It's A GOP Revival In Virginia And New Jersey

The GOP captured governorships in Virginia and New Jersey as independents who just a year earlier helped elect President Obama swung their support to more conservative candidates.

In Tuesday's races, Republican Bob McDonnell beat out Democrat Creigh Deeds for governor in Virginia, while in New Jersey, Republican Chris Christie defeated Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine. Christie becomes the first Republican to win a statewide election in New Jersey in 12 years.

Elsewhere:

- Republican-turned-independent Michael Bloomberg won a third term as mayor of New York City after spending $100 million on his campaign. His battle with Democrat William Thompson Jr., the city comptroller, was much closer than anticipated.

- Democrat Bill Owens captured a vacant seat in New York's 23rd Congressional District in a race that highlighted a moderate-conservative rift in the Republican Party.

- Maine voters rejected a state law that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed.

- California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, also a Democrat, won a special election to a vacant congressional seat.

- Ohio voters approved casinos in a state hard hit by the recession.

The outcomes in Virginia and New Jersey triggered discussion about a possible larger downside for Obama as next year's midterm congressional elections approach. Both of the Republicans who won the governors races promised to cut taxes and scale back the size of government, a platform that taps into conservative discontent over the White House agenda.

The president's prestige was also on the line, as he personally campaigned for Deeds and Corzine.

Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele on Wednesday described the GOP as "a transcendent party" on the move again.

"We're not crowing; we're just smiling," Steele said in a nationally broadcast interview. "I think it's a bellwether for the party. ... You look at where we were nine months ago."

Steele said he is not too concerned about the GOP loss in the hotly contested race in upstate New York's 23rd District, where hard-line conservatives nationwide, including Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh, backed a conservative third-party challenger over the Republican.

"This process is done at the local level. The drama of [District] 23 was nice and is cute and funny and everybody made fun about how the party is fractured," Steele said. "We'll have a cleaner process there" in the future.

But Democratic Party Chairman Tim Kaine said that nothing about the elections amounted to a repudiation of the president.

"Lest anybody make a mistake about the results of tonight, let me just remind them that our president is more popular in Virginia today than he was one year ago when he won the election in Virginia, with a very strong 58 percent job approval rating," Kaine said.

Obama's former campaign manager, David Plouffe, said the president's approval rating "is at or above his vote totals."

Kaine, who will be succeeded at the Virginia statehouse by McDonnell, conceded that voter anxiety about jobs and the economy played heavily in the balloting.

Exit polls showed many independents who voted for Obama in 2008 voted for Republicans this time around.

Maine residents voted to repeal a state law that would have allowed same-sex marriage. The law, passed by the legislature, was put on hold after conservatives launched the repeal referendum.

In Ohio, where unemployment tops 10 percent, voters approved casinos after rejecting the idea four times previously over the years. Proponents, who say gambling will bring jobs and revenue to the cash-strapped state, spent $35 million to promote four casinos in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo.

From NPR staff and wire reports

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