Republicans win Virginia, N.J. governorship races

Obama's favored candidates lost battles for the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia in Tuesday's elections but gained a vacant congressional seat in a strongly Republican district of upstate New York that amounted to scant compensation for the president.

Republicans Chris Christie in New Jersey and Virginia's Bob McDonnell unseated Democrats to boost their party still reeling from the scale of Obama's historic White House victory on November 4 last year.

“The Republican Party's overwhelming victory in Virginia is a blow to President Obama and the Democrat Party,” Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman Michael Steele said. “It sends a clear signal that voters have had enough of the president's liberal agenda.”

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs played down the wider significance of the three off-year election races.

“I don't think the president is looking at these and believes that they say anything about our future legislative efforts or our future political efforts,” Gibbs said.

Exit polls conducted by television networks tilted in favor of his argument, with 55 percent of Virginia voters and 60 percent of New Jersey voters saying Obama did not factor into their decision.

But the devastating losses in both states amounted to a serious wake-up call for the Democrats ahead of crucial mid-term congressional elections next year.

“We had independents and Democrats that came over to support us,” McDonnell said in his acceptance speech.

In New Jersey, Christie pulled off an upset victory over Jon Corzine in the heavily Democratic state, with a 49-45 percent margin according to preliminary results.

McDonnell defeated Creigh Deeds by 59-41 percent in Virginia, with almost all precincts reporting.

Virginia helped propel Obama into office a year ago as the nation's first black president, the first time it had backed a Democratic presidential contender in over four decades.

The New Jersey loss was likely harsher for Obama, who campaigned heavily for Corzine in the state long dominated by the Democratic Party.

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