Voters head to polls in local elections seen as test for Obama

Nov 3, 2009, 14:40 GMT

Washington - Voters in two US states headed to the polls Tuesday to choose governors and other state leaders in an election seen by pundits as an early test of President Barack Obama's popularity.

The elections in Virginia and New Jersey have garnered national attention as Republicans hope to gain back ground from Obama's Democrats. The party is primarily tapping into anger over what some voters perceive as reckless spending practices by Democrats to revive the economy.

Virginia, where a majority voted for a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time in four decades when they chose Obama last year, is now back in play. Opinion polls give Republican Bob McDonnell a lead of more than 10 percentage points on his Democratic Party opponent, Creigh Deeds.

In New Jersey, usually a reliably left-leaning state, the race is neck-and-neck between Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine and his Republican challenger Chris Christie. An independent candidate, Chris Daggett, is also tapping into voter disaffection and could garner as much as 15 per cent of the vote.

Democrats are hoping to maintain the momentum of last year's election, but they have struggled to harness the excitement that was generated by Obama's candidacy. Republicans see a turning point, and a chance to send Obama and his fellow Democrats a signal that their policies of the past year are not supported by all voters.

Voters were also choosing mayors in several large cities, including New York, Atlanta and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In New York, billionaire Michael Bloomberg looked set to win an unprecedented third four-year term as mayor. Opinion polls ahead of the vote put the 67-year old Bloomberg 12 percentage points ahead of his Democratic challenger William Thompson, 56.

A special election for Congress in upstate New York was also being watched closely. Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, a moderate with left-leaning views on social issues, quit the race on Saturday after poor showings in opinion surveys and pressure from a conservative third-party candidate. She threw her support behind the Democratic nominee.