GOP sweeps gov races, Dem wins in NY

Republican gubernatorial candidates racked up major wins for the GOP in Virginia and New Jersey Tuesday night, as former Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell and New Jersey prosecutor Chris Christie claimed the governor's offices in both key states.

As the GOP sought to send a warning shot to Democrats in Washington by scoring big in the 2009 off-year elections, McDonnell told an energetic crowd in Richmond that his victory represented the triumph of a broad new majority.

"We had independents and Democrats that came over to support us," McDonnell said. "First and foremost, we are all Virginians and we are all Americans." 

In New Jersey, the Associated Press called the governor's race for Christie with just over 70 percent of precincts reporting, as the Republican held a six-point lead over incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine.

Despite strenuous efforts by the White House and national Democrats to buck up Corzine's lagging campaign - including a Sunday visit to the state by President Barack Obama - the Democrat succumbed to low approval ratings and an electorate frustrated with high property taxes and New Jersey's persistent political corruption.

Corzine conceded in a speech just before 11 p.m., telling supporters in East Brunswick he had phoned Christie to congratulate him.

"Mr. Christie was gracious in his response and we will work hard together to make sure the transition is smooth," Corzine pledged. "It has been an incredible, incredible journey together and I am grateful to all New Jerseyans."

Taking the stage in Parsippany, N.J., less than half an hour later, Christie was interrupted by chants of "Yes, we can" as he told a raucous crowd of supporters: "Hey, New Jersey, we did it!"

Polls closed at 9 p.m. in New York, where results from a closely watched special election in New York's 23rd House district and a surprisingly tight New York City mayor's race continue to trickle in. In the upstate House race, Democrat Bill Owens is leading Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman by four points with over 70 percent of the vote in.

Downstate in New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg survived a reelection fight against Democrat Bill Thompson, but despite massively outspending his opponent managed a victory margin of less than five percentage points.

The White House played down the importance of the off-year contests Tuesday, with spokesman Robert Gibbs urging reporters not to read the evening's returns as a referendum on the president and his party.

"I don't think, looking at the two gubernatorial races, you can draw with any great insight what's going to happen a year from now," Gibbs said.

Tuesday evening, the president's spokesman told POLITICO that Obama wasn't following the results tonight closely, explaining: "He's not watching returns."

Network exit polls from Virginia and New Jersey suggested the White House had a point: Fifty-five percent of voters in Virginia and 60 percent of voters in New Jersey said their feelings toward the president did not affect their decision.

Among the remaining respondents, there was a close to even split between voters who said they were trying to support the president with their vote and those who were trying to rebuke him. In Virginia, 18 percent said they were trying to send the Obama administration a positive message, compared with 24 percent who said the opposite. In New Jersey, those numbers were 19 and 20 percent, respectively.

Republicans moved quickly to cast McDonnell and Christie's wins as signals of popular opposition to the Democrats' agenda.

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told McDonnell supporters in Richmond that they had sent a message to national politicians: "Enough with the incredible reach of government into our lives."

"Bob McDonnell has led us to victory after eight dark years in the wilderness," Cantor said, praising the governor-elect for running a kitchen-table campaign focused on economic issues: "You know what's so great: Bob ran a great campaign, but it was also a positive campaign."

In a statement, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele called Christie's blue-state victory a setback for Democrats across the country.

"In a state that overwhelmingly voted in favor of President Obama, this stunning defeat of Corzine sends a clear message to Democrats across the country," Steele said. "Americans have grown sick and tired of big government and reckless spending, and this vote is a sound rejection of the far-left policies that are hurting our nation."

Leading figures from both parties hit the campaign trail in recent days in New Jersey, Virginia and upstate New York, including Vice President Joe Biden, who stumped in New York for Owens on Monday, and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, who appeared later in the day for Owens's opponent Hoffman.

Speaking with POLITICO Tuesday, Hoffman painted his bid for Congress as the first stage of a national campaign to return Congress to conservative hands.

"Hopefully the Republican party, of which I’m a lifelong member, utilizes this energy and excitement of people coming to my support because we’ll need it in 2010," he said. "We’re just standing up for the core values that made America strong — less government, less taxes, less spending."

Obama's weekend trip to New Jersey was only the latest in a series of trips to boost Corzine's campaign. Christie, meanwhile, called in high-profile Republicans including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

Exit polling reported that the New Jersey race reflected a higher level of concern with local issues than the campaign in Virginia, with 26 percent of voters saying property taxes were the main issue on their minds and 20 percent expressing the greatest concern with the state's chronic political corruption.

National issues played a role in both contests, however. A plurality of voters in both states — 46 percent in Virginia and 31 percent in New Jersey — said the economy was the most important issue to them. And for voters in both gubernatorial contests, health care ranked high among the list of issues voters said they were thinking about, with 25 percent in Virginia and 18 percent in New Jersey calling it their top concern.

In a sign of Democratic anxiety going into today's vote, both Corzine and Deeds told television interviewers to disregard recent surveys that placed them behind their opponents.

"The only poll that counts is the one that's going on right now," Corzine said, deploying a familiar line Deeds also used.

Corzine voted Tuesday morning in Hoboken before heading out on a last swing that ends in East Brunswick for an election-night rally. Christie gathered his supporters at the Parsippany Hilton to await voters' decision.

Owens is spending the evening in Plattsburgh, addressing supporters at the American Legion there. Hoffman headed to Saranac Lake for a rally at Hotel Saranac.

For election night commentary, visit The Arena.

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