VA Gubernatorial Race Not Indicative Of Changing National Mood

By Ravi Bhatia – Talk Radio News Service

Joseph Figueroa at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics says that today’s Gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey and the Congressional election in upstate New York reflect little on national political trends. Figueroa’s sentiment conflicts with Republicans who believe that GOP victories in the three races would serve as a referendum of sorts on the job performance of President Barack Obama.

“You really have to take the results for what they are, as a reflection of the campaign that the two candidates ran,” said Figueroa, referring to the race for governor in Virginia. “I don’t think you can really extrapolate a whole lot in terms of national or even state trends because Virginia is a purple state, and it’s gonna remain so for a while.”

In Virginia, polls suggest that former state Attorney General and Republican candidate Bob McDonnell holds a double-digit lead over Democratic candidate Creigh Deeds. In New Jersey, the race between incumbent Democratic Governor John Corzine and his challenger, Republican Chris Christie, remains deadlocked.

“New Jersey is a blue state – it’s dark blue,” Figueroa said. “It’ll be interesting to see because Christie did have a bit of an upswing in the polls at the very end there. But it is a deadlocked race. That’ll be the one to watch tonight.”

In New York’s 23rd Congressional District, Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava dropped out of the race after being outpolled by Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman. She has since endorsed Democrat Bill Owens.

“A lot of the people who were inclined to support Scozzafava because she’s running under the Republican banner may not be so quick to vote for Owens because of their own ideals,” Figueroa continued. “It’s gonna be really interesting to see – they have a very difficult to decision to make.”

The polls close in Virginia at 7 p.m. tonight. In New Jersey, the polls close at 8 p.m. and in New York, they close at 9 p.m.