***will update throughout the night***

1006pm EDT update. The Dems may have claimed victory in NJ and Va., but I think it’s still too early to proclaim this the “Night of The Democrats,” as the Drudge Report headline is calling it. The Soros-backed election “reform” measures in Ohio look like they’re going down in flames. And the night is still young in California…

Still, the Virginia loss should trouble the GOP greatly. Turnout didn’t happen, and party leaders have some ’splainin’ to do. Alexander K. McClure at Polipundit writes about the Va. gubernatorial debacle:

1. First, it shouldn’t have been close. [Jerry] Kilgore won a landslide in 2001. [Tim] Kaine barely edged his Republican opponent. And that wasn’t a good year for the Republican Party in Virginia. It was badly divided over budget issues. The party was ostensibly united this year.

2. Second, Warner at least made the pretense of being a moderate. Kaine is much less of a moderate in rhetoric and in philosophy.

3. Third, Kilgore ran what had to be one of the most incompetent campaigns in recent memory. A campaign ad inferring that your opponent would not execute Adolf Hitler is not only patently absurd, but genuinely stupid.

4. Fourth, granted, recent months have not been kind to the Republican Party or the President. However, Virginia was not a mandate on the President or national issues. Blaming Bush’s low approval ratings for the debacle here will not serve any useful purpose.

My friends at Town Hall are also not so sanguine. Here’s their front-page graphic tonight:

Ouch.

11/9 morning update. Double ouch on the defeat of Schwarzenegger’s slate of reform propositions. Arnie Steinberg has the post-mortem.

ABP has day-after analysis here and a look at the “political earthquake” in Pennsylvania here.

Tom Bevan at Real Clear Politics has a nationwide wrap-up.

***

Who’s watching what:

Real Clear Politics has an open Election Night blog thread. Keep checking in.

Ohio:

Drumwaster’s Rants is liveblogging results.

California:

Josh Trevino reveals his votes and ponders Arnold Schwarzenegger’s troubles.

California Conservative has comprehensive coverage.

Lonewacko’s ultimate CA special election guide.

New Jersey:

Enlighten NJ has Garden State returns. AP calling race for Democrat Jon Corzine.

Washington state:

Orbusmax has all the latest. And check in at Sound Politics.

RedState has an open thread on WA state issues here.

Virginia:

Via Kathryn Lopez…AP calls governor’s race for the Democrat, Tim Kaine. Commonwealth Conservative has much more.

New York:

Urban Elephants has city and state election links and updates. Gotham Gazette will be posting poll results.

1015pm EDT update. Bloomberg “romps” to victory.

Pennsylvania:

The Cassandra Page is keeping tabs.

Texas: Ban on gay marriage approved overwhelmingly.

Nationwide initiative round-up here.

***
Michael Barone wrote earlier today:

On balance, these elections seem likely to be good news for Democrats…

…Jon Corzine has been ahead of Doug Forrester in all the New Jersey polls. But Corzine seems unlikely to do much better than John Kerry did when he won New Jersey 53 percent to 46 percent–far less than Al Gore’s 56-percent-to-40-percent margin.

In Virginia, polls show a very tight race. Democrat Tim Kaine had a good month in October, but Republicans say they have a better turnout organization. This will be a major test of whether Republicans still have the turnout advantage that they did in 2004. If Kaine wins, one of the losers will be Hillary Rodham Clinton. Reason: that will be a big boost for outgoing Gov. Mark Warner, who has very high job ratings and wants to run for president in 2008. Warner will argue that Democrats need a moderate who can win states like Virginia, which Bush won 54 percent to 45 percent. A Kaine win will add strength to this argument.

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