The Democratic Party collapse in the 2009 Virginia statewide elections will come as a surprise only to those loyalists, true believers, and paid consultants and staffers who have chosen to ignore the increasingly dire situation facing working people in Virginia. As a union member who lives here, I’m not surprised one bit. The Democrats luck has run out.

Polls in New Jersey and Maine are now closed. Leaked exit polls show New Jersey to be basically a tie, FWIW. There are no exit polls out of Maine. Virginia remains too early to call, which shocks me. The networks are being ultra-cautious. The latest numbers: 26.19% reporting McDonnell (R) 62.86% Deeds (D) 37.03% Deeds [...]

MSNBC is calling the Virginia Governor’s race for the Republican, Bob McDonnell. This is not surprise. The polls are closing in NJ and ME at this hour. New Jersey Governor is reported “too close to call”–also not a surprise at this stage of the evening. More on all this soon.

The polls close in Virginia at 7:00 ET polls are now closed in Virginia. The reports show light turnout, seen as a boost for Bob McDonnell, who doesn’t really need a boost. I’d expect a call on this race within minutes of the polls closing. Actual results can be found here. NBC News has released some [...]

For those of you scoring at home, I thought I’d lay out exactly what the major races are next Tuesday, November 3. From Maine to California, New Jersey to Washington state, there are several significant races on the ballot, all of which will be spun by Democrats and Republicans as indicative of the national mood. But each have their own peculiarities about them.

At least Deeds has done progressives one favor. He has shot a giant hole in one of the main arguments for the public option opt-out “compromise.” The argument is that no Republican governor (and/or state legislature) would be stupid enough to deny their constituents a public option that could save them thousands of dollars a year. Here we have a Democrat saying he might opt out a purple state. Then again, Deeds is not yet governor–and if he keeps this up, he never will be.

The Washington Post endorses Creigh Deeds in Virginia’s gubernatorial Democratic primary race because Deeds believes transportation is worth investing more tax dollars.