Christie Wins In New Jersey, De Blasio In NY

By early Tuesday night, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had won reelection handily, Terry McAuliffe appeared to be headed to victory in Virginia, and Bill de Blasio became the first Democrat in 20 years to be elected Mayor of New York City.

Fox News projected McAuliffe the winner of Virginia's gubernatorial race at around 9:30 pm. The race had been close for much of the night, but early numbers suggested that, as had been predicted, McAuliffe was on track to defeat Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. This suggestion was bolstered by pessimistic leaks from Cuccinelli’s camp.

“We’re still optimistic, but it’s not looking great,” a Cuccinelli staffer privately told the Washington Post at around 8:15 local time. About a half hour later, Cuccinelli’s team was predicting that their candidate would lose by two or three points, according to talk show host Steve Deace.

In New York, de Blasio’s margin of victory wasn’t yet tallied, but exit polls showed him leading Republican Joe Lhota by a staggering 50-point margin, raking in 73 percent of the vote to Lhota’s 24. The New York Times called it an “overwhelming victory, stretching from the working-class precincts of central Brooklyn to the suburban streets of northwest Queens” and a “sharp leftward turn for the nation’s largest metropolis.”

In New Jersey, Buono conceded to Christie roughly 40 minutes after the polls closed. As of 9:00, he was ahead by roughly 25 percent, with 18 percent of precincts reporting.