2009 Election Roundup: No clear message yet in contests

Local factors appear to play a much larger factor than goings-on in Washington in determining the outcome of today's contests. If anything, the President may have helped sway still-undecided voters toward the candidate he assisted, though not enough to overcome huge deficits both brought into Election Day.

Several participants in a live focus group in Virginia conducted by Fox News analyst Frank Luntz stated that their decision to vote for Republican Bob McDonnell was not based on their opinions about the President. Similarly, a slim majority of voters in New Jersey said in exit polls that they felt that the government should do more, yet those same voters rejected Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine for Republican Chris Christie. Exit polls conducted by MSNBC showed only one in four voters said they cast their votes to send a message to Obama.

Meanwhile, in a closely watched special election to fill a House seat in upstate New York, Conservative candidate Douglas Hoffman conceded to his Demomcratic rival, Bill Owens, giving a seat that had been Republican for more than a century to the Democrats. Many conservative activists backed Hoffman over Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava, a state assemblywoman they deemed too liberal; Scozzafava withdrew from the race and threw her support to Owens.

In Maine, a ballot question that would repeal that state's recently enacted gay marriage law appears headed to a narrow victory, with 52 percent of voters approving the measure with 68 percent of precincts reporting.

Written by Sandy Smith