicans' aggressive redistricting.
  • While some California Democrats express unease about gerrymandering, most back the measure to counter GOP moves elsewhere.
  • “Many Democratic voters told me... they have like, mixed feelings about bypassing the Independent Redistricting Commission and allowing gerrymandering. But they think it's more important to fight back against Trump and Republicans, and this is one way they can.” — Ashley Lopez (03:10), NPR Political Correspondent

• New York City Mayoral Race:

  • Zoram Mamdani, a 34-year-old New York State Assembly member, surprised many by defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary; Cuomo continues as an independent with presidential endorsement.
  • Mamdani energizes young, progressive voters, especially on affordability.
  • “Mamdani has a very energetic grassroots campaign... especially on affordability issues.” — Ashley Lopez (03:44)

• Gubernatorial Races in New Jersey & Virginia:

  • Both races are crucial tests for Democrats as governorships serve as a bulwark against Republican federal power.
  • Virginia’s Democrat, Abigail Spanberger, is polling ahead of Republican Winsome Earl Sears, despite the usual historic pattern favoring the opposite party.
  • New Jersey sees Democrat Mikey Sherrill battling Republican Jack Cittarelli; a Democratic third-term win would break a decades-long trend.
  • “Voters have not elected the same party for governor for three terms in a row since the 60s.” — Ashley Lopez (04:53)

• What's at Stake for 2026:

  • These races reflect broader party strategies and may preview voter sentiment ahead of the midterms.
  • Wide differences between Democratic candidates (e.g., Mamdani and Spanberger) may reveal which messages resonate.

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2. Partial SNAP Funding During Shutdown (05:48–09:29)

Key Points:

• SNAP Benefits Restarted—Only Partially:

  • Federal judge forced the Trump administration to resume Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments during shutdown, but only 50% of benefits will be paid for November.
  • The partial payment stems from reliance on a contingency fund covering only half the normal outlays; updating legacy state systems to handle partial payments will delay delivery (06:13).
  • Millions remain without full support, triggering worry and desperation.

• Reaction From the Ground:

  • Lawsuits forced action but advocates and litigants are frustrated; judges say more funds could have been tapped without harming child nutrition, but USDA disputes legality (07:03).

• Human Impact:

  • Shalice Hooks, a widow with a teenage son in Phoenix, speaks emotionally about depending on school meals:
    • “He’s basically going to school to eat breakfast and a lunch.” — Emmanuel Akimoto, quoting Shalice Hooks (08:05)
    • Hooks has considered desperate measures to feed her child, worried about consequences if caught.
  • Food banks and local governments are stepping in, but fears mount of evictions, health impacts, and broader crisis if shutdown persists.
  • “The administration says because it’s using up this contingency fund, there would be no money to sign up any new people for SNAP in November.” — Jennifer Ludden (08:42)

• Long-Term Concerns:

  • If the shutdown extends, SNAP benefits could drop to zero.
  • Recent budget deals already impose historic cuts and increased work requirements, which may drop 2.4 million people from the program over the decade.
  • “Republicans and President Trump have long wanted to shrink the SNAP food program...these cuts are going to be playing out.” — Jennifer Ludden (09:00)

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3. Famine and Genocide in Sudan’s Darfur (09:39–13:25)

Key Points:

• Escalation of Famine:

  • Hundreds of thousands, especially in Darfur, face famine and mass displacement as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) capture Al Fashr—a last government-held city.
  • "About 375,000 more people are suffering famine, and many of those people are in Darfur, and that’s the area controlled by the Rapid Support Forces..." — Emmanuel Akimoto (10:11)

• Cut Off & Under Siege:

  • NRPF describes a catastrophic siege—community kitchens bombed, families forced to eat animal feed or hides.
  • About 70,000 have fled; most survivors are unaccounted for, with harrowing reports of mass executions and targeting by ethnicity.
  • “Several have witnessed their children, their husbands, members of their family gunned down and tortured. The report of people being asked what ethnic group they are and then killed…” — Emmanuel Akimoto (10:57)

• International Response & Accusations:

  • The RSF denies targeting civilians, but evidence suggests systemic atrocities and ethnic genocide.
  • UN accuses RSF of genocide against African groups; current violence is described as a grim continuation of the horrors from 20 years ago.
  • The United Arab Emirates, an alleged foreign supporter of RSF and US ally, issues only general humanitarian condemnations, avoiding questions on weapons supply (11:59).
  • "He spoke about it in humanitarian terms... but he didn’t address widespread allegations that the UAE are arming the RSF." (12:35)

• Bleak Outlook:

  • “A phrase that’s sticking with me is genocide. Again, we’re talking about a region that has already suffered genocide and it’s suffering it again.” — Steve Inskeep (13:00)
  • The cycle of violence and starvation is expected to worsen without urgent international intervention.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Redistricting:

  • “Democrats... have mixed feelings about bypassing the Independent Redistricting Commission and allowing gerrymandering. But they think it’s more important to fight back against Trump and Republicans.” — Ashley Lopez (03:10)

• On SNAP Shortfalls:

  • “He’s basically going to school to eat breakfast and a lunch.” — Emmanuel Akimoto, quoting Shalice Hooks (08:05)
  • “This is the country’s largest anti-hunger program. So where does this leave the millions of people who are still... missing that monthly food benefit?” — Michelle Martin (07:34)

• On Darfur’s Crisis:

  • “The UN says they're committing a genocide in Darfur, again against African ethnic groups. And that's 20 years after the first Darfur genocide.” — Emmanuel Akimoto (12:20)
  • “A phrase that is sticking with me is genocide. Again...” — Steve Inskeep (13:00)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Elections and Redistricting in California: 02:00–05:40
• Partial SNAP Funding and Impact: 05:48–09:29
• Sudan Famine and Genocide Crisis: 09:39–13:25

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Useful Takeaways

• Voter decisions today will echo nationally; partisan battles over map-drawing could change control of Congress.
• Families relying on food aid remain imperiled by partial benefits and political deadlock, with future cuts threatening millions more.
• The world is once again witnessing ethnic cleansing and famine in Sudan, while international actors face scrutiny for their roles.

This concise, informative overview prepares listeners for the day’s major developments in US politics, social policy, and global humanitarian crises.

Transcript

[Steve Inskeep]

Several elections come today. A congressional redistricting vote in California could give Democrats an edge, and voters in.

[Michelle Martin]

Virginia, New Jersey and New York City will choose new leaders. We'll tell you the big races to watch and why they matter.

[Steve Inskeep]

I'm Steve Inskeep with Michelle Martin, and this is up first from NPR News. The White House says supplemental nutrition benefits will restart, but only partially. What does that mean for families who rely on the aid? A single mom in Phoenix says her son now depends on school meals.

[Emmanuel Akimoto]

He's basically going to school to eat.

[Michelle Martin]

Breakfast and a lunch. And famine is spreading in Sudan. Aid groups say hundreds of thousands of people are trapped without food or water after a paramilitary force accused of genocide seized the last major city in Darfur. Stay with us. We'll give you news you need to start your day.

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[Michelle Martin]

Ends today in a handful of high profile elections, including for mayor of New York City and for governor in New Jersey and Virginia.

[Steve Inskeep]

It's a tradition to watch those three elections. They always come in the first year of a presidency and people look clues to what voters are thinking. This year there's an extra big election to watch a ballot measure in California that could influence who captures Congress next year.

[Michelle Martin]

Here to talk us through these races is NPR politic correspondent Ashley Lopez. Ashley, good morning.

[Ashley Lopez]

Good morning.

[Michelle Martin]

Let's start in California. It's a one issue election. Kind of unusual.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah, kind of. It's a one ballot measure on the ballot, asking voters to allow state lawmakers to redraw their congressional map ahead of the 2026 election. California has an independent redistricting commission, which is something voters appro about 15 years ago. If passed, this measure would allow Democrats in the state to bypass that commission so that they can do a partisan gerrymander that means they would drop to five more seats that their party is favored to win in the midterms.

[Michelle Martin]

But you can't think about California in isolation here, because it's part of a national redistricting fight between Democrats and Republicans in a number of states. So in this case, this is Democrats in California responding to Republicans in Texas.

[Ashley Lopez]

That's right. And Democrats went as far as saying that in the ballot language of this measure, Texas redrew its map at the request of President President Trump and created five more favorable seats for Republicans in the state. And California basically wants to offset that edge that Trump wants. And this measure looks like it's likely to pass. I was actually in Southern California last week, and many Democratic voters told me they have, like, mixed feelings about bypassing the Independent Redistricting Commission and allowing gerrymandering. But they think it's more important to fight back against Trump and Republicans, and this is one way they can.

[Michelle Martin]

All right, let's move to the other coast, to New York City. What should we know about the mayoral race there?

[Ashley Lopez]

Right, so the front runner for that race is Zoram Mamdani, who is 34 years old, and he's a member of the New York State Assembly. He won the Democratic primary this summer, which surprised a lot of folks because he was relatively unknown when he entered the race, and he beat a former governor in that primary contest, Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo decided to stay in the race by running as an independent in the last days of the campaign. Cuomo has gotten some big endorsements, including the President's, but this hasn't been an easy fight for him. Mamdani has a very energetic grassroots campaign that has engaged a lot of young voters in the city, especially on affordability issues.

[Michelle Martin]

Also interesting that the President bypassed the Republican in the race to go to Cuomo as an independent. Okay, so what should we keep an eye on when it comes to the gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia?

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah. So Democrats are out of power in Washington, obviously, but governorships have been this area of government where they've been able to somewhat push back against the Trump administration. So the stakes of these races are particularly high for Democrats. In Virginia, Democrats have a decent shot. Abigail Spanberger, a former member of Congress, is polling ahead in that race against Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earl Sears. And there's a history of the party in power in the White House, typically losing the race for governor in Virginia.

[Michelle Martin]

And what about New Jersey?

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah, I mean, that race might be a little tougher for the Democratic Party. Besides the polling being close. History is not on the party side like it is in Virginia. Voters have not elected the same party for governor for three terms in a row since the 60s. So Congresswoman Mikey Sherrill is seeking to defy that trend against Republican Jack Cittarelli.

[Michelle Martin]

So what, what, if anything, about tonight will you be looking for as a possible clue to the midterm elections next year?

[Ashley Lopez]

Well, I'm going to be looking at how Democrats perform in these races. Yes, they're favored to win a lot of them, but there is a big difference among these candidates. Mamdani and Spanberger, for example, represent very different parts of the Democratic coalition. And results could tell us something about how voters are responding to different kinds of candidates and messaging as the party looks to next year.

[Michelle Martin]

That is NPR's Ashley Lopez. Ashley, thank you.

[Ashley Lopez]

Yeah, thank you.

[Michelle Martin]

The Trump administration says it will restart SNAP food benefits for November.

[Steve Inskeep]

These will only be partial payments for the Supplemental Nutrition, and it may take a while to get the money out.

[Michelle Martin]

NPR's Jennifer Ludden is here to tell us more. Good morning, Jennifer.

[Jennifer Ludden]

Good morning.

[Michelle Martin]

So a federal judge in Rhode island ordered the administration to pay for SNAP after the benefits ran out during this government shutdown. Why won't they pay the full amount that people are eligible for?

[Jennifer Ludden]

Because they're tapping a contingency fund that has about $4.5 billion, and that's only half the amount of SNAP benefits people get each month. So the administration says it will pay people 50% of their benefit.

[Michelle Martin]

Also.

[Jennifer Ludden]

This is why it's going to take longer for people to get the money. States administer snap, and they're going to have to reprogram their systems to issue these partial payments. It's a pretty complicated process. And in a court filing Monday, an Agriculture Department official noted that some state processing systems are decades old. He estimated it could take some places, weeks, if not months, for SNAP recipients to get their November benefits.

[Michelle Martin]

States, cities, some nonprofits all sued over cutting off SNAP benefits. They filed lawsuits in Rhode island and Massachusetts. Any reaction from these litigants?

[Jennifer Ludden]

Yes. You know, they are glad the administration will pay people something, even if it's what one critic called the bare minimum. But they say it's not enough, especially since, as they point out, two federal judges also said the administration could legally tap a much bigger pot of money and that would allow full SNAP payments with plenty left over. Now the administration chose not to do it. In a court filing, an Agriculture Department official again questioned the legality of using that extra money and argued that shifting it could hurt child nutrition programs.

[Michelle Martin]

This is the country's largest anti hunger program. So where does this leave the millions of people who are still for now missing that monthly food benefit?

[Jennifer Ludden]

It leaves a lot of people very worried. Some are very fearful. NPR spoke with Shalice Hooks. She is a widow in Phoenix. She's unemployed and has a 15 year old son.

[Michelle Martin]

You know, and it's hard because he's.

[Emmanuel Akimoto]

In high school and when he comes home, he's hungry.

[Michelle Martin]

It's okay, mama. No, it's not okay.

[Emmanuel Akimoto]

So he's basically going to school to.

[Michelle Martin]

Eat breakfast and a lunch.

[Jennifer Ludden]

You know, Hook says she's even had these desperate thoughts of stealing meat, you know, milk, cereal for her son, though obviously she does not want to do that. She says, plus, what if she ended up in jail? He was on his own. So of course, food banks are stepping up. We have cities in some states trying to fill this gap. Local officials just worry about a ripple effect the longer this goes on. You know, could people face eviction if they can't pay rent or health problems if they're not eating well? And one more thing to note. The administration says because it's using up this contingency fund, there would be no money to sign up any new people for SNAP in November.

[Michelle Martin]

And this sort of invites the question here. What happens with SNAP if the shutdown lasts past November?

[Jennifer Ludden]

Well, if the Trump administration still declined to shift other money, we could be right back to people getting zero benefits and maybe right back in the courts. And one other point, Michelle, you know, Republicans and President Trump have long wanted to shrink the SNAP food program. And people might remember this summer, Republicans in Congress did pass the biggest cuts, budget cuts to this program in its history. They center around expanding work requirements and a number of other measures. And so whenever we get through this shutdown, those cuts are going to be playing out. And they are projected to push about 2.4 million people off of SNAP over the next decade.

[Michelle Martin]

That is NPR's Jennifer Ludden. Jennifer, thank you.

[Jennifer Ludden]

Thank you.

[Steve Inskeep]

A famine in Sudan has spread.

[Michelle Martin]

That is according to an organization that monitors hunger around the world. The famine is one effect of a war. In recent days, an armed group that's battling the government captured a city called Al Fashr in the Darfur region. The rapid support forces, as they are called, allegedly moved into the city, killed many people. People and put the rest in danger.

[Steve Inskeep]

NPR's Emmanuel Akimoto has been covering this story. Emmanuel, welcome back.

[Emmanuel Akimoto]

Good morning.

[Steve Inskeep]

Okay, first, what does the finding by this outside group suggest about the scale of the suffering here?

[Emmanuel Akimoto]

Well, what we know is that about 375,000 more people are suffering famine, and many of those people are in Darfur, and that's the area controlled by the Rapid Support Forces, or the rsf. That's the group at war with the government. And they include people in Al Fashir, the city Michelle mentioned. And the catastrophic situation there really isn't a surprise. It was under siege by the RSF for a year and a half, and about 250,000 people living there were almost completely cut off from food and medical supplies and community kitchens that were really a lifeline providing food funded by donations. They were bombed. People have been forced to eat animal feed, even hides.

[Steve Inskeep]

Wow. So what more can you say than about these hundreds of thousands of people with very little to eat?

[Emmanuel Akimoto]

Well, there's been a communications blackout, so it's very difficult to get a detailed picture of events. But information that has trickled out is really shocking. Only about 70,000 people have fled, according to the UN and less than 10,000 of them are actually accounted for. Most of those who've managed to escape have fled to a remote mountainous town about 25 miles away called Tawila. The majority of them are women and organizations that have been supporting them. They say several have witnessed their children, their husbands, members of their family gunned down and tortured. The report of people being asked what ethnic group they are and then killed, and descriptions of hundreds of people at a time, mostly men, rounded up and executed.

[Steve Inskeep]

Okay, so the people accused of doing all of this, the actors, the group that took over the city, the Rapid Support Forces, they're this group that was under the auspices of the government, then turned against the government. They're allegedly supported by the United Arab Emirates, which is a big foreign policy player throughout the region. What are they saying about these accusations against them?

[Emmanuel Akimoto]

Well, firstly, the rsf, they've denied targeting civilians. But what we've repeatedly seen during the war is that these abuses and atrocities really are systemic and part and parcel of how they've operated. The UN says they're committing a genocide in Darfur, again against African ethnic groups. And that's 20 years after the first Darfur genocide. And really this wave of violence is an extension of that. And then, as you've mentioned, there's the uae, and they're a close ally of the US who are facing growing attention for their role in this war. A few days ago, Anwar Gargash, a senior Emirati official, he commented on the situation in Al Fashia right now as we condemn the atrocities in Al Fasher, and they deserve condemnation, and they deserve also for us to condemn every other also atrocity in Sudan. And really, he spoke about it in humanitarian terms, talking about the need for more aid and the need for a ceasefire, but he didn't address widespread allegations that the UAE are arming the rsf.

[Steve Inskeep]

I'm just thinking about everything you've told me here, Emmanuel, and a phrase that is sticking with me is genocide. Again, we're talking about a region that has already suffered genocide and it's suffering it again.

[Emmanuel Akimoto]

Exactly. And, you know, many of the people in Darfur would say the violence really has been continuing in the interim, but it's exploded during the civil war, and it's an incredibly bleak situation there.

[Steve Inskeep]

NPR's Emmanuel Akimoto. Thanks so much.

[Emmanuel Akimoto]

Thanks, Steve.

[Michelle Martin]

And that's up first for Tuesday, November 4th. I'm Michelle Martin.

[Steve Inskeep]

And I'm Steve Inskeep. Thanks for supporting NPR News. Donations from listeners like you make Up FIRST and MORNING EDITION possible. When you give to your local NPR station, you're helping to keep the whole system strong. You're keeping journalists on the street in your communities around the world. You can contribute by going to donate.NPR.org/Up.

[Michelle Martin]

First Today's episode of Up first was edited by Ben Swayze, Catherine Laidlaw, Kate Bartlett, Mohamed Elvardisi and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziad Budge, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott, and our technical director is Carly Strange. We hope you'll join us again tomorrow.

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