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5 things financial watchers should keep an eye on Tuesday night that aren't Trump vs. Harris

The coin toss odds ahead of today's presidential election could mean the next commander in chief won't be known until many hours (if not days) after the polls close tonight.

But that doesn't mean we won't have results tonight that financial watchers will be watching closely.

A number of contests could be settled early that could set the course for economic policy in 2025, affecting everything from the leadership of key congressional committees to the influence that certain industries like cryptocurrencies will have in Washington, DC

Here are five threads to keep an eye on as we wait for the full results of the big contest between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump to be released:

Read more: What the 2024 Election Means for Your Wallet: The Yahoo Finance Guide to the Presidential Election

Early in the night, once the first polls begin to close at 6 p.m. ET, the election polls will quickly become publicly available.

These are counts of actual voters who cast absentee and early voter votes, determined either through telephone surveys or in-person surveys at early voting sites.

The results are expected to offer new insights into how Americans think on a variety of issues, including the economy.

A sign alerts Wisconsin residents to in-person absentee voting on November 1, 2024. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) · Scott Olson via Getty Images

Four years ago, pollsters asked about topics such as the state of the country's economy, the financial situation of voters and whether citizens believe life will be better or worse for the next generation of Americans.

How voters respond this time – and how different they are from 2020 – could reveal whether America's poor economic sentiment is beginning to fade or will remain a dominant feature in the years to come.

Tonight could also see some evidence of the continued power of the crypto community in the nation's capital.

During his campaign, Trump made outsized promises to this community, and cryptocurrency firms' reported spending of $160 million has raised millions that could be crucial in lower-level elections across the country.

This is a bold series of bets that, if successful, could form the basis for a new (and bipartisan) class of crypto-friendly lawmakers in the House and Senate.

It's a dynamic that has already caused concern in some areas. “We’ve never seen spending like this,” Democratic Rep. Summer Lee said in a recent webinar about the industry’s influence, calling crypto the latest entrant in an “unbridled arms race.”

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