McAuliffe new Va. gov; Christie re-elected

Democrat Terry McAuliffe has been elected Virginia's next governor, defeating Republican Ken Cuccinelli after pledging to expand the state's Medicaid rolls and portraying his rival as someone who would turn back years of progress.

Turnout for Tuesday's election was low, and both candidates worked through Election Day to reach as many potential voters as possible.

McAuliffe, who once led the Democratic National Committee and is a confidant of former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton, said he would expand Medicaid to provide health coverage for 400,000 people under the federal health care law. By contrast, Cuccinelli, the current attorney general, vehemently opposed the law and was the first to challenge it in court.

McAuliffe was favored to win the governorship, a one-term limited office, four years after voters elected conservative Republican Bob McDonnell. Both Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton made appearances for McAuliffe in the final weeks, and so did Obama over the weekend.

Cuccinnelli was hoping for a late-game rally that would prove that a tea party-backed conservative could win the governorship of a swing-voting state. He brought big-name supporters to the state, too, including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal -- all potential presidential contenders.

Elsewhere, Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie cruised to re-election Tuesday night -- and pushed for a large margin of victory -- amid talk of a 2016 presidential run.

New Yorkers chose Bill de Blasio as mayor, electing the first Democrat since 1989.

After being competitive for months, the Virginia race turned McAuliffe's way last month partly because of the partial government shutdown; the Democrat effectively used it to link Cuccinnelli to House Republicans in Washington and the tea party. Preliminary results of an exit poll found that about a third of Virginia voters said they were personally affected by the shutdown, and nearly half said Republicans deserved the blame for it.

Democrats also were expected to win the lieutenant governorship, and had a strong shot at the attorney general's office. They also could break through Republicans' veto-proof majority in the state House, and all that could set the stage of a presidential battleground ahead of the next White House race.

In New Jersey, Christie scored a resounding victory intended to send a message to the GOP that a Republican with an inclusive pitch could win in Democratic territory.

In that sense, his win had implications for the 2016 presidential race.