WASHINGTON (CNN) - CNN projects Republican Bob McDonnell will be the next governor of Virginia. CNN also projects that the GOP will win the races for lieutenant governor and attorney general in Virginia, giving the Republican Party a complete sweep of statewide offices.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/03/art.bogrant1103.gi.jpg caption="The public mood is better than it was a year ago on the eve of President Obama's election, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll out Tuesday night."]
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The number of Americans who think things are going well in the country today is at its highest level in two years, according to a new national poll.
Thirty-seven percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Tuesday night say that things are going very well or fairly well in the country. That's the highest number since November 2007, just before the official beginning of the current recession. It also represents a 7-point gain since August and a 12-point gain since October of last year.
While the poll indicates a rise in optimism, 63 percent of those questioned say things are still going badly.
According the survey, feelings of anger and fear have also declined significantly compared a year ago. But large majorities are still angry and scared.
FULL POST
WASHINGTON (CNN) - CNN projects that Republican Chris Christie has defeated Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine in the New Jersey gubernatorial race.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/11/03/art.obamabball.gi.jpg caption="Aides: Obama not watching election returns."]
Washington (CNN) – President Obama is not planning to watch Tuesday nights election returns, Obama aides Robert Gibbs and David Axelrod tell CNN.
Obama is more likely to watch Tuesday night's Chicago Bulls game than any political coverage, according to Axelrod.
The president's senior staff have also decided not to hold a watch party to keep an eye on election returns as they come in.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was spotted in workout clothes leaving the White House campus at 7 p.m. ET, just as polls were closing in Virginia. Axelrod told CNN he has a dinner outside the White House to attend.
(CNN) - CNN senior political analyst Gloria Borger says Democratic Governor Jon Corzine's projected loss tonight could spell trouble for the White House.
"Its a wake up call for the White House," she said. "This is a Democratic state, and a loss there means that independent voters are unhappy. And that's not good news for President Obama"
(CNN) - CNN projects Independent candidate Michael Bloomberg will be elected to a third term as New York City mayor.
(CNN) - Independents appear to be playing an important role in the country's two off-year gubernatorial races and in both states, and they are voting Republican.
In Virginia, where 30 percent of voters identify themselves as independent, 65 percent cast their ballots for CNN's projected winner, Republican Bob McDonnell. That's according to early CNN Exit Poll data. Democrat Creigh Deeds earned the votes of 34 percent of independents.
In New Jersey, the projected winner, Republican Chris Christie, took 60 percent of the independent vote while incumbent Governor Jon Corzine, a Democrat, got only 30 percent. The candidate running as an official Independent, Chris Daggett, got just 9 percent of the independent vote. Independents made up 28 percent of the voters in New Jersey race.
Updated 10:42pm ET
(CNN) - Charlotte, North Carolina, elects first Democratic mayor, Anthony Foxx, in three decades, the Charlotte Observer reports. Republican John Lassiter has conceded.
(CNN) - What was on the minds of New Jersey voters as they voted for governor Tuesday?
More than a third of voters - 39 percent - said the quality they were looking for most in a candidate was the ability to bring change, and most of them said they had voted for the Republican Chris Christie, a former federal prosecutor, who CNN projects won the race. That's according to early CNN Exit Poll data.
32 percent of voters said the economy and jobs was the most important issue. Most of these voters said they voted for Democratic incumbent Governor Jon Corzine. Property taxes were the most important issue for 26 percent of voters. They voted in large part for Christie.
Updated 10:38pm ET
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(CNN) - With Republican victories in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races, two decades-long streaks continue: Since 1989, the party holding the White House has gone on to lose both the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey. The streak goes back even further in Virginia, where the party holding the White House has gone to lose the gubernatorial race since 1977.
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