Good morning from the WSJ Washington Bureau. 

Trump's Day: President Trump delivers remarks on judicial nominees at the White House this afternoon. Later today, he holds a campaign rally in Monroe, La., ahead of the Nov. 16 gubernatorial runoff election.

Elections: President Trump’s push for the GOP candidate in the Kentucky governor’s race appears to fall short. More below. 

Diplomacy: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo travels to Germany to meet with officials and commemorate the Berlin Wall's fall. Ivanka Trump visits Morocco to promote the White House women's prosperity initiative.

Democrats in Virginia won control of the state legislature in Tuesday’s elections, opening the door for lawmakers there to pass new gun-control laws, a higher minimum wage and a host of other measures Republicans have long opposed. The Virginia contests were seen as a key test of voter enthusiasm and party momentum ahead of the nationwide 2020 elections, report Scott Calvert and Jon Kamp.

President Trump tried an 11th-hour rally, a battery of tweets and a personal plea for help. But his efforts didn’t appear to be enough to get a Republican running for governor in Kentucky over the finish line late Tuesday, reports Catherine Lucey. Democrat Andy Beshear declared victory over incumbent Republican Gov. Matt Bevin Tuesday night, though Mr. Bevin didn’t immediately concede.

Federal and state officials said that elections in several states unfolded without any notable security issues on Tuesday. They praised improved intelligence sharing, new voting machines and other measures they have taken following foreign attempts to interfere in recent U.S. elections, reports Alexa Corse.

A key witness in the House impeachment probe said he told a Ukrainian official this summer that aid to that country would remain frozen until Kyiv committed to investigations sought by President Trump, reversing earlier testimony that he didn’t know of any such link. The updated testimony by Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, makes him at least the fourth witness to describe a purported quid pro quo between nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine and investigations into Democrat Joe Biden and alleged 2016 election interference, report Rebecca Ballhaus and Dustin Volz.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry wanted to put two U.S. energy industry veterans on the board of Ukraine’s state-owned energy company, according to text messages written by the former Ukraine special envoy that differ with Mr. Perry’s own account.

• A consulting firm hired by Burisma Group mentioned that former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s son served on the Ukrainian gas company’s board so the firm could leverage a meeting with the State Department, according to documents and a former U.S. official.

A top State Department official is set to appear before House investigators today. David Hale is likely to be asked about what he knew regarding an effort to undermine former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and efforts by the president’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to establish an unofficial diplomatic channel to Ukraine, report Natalie andrews and Courtney McBride.

Transcripts of testimony provide a sometimes colorful view into the closed-door impeachment hearings, report Siobhan Hughes and Natalie Andrews. Cramped quarters in a secure facility make for "locker room" stuffiness. 

The consequences of last night’s strong showing by Democrats for the 2020 election may prove hard to forecast. But the consequences for the 2022 election are more straightforward.

Redistricting after the 2020 census has made power at the state level an even more coveted prize for the parties hoping to set favorable congressional maps for the 2022 midterms—and the rest of the decade.

Democrats swept to total control of the state government in Virginia, and in Kentucky Democrat Andy Beshear appeared poised to beat Gov. Matt Bevin, a Republican, though the race remains too close to call, according to the Associated Press. Mississippi Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, bested Attorney General Jim Hood in the state's gubernatorial race, maintaining Republican control there.

In Virginia, the party had already controlled the governor’s mansion, giving it a veto over any GOP-drawn maps. But Democrats will now be able to single-handedly craft congressional districts in a state that is home to several competitive congressional seats. Redistricting may help Democrats keep those seats long-term.

The likely Democratic pick-up in Kentucky, however, will not add to the party’s power over redistricting. While the governor can veto the districts approved by the legislature, the Kentucky legislature can override a governor’s veto with a simple majority—maintaining a Republican majority’s power over the process.

Write to Andrew Duehren at andrew.duehren@wsj.com

Pete Buttigieg has recently distanced himself from ex-employer McKinsey, but he is the biggest beneficiary in the primary of its employees’ donations, report John McCormick, Ken Thomas and Chad Day. Through third quarter 2019, Mr. Buttigieg’s campaign received roughly $55,000 from about 165 employees of McKinsey and its related organizations.

Russia has stepped up efforts to shield its hackers from U.S. extradition. The Kremlin is resorting to prisoner swaps and coercion to secure potential cyber operatives, report Dustin Volz in Washington and Felicia Schwartz, Russia also is trying to alter international rules on cybercrime law-enforcement cooperation through the United Nations.

• U.S. officials have long said that Russia blurs the line between for-profit cybercrime and state-sponsored cyber espionage. To them, the case of Alexsey Belan, a Latvian-born Russian national, is especially revealing.

Gunmen ambushed a convoy of SUVs carrying U.S. citizens in Mexico, killing three women and six children—leading President Trump to call for a war on Mexican drug cartels, report Anthony Harrup and Juan Montes.

Lawmakers from Silicon Valley proposed creating an agency to regulate the collection of Americans’ personal information, a signal of hometown support for heightened oversight of the technology industry, reports Ryan Tracy. It is unlikely to become law.

• In an op-ed, Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the Intelligence Committee leading the impeachment inquiry, writes that he resisted calls for impeachment for more than a year because the step is meant only for "extraordinary circumstances." (USA Today)
• Democrats should drop the effort to impeach President Trump and simply seek to censure him instead. (Washington Post)
• New polls showing President Trump competitive in key swing states should alarm Democrats who have been watching instead national poll results. (New York Magazine)

This newsletter is a production of the WSJ Washington bureau. Our newsletter editors are Tim Hanrahan, Kate Milani, Troy McCullough and Daniel Nasaw. Send feedback to capitaljournal@wsj.com. You can follow politics coverage on our Politics page and at @wsjpolitics on Twitter.