Va., N.J. Races Test Obama Influence

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MICHELE NORRIS, host:

This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. Im Michele Norris.

ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

And Im Robert Siegel.

Voting is taking place in many parts of the country today. Governors are being elected in Virginia and New Jersey, mayors in many cities and a pair of Congressmen in New York and California. Its the first widespread voting since the election that elevated Barack Obama to the presidency and the results will be thoroughly searched for signs of the nations political direction.

Well, joining us to talk about it all is NPRs national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Hi, Mara.

MARA LIASSON: Hi, Robert.

SIEGEL: Lets start with the big statewide offices in Virginia and New Jersey. Where are we likely to hear results first?

LIASSON: Were likely to hear results first from Virginia. The Republican Bob McDonnell is running against the Democrat Creigh Deeds. McDonnell is favored heavily to win. Hes had a double-digit lead in the polls. New Jersey well from later. Its a three-way race - much trickier to call. The incumbent Democrat Jon Corzine has been struggling to hold onto his seat. Hes facing a Republican Chris Christie and an independent, a former Republican turned Independent named Chris Daggett.

SIEGEL: Polls close there respectively at 7 p.m. Eastern and 8 p.m. Eastern.

LIASSON: Right.

SIEGEL: And they will have the results as soon as we can. There are two congressional races, one in California, not much suspense there, but the other one that weve been talking about in upstate New York.

LIASSON: Thats right. In California, the district is a democratic district and its going to stay that way. But the 23rd congressional district of New York, which weve been talking a lot about, has had a bizarre congressional race. The Republican nominee, Dede Scozzafava, dropped out. The conservative, Doug Hoffman, has tremendous amounts of activist Republican base support. He is leading in the polls over the Democrat Bill Owens. Dede Scozzafava endorsed Owens at the last minute. I dont know if thats going to make a difference in what happens there, but that is a race thats being watched very closely because what of it tells us about the inner turmoil in the Republican Party.

SIEGEL: In the Republicans. What about the mayoral races? There are some sure re-elections there, but also some question marks.

LIASSON: Thats right. Several incumbents look like sure bets to be re-elected. Thomas Menino in Boston, Dave Bing in Detroit and Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York, who has spent about 100 million dollars of his own money in his bid for a third term and if he wins, which everyone expects him to, he - it will be the most expensive self-financed campaign in American history.

SIEGEL: Any interesting ballot issues drawing national attention? One in Maine, I guess.

LIASSON: Yes. In Maine, voters are going to the polls to either accept or reject a same sex marriage law that was approved by Maine legislators in May. Now, five states already have legalized gay marriage, but if this referendum passes, it will be the first time that voters have actually gone to the polls to approve gay marriage. Also, in Ohio, voters are going to the polls to vote on a referendum about whether or not to permit casino gambling.

SIEGEL: Now, since there will be much punditry on the subject of what the elections today, some of the results, say about President Obama, where has he actually been campaigning and will any of the races rightfully be seen as referenda on his presidency?

LIASSON: Well, hes campaigned in Virginia, but a lot of time he spent in New Jersey, thats the gubernatorial race that the White House sees as the winnable one of the two. I think there is a long and well-established tradition of over interpreting the results of these kind of off-year elections. Theyre not a sure-fire predictor of how the parties are going to do in the next midterm elections in 2010, because voters are often focused on local issues and local personalities. And polls show, that people at least in Virginia and New Jersey say theyre not voting as a proxy on Barack Obama when they cast their vote.

However, these results will be picked over for lessons and trends. Were going to be looking at the intensity, the turnout. Republicans seemed to have a lot of energy. Democrats seemed to be a little bit less energized as opposed to how they were all fired up and ready to go in 2008. And were also going to see if Barack Obama can turn out his voters when he is not on the ballot.

SIEGEL: Thank you, Mara.

LIASSON: Thank you, Robert.

SIEGEL: NPRs Mara Liasson and NPR will be following the elections throughout the evening, starting at 7 p.m. Eastern. Well be live blogging the results at npr.org.

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