Republicans Win New Jersey, Virginia Governor Races
Last Update: 11/03 10:36 pm
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Republican Bob McDonnell easily won the Virginia governor's race Tuesday as independent voters who last year helped deliver the state to President Barack Obama handed the party a convincing victory. In New Jersey, Republican Chris Christie has unseated the deep-pocketed but unpopular Gov. Jon Corzine. Christie, 47, on Tuesday became the first member of his party in a dozen years to win a statewide contest in heavily Democratic New Jersey. President Barack Obama invested heavily in the race, campaigning with Corzine five times on three separate visits. With 75 percent of precincts reporting, Christie had 50 percent of the vote compared to 44 percent for Corzine. Independent candidate Chris Daggett, who at one point had been feared as a potential spoiler, had about 5 percent. McDonnell, a conservative former state attorney general, had about 60 percent of the vote with most precincts reporting. He takes back the governor's office after eight years of Democrat control. Virginia's election largely turned on independent voters, who preferred McDonnell by nearly a 2-1 ratio over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds, exit polls showed. It was a shift from 2008, when independents in the state split about evenly between the parties. (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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