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Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is the chairman of the Republican Governors Association.

Washington (CNN) – In the early days of his campaign for governor in Virginia, Republican Bob McDonnell hired veteran GOP pollster Glen Bolger to take the pulse of the state's notoriously independent-minded voters.

Bolger asked voters if they'd rather elect of governor who would work with President Obama to implement his plans for the economy, or a governor who would serve as a check on Democrats in Washington.

Fifty-five percent wanted a governor who planned to stand up the president, Bolger discovered, while just 35 percent desired someone who would help the White House. It wasn't what he'd expected to find.

"I was kind surprised by that result, because I thought people would say that's not really a factor in the governor's race," Bolger said, noting that McDonnell won the race by a similar margin. "But people saw it as almost like Democrats are oversteering too much in one direction, and they wanted correction."

After dismal election cycles in 2006 and 2008, Republicans are hoping that signs of discomfort with President Obama's agenda will translate into big gains in governor's mansions around the country next November. They point to off-year wins this month in Virginia and New Jersey as early proof that a backlash against Democratic overreach in Washington is underway.

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CEDAR CREEK, Texas (CNN) – Virginia Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell on Wednesday declined to weigh in on Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson’s recent claim that Islam is not a religion, but “a violent political system.”

McDonnell, though, stressed that he reached out to Muslims and visited mosques in Virginia throughout the governor’s race and will continue to do so when he takes office in January.

Muslim groups have called on McDonnell to condemn the remark because Robertson is a longtime political benefactor of the Republican, who won a blowout victory in this year’s closely-watched gubernatorial election.

McDonnell attended law school at CBN University (now Regent University), founded by Robertson, and has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the televangelist along with appearing on his show, “The 700 Club.”

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Palin wasn't exactly a welcome presence in Virginia and New Jersey during both governor's races.

CEDAR CREEK, Texas (CNN) – Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell, the soon-to-be-governors of New Jersey and Virginia, both deflected questions Wednesday about why Sarah Palin did not appear with the two Republicans during their respective campaigns.

Christie said he only had three GOP heavyweights visit New Jersey during his campaign - Rudy Giuliani, Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney - and each came for a specific reason.

“I had a long standing relationship with Mayor Giuliani,” Christie explained. “Gov. Pawlenty and Gov. Romney both faced the same type of crises financially in their state when they took over that we did.”

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CEDAR CREEK, Texas (CNN) – Virginia Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell on Wednesday would not disavow Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson’s recent claim that Islam is not a religion, but “a violent political system.”

McDonnell, though, stressed that he reached out to Muslims and visited mosques in Virginia throughout the governor’s race and will continue to do so when he takes office in January.

Muslim groups have called on McDonnell to condemn the remark because Robertson is a longtime political benefactor of the Republican, who won a blowout victory in this year’s closely-watched gubernatorial election.

McDonnell attended law school at CBN University (now Regent University), founded by Robertson, and has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the televangelist along with appearing on his show, “The 700 Club.”

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Palin wasn't exactly a welcome presence in Virginia and New Jersey during both governor's races.

CEDAR CREEK, Texas (CNN) – Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell, the soon-to-be-governors of New Jersey and Virginia, both deflected questions Wednesday about why Sarah Palin did not appear with the two Republicans during their respective campaigns.

Christie said he only had three GOP heavyweights visit New Jersey during his campaign - Rudy Giuliani, Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney - and each came for a specific reason.

“I had a long standing relationship with Mayor Giuliani,” Christie explained. “Gov. Pawlenty and Gov. Romney both faced the same type of crises financially in their state when they took over that we did.”

McDonnell said his campaign had reached out to Palin nearly a year ago to campaign in Virginia, but said she was overwhelmed with requests at the time. When she stepped down as governor of Alaska in July, McDonnell said, their visitor lineup had already been set - a full four months before election day in Virginia.

“We thought she was a good leader for the party as the governor of Alaska and had some good reforms in the state, but she was in such incredible demand frankly for the longest time we were not able to work out anything for her to come in,” he said. “And then after she decided to leave office we had pretty much already arranged all of the folks that we had for the home stretch for fundraisers, including several current and former governors, and so we pretty much had our strategy set at that point.”

Christie and McDonnell made the comments at a news conference held during the Republican Governors Association's annual meeting near Austin.

Republican Bob McDonnell captured the Virginia governor's mansion back from Democrats earlier this month.

CEDAR CREEK, Texas (CNN) – Virginia Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell on Wednesday would not disavow Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson’s recent claim that Islam is not a religion, but “a violent political system.”

McDonnell, though, stressed that he reached out to Muslims and visited mosques in Virginia throughout the governor’s race and will continue to do so when he takes office in January.

Muslim groups have called on McDonnell to condemn the remark because Robertson is a longtime political benefactor of the Republican, who won a blowout victory in this year’s closely-watched gubernatorial election.

McDonnell attended law school at CBN University (now Regent University), founded by Robertson, and has accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the televangelist along with appearing on his show, “The 700 Club.”

“I’ve got probably 15,000 donors to the campaign and I can’t stand and defend or support every comment that any donor might make,” McDonnell said in response to a question from CNN at the Republican Governors Association annual meeting near Austin. “I think people are entitled under the First Amendment to express whatever opinions that they may have, but I can only say that as governor of Virginia, I intend to have an inclusive administration where we bring people across the political and religious system to help us govern.”

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WASHINGTON (CNN) – Fresh off their decisive victories last week in Virginia and New Jersey, governors-to-be Bob McDonnell and Chris Christie will travel to Texas next week to meet with their future GOP colleagues at the Republican Governors Association annual conference in Austin, aides to the governors-elect said.

The two men will be introduced to their fellow Republicans with a celebratory video at the conference's opening session, according to an RGA spokesman.

Both Republicans are slated to speak later that day at an outdoor barbecue and will also hold a press conference alongside RGA chairman Haley Barbour, the governor of Mississippi.

Asked about the public health insurance option contained in the House health care reform bill passed late Saturday night, and about the different variations of the public option that could still be included in the final version of the Senate bill, Virginia's governor-elect said he was not keen on having his state involved in government-provided health insurance.

"[T]he public option does not seem to be something that is going to help us in Virginia," McDonnell said Sunday on CNN's State of the Union.

"However they structure it," McDonell also told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King, "if it gives flexibility to states, I think that's a good thing." He added that he was "very concerned about turning this signifcant section of the American economy over to the federal government."

McDonnell also stood by his campaign promise not to raise taxes in his state.

"I think that's the worst thing you do in a recession is to raise taxes on - on the citizens. We're going to have hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes at the federal level with this health care bill. When the tax cuts [passed under former Pres. George W. Bush] expire in 2011, it's going to be a crushing increase in new taxes."

"People want a better bang for their buck out of their government," McDonnell also told King, "and [they] don't want to have a tax increase every time we have an economic downturn."

Updated: 1:28 p.m.

Republicans are pointing to Bob McDonnell's winning formula in Virginia as a way forward for the GOP.

RICHMOND, Virginia (CNN) – He has yet to been sworn in as the 71st governor of Virginia, but the Republican Party appears to have found its newest superstar in Bob McDonnell.

With his resounding win Tuesday in the battleground state of Virginia - a victory that halted a decade of gains for Democrats - top Republicans are boasting that McDonnell has uncovered a winning GOP formula for 2010 and beyond.

The blueprint, his supporters argue, is fairly simple: stay loyal to conservative principles, maintain a personal appeal that connects with voters, and focus like a laser on kitchen table issues.

Throughout the governor's race, Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds flogged McDonnell as a divisive social conservative preoccupied with issues like abortion, same-sex marriage and birth control. But McDonnell beat back those attacks by concentrating on the troubled economy with a simple message: "Bob's for Jobs."

"McDonnell is a candidate who is very conservative, but he's while he's philosophically sound, he's temperamentally moderate," said Ralph Reed, the former Christian Coalition director who is a longtime friend of McDonnell's. "He's a consensus builder. He's a reasonable guy. I think that's the kind of face Republicans need to start putting forward."

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Virginia Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell, a Republican, told reporters Wednesday that President Obama called to wish him congratulations after his win Tuesday.

RICHMOND, Virginia (CNN) - Virginia's Republican Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell took a congratulatory phone call from President Obama the morning after his landslide victory over Democrat Creigh Deeds, McDonnell told reporters Wednesday.

The call came shortly after 11 a.m. this morning, he said.

"He was exceptionally gracious and kind," McDonnell noted. "We had a couple of laughs. He said that be sure the first thing you do is thank your wife."

"He also told me he thought we ran a very good campaign that it was a good contest, and now that the campaign was over he hoped we would work closely together to govern, especially with Virginia being a neighboring state to the District of Columbia," he said.

The White House said Wednesday that the president called the winners of all of last night's races, including Republican Gov.-elect Chris Christie of New Jersey, Democrat Bill Owens of New York's 23rd congressional district, and independent New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
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Bob McDonnell captured the governor's mansion back from Democrats.

RICHMOND, Virginia (CNN) – Buoyed by support from independent voters and lingering concerns over the state of the economy, Virginians elected Republican Bob McDonnell the 71st governor of the Commonwealth on Tuesday.

Republicans managed a sweep of the state’s top three offices for the first time since 1997, when Jim Gilmore helmed the ticket for the GOP. The election also upheld a familiar political pattern: going back to 1977, the party holding the White House has gone to lose the Virginia gubernatorial race.

The victory breathed new life into the Virginia Republican party, which has suffered a series of statewide defeats to Democrats over the last decade, including last November, when Barack Obama became the first Democrat to win the state at the presidential level since 1964. Democrats have won the governor's mansion in two consecutive elections and control both of the state's seats in the U.S. Senate.

“I pledge to you over the next four years action and results,” McDonnell told a gleeful audience at his victory party in Richmond. “We will leave Virginia better than we found it,” he said, invoking the old Boy Scout adage.

Two thirds of independent voters joined with a motivated Republican base to elect McDonnell, who vaulted to a 17-point victory over his Democratic opponent, Creigh Deeds.

“I wish tonight’s results were different,” Deeds said after the loss. “But now is not the time for bitterness, or retreat into our partisan corners - it’s time to overcome that disappointment with our determination to build a better Virginia, together.”

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Related: CNN projects Republican wins in Virginia, New Jersey

(CNN) – On Tuesday, 61 percent of men voted for Republican Bob McDonnell, CNN's projected winner in the race for governor of Virginia. Democrat Creigh Deeds got just 38 percent of the male vote, according to early CNN Exit Poll data. McDonnell also had an edge among women with 53 percent telling pollsters they voted for the Republican.

Deeds, who comes from rural Bath County, captured 56 percent of the urban vote... while McDonnell took 55 percent of the suburban vote and 69 percent of the rural vote.

(CNN) – CNN senior political analyst Gloria Borger says that the projected GOP win in the Virginia gubernatorial race - and exit polls showing independents voting overwhelmingly for Republican Bob McDonnell - could be a problem for the president.

"This is a signal to this White House they have some problems right now – particularly on the economy and on the deficit," she said.

GOP sweeps top state races in Virginia, CNN projects.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Republicans recaptured the Virginia governor's mansion Tuesday after eight years of Democratic rule, CNN projects.

Former Attorney Gen. Bob McDonnell defeated state Sen. Creigh Deeds to take back the seat currently held by Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine.

CNN also projects that the GOP will win the races for lieutenant governor and attorney general. The wins are a much-needed boost for the Republican Party; which suffered dramatic losses, including the White House, in the 2008 elections.

(CNN) - CNN projects Republican Bob McDonnell will be elected Virginia governor.

Bob McDonnell is leading Creigh Deeds in Virginia's gubernatorial race (Photo credit: Getty Images)

(CNN) - Republican Bob McDonnell is leading Democrat Creigh Deeds in Virginia's gubernatorial race, according to CNN exit polls.

(CNN) - The economy and jobs are the number on issue on the minds of voters in Virginia, according to data from CNN exit polls Tuesday.

Forty-six percent of Virginian voting Tuesday, as Republican Bob McDonnell and Democrat Creigh Deeds faced off for the governor's mansion, say that the economy and jobs are the most important issue to their vote. One in four indicate that health care reform is their most pressing issue, 14 percent said taxes were upmost on their minds, and 8 percent suggest that transportation woes were most pressing.

"The economy as the number one issue probably bodes well for the Republicans in Virginia," says CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley.

Those questioned in exit polls were asked their opinions after they voted, as they departed polling stations.

Palin recorded an automated phone call for Virginia voters.

Story updated at 11:00 a.m. EST to correct transcript of robocall

RICHMOND, Virginia (CNN) – Sarah Palin isn’t staying out of the Virginia governor’s race after all.

Less than 48 hours before voters head to the polls to elect a new governor, several Virginians reported receiving robocalls on Sunday from the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, urging them to “vote your values” on Tuesday.

But the recording makes no mention of the Bob McDonnell, the Republican gubernatorial candidate who has been reluctant to embrace Palin during the governor’s race, out of fear that she might alienate some of the independent voters who have helped him climb to a healthy lead in the polls over Democrat Creigh Deeds.

“Virginia, hello, this is Sarah Palin calling to urge you to go to the polls Tuesday and vote to share our principles,” the former Alaska governor says in the call, which was provided to CNN by one Democrat who recorded it. “The eyes of America will be on Virginia and make no mistake about it, every vote counts. So don’t take anything for granted, vote your values on Tuesday, and urge your friends and family to vote, too.”

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Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele isn't predicting victory yet in the Virginia and New Jersey governor's races.

Washington (CNN) – Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele isn't predicting victory yet in the Virginia and New Jersey governor's races, but in Virginia - a race Republicans look poised to win - he sees a "blueprint" for GOP success in 2010.

"You dont win until the last vote is counted," Steele told CNN by phone during a campaign swing in southern Virginia with Republican candidate Bob McDonnell. "We failed in the past by assuming too much. The only thing I am assuming is there is much more to do."

Steele said that while Virginia and New Jersey are very different states requiring different "messaging styles," the gubernatorial races have provided the RNC with a way to "test the waters" before next year's midterm elections. He said the party has been trying out new strategies in both races "in terms of resources we put on the ground, in providing ground support or air support, on the Internet, on television, phones, things like that."

As McDonnell has surged to a lead in Virginia polls over his Democratic rival Creigh Deeds, national Republicans have described his campaign - in which he focused on job creation and downplayed his conservative positions on social issues - as a blueprint for future GOP victories. Asked what specifically in McDonnell's approach represents a way forward for the party, Steele praised the Republican for focusing on issues relevant to middle-class voters while staying true to conservative economic principles.

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