Election Day 2009: Who Won?

Election Day 2009 has come and gone. In one year, the bigger mid-term elections will take place and the balance of power in Congress is almost certain to change. We had several minor elections in Atlanta, Boston, and Houston (all three are big cities) and three much media covered elections in New York, New Jersey, and Virginia. Republicans tried to spin the results as an indication of the approval of President Obama while Democrats tried their best to dispel that notion. The night had it's share of surprises and was anything but normal.

Governor Races: Virginia and New Jersey
The polls were a roller coaster in New Jersey for a few months. Incumbent John Corzine was not a popular governor by any measure and had an approval rating in the mid-low 30's. In the summer, he was trailing his challenger, GOP's Chris Christie, by a pretty wide margin. He later rebounded and gained a very narrow lead which he lost a few days before the election. Christie ended up pulling out a win with 49% of the vote to Corzine's 45%.

Virginia had been a foregone conclusion for weeks. The governorship was vacated due to term restrictions. The polls had been showing a blow out for weeks and the election was indeed that: 59% for GOP's Bob McDonell to Democrat Creigh Deeds' 41%. Deeds was seen as an inferior candidate and the people of Virginia thought so as well.

Congressional Race: New York District 23
The most politically driven race was the one that was actually the most obscure. New York district 23 is traditionally conservative and has been that way for 100 years. The seat was vacated. The controversy came when the Republican candidate was chosen by a few party authorities in the area. Diedre Scozzafava was chosen to represent the party despite being a somewhat liberal. She was endorsed by Newt Gingrich and panned by almost every other major Republican. They endorsed the third party, more conservative Hoffman. Democrat Bill Owens wound up taking the election in what was considered an upset despite him having a slight lead in the polls. Scozzafava dropped out of the race due to pressure and the polls showing her losing dramatically. She then threw her support behind Bill Owens perhaps giving him the numbers needed to win.

Who won?
Republicans made huge gains by taking both gubernatorial elections but Virginia was not a surprise at all. New Jersey was a nice pickup for the GOP, however, and can be celebrated. The NY 23 is also notable for it's district turning. Who ended up winning? The GOP slightly. GOP took NJ which is a strong Democrat stronghold while Dems took NY23 which is the same. Virginia isn't a stronghold as it generally goes for Republican Presidential candidates even though it's had a Democrat for several terms. It's still a win for people to trust Republicans.