Republican wins deal blow to Obama

That point will not be lost on moderate Democrats seeking re-election in conservative districts and states. They may be reluctant to back Obama on issues like climate change and health care if it means antagonizing local voters — especially if Obama lacks the political heft to carry them through the next election.

Even before the first votes were counted Tuesday, there were new signs of trouble for Obama's health care proposal, his top domestic priority. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid indicated Tuesday that lawmakers might not complete legislation this year. That would miss Obama's deadline and push debate into the politically precarious congressional election year.

Interviews with voters leaving polling stations in both states were filled with reasons for Democrats to be concerned and for Republicans to be optimistic, particularly about independents, who often determine the outcomes of U.S. elections.

Independents played a critical role in Obama's victory last year. But after more than a year of recession, they fled from Democrats in the two states, where the economy trumped all other issues.

Associated Press exit polls showed that nearly a third of voters in Virginia described themselves as independents, and nearly as many in New Jersey did. They preferred McDonnell by almost a 2-1 margin over Deeds in Virginia, and Christie over Corzine by a similar margin.

Last year, independents split between Obama and Republican John McCain in both states.

In both states, the surveys also suggested the Democrats had difficulty turning out their base, including the large numbers of first-time minority and youth voters whom Obama attracted.

But Tuesday's election also offered a warning to Republicans about how internal divisions could undermine their newfound strength. Party infighting cost them what had been a safe congressional seat from upstate New York.

The Republican nominee, Dierdre Scozzafava, withdrew from the special race for the vacant seat after prominent conservatives, including former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, opposed her as too moderate and backed a third-party candidate, Conservative Doug Hoffman.

That created an opening for the Democratic candidate, Bill Owens, who had been endorsed by Scozzafava. With 88 percent of the precincts reporting, Owens had 49 percent of the vote to 46 percent for Hoffman. Scozzafava had 6 percent.

In other races Tuesday, voters in the northeastern state of Maine weighed in on same-sex marriage in a closely watched initiative. With about two-thirds of precincts reporting, opponents of same-sex marriage had a slim lead of 52 percent to 48 percent.

A number of cities selected mayors. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg won a third term as New York mayor in a closer-than-expected race against a Democratic challenger who stoked voter resentment over the way the incumbent changed the city's term-limits law so he could stay in office.

With all precincts reporting, Bloomberg defeated city comptroller William Thompson Jr. 51 percent to 46 percent.

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