Election Day Could Signal Political Winds

In this supposedly quiet off-year election, three contests taking place Tuesday are filling the void. Voters in New Jersey and Virginia will elect governors, while voters in upstate New York are filling a vacant House seat in a race with national implications.
¶There will probably be only one suspenseful race, the contest between Gov. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey and his Republican challenger, Christopher J. Christie. Last-minute polls suggests the race is too close to call, even after President Obama traveled to New Jersey on Sunday to campaign for Mr. Corzine.
Some Democrats said they were concerned that an early surge of support for a third-party candidate, Christopher J. Daggett, which appeared to come at the expense of Mr. Christie, is now fading as anti-Corzine voters settle on Mr. Christie. Polls close at 8 p.m., and if the race turns out to be as close as expected, this could be yet another American election with no conclusion by the time everyone goes to sleep. (Polls close at 7 p.m. in Virginia and at 9 p.m. in New York, and those races could be decided relatively early.)
¶The worst outcome for Democrats and the best outcome for Republicans would be a Republican victory in New Jersey. Most polls suggest that Democrats will lose the upstate New York House race and the Virginia governor’s seat, so this is the race that could decide whether Republicans get a sweep. New Jersey is a predominantly Democratic state, and one where Mr. Obama invested his own political capital on behalf of Mr. Corzine.  (CONTINUES HERE AT NYT)