STEVE PEOPLES, MIKE CATALINI and OLIVIA DIAZ.

Democrats and Republicans are testing dueling playbooks in fall elections that will decide the leadership of Virginia and New Jersey — and perhaps a new direction for the parties heading into next year’s midterms. In both states, Democratic candidates for governor are distancing themselves from their party’s far-left wing in campaigns focused instead on rising costs and the economy under President Donald Trump’s leadership. The move reflects what some see as a critical lesson from the 2024 national elections, in which Democrats faced a backlash for supporting so-called “woke” social policies. Republicans in Virginia and New Jersey are largely unwilling to separate themselves from Trump.