Today's Elections May Show GOP Woes

(AP) -- U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine acknowledged a little nervousness as he voted Tuesday in his race for governor of New Jersey, one of several contests being closely monitored for evidence of how the GOP's recent struggles are influencing voters.

Tuesday's voting in New Jersey concluded a campaign that featured more personal attacks than actual talk about the issues. The races there and in Virginia -- together the biggest contests in this off-year election season -- broke spending records in both states, got progressively nasty and yet remained close.

Corzine, facing Republican businessman Doug Forrester, voted shortly after the polls opened at a fire station in Hoboken. Coming out of the voting booth, he told reporters he was "a little nervous, a little worried but confident."

A few hours later, Forrester voted at a senior center, giving a thumbs-up and expressing only optimism about his chances.

In Virginia, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tim Kaine chatted with neighbors in his Richmond neighborhood before going to the polls with his wife, Anne Holton.

Kaine's Republican challenger, Jerry Kilgore, got a boost Monday from President Bush, who made a last-minute dash into Virginia to urge die-hard conservatives to help turn out voters for the former attorney general. (Full story)

"The thing I like about this fellow is he grew up on a farm," Bush said in a brief stop on his return from a South American trade mission. "He doesn't have a lot of fancy airs."

At a campaign event for Kaine, Democratic Gov. Mark R. Warner welcomed the arrival of Bush, who even in reliably Republican Virginia suffers job-approval ratings of around 40 percent.

"If they want to compare how things are going in Washington versus how things are going in Virginia, I'll take that comparison every day of the week," Warner said.

Mayoral contests throughout U.S.

In other contests Tuesday, the cities of New York, Detroit, Houston, Boston, San Diego and Atlanta had mayoral races. Seven states considered ballot issues, including four proposals backed by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that were trailing in the polls.

Schwarzenegger's initiatives would cap state spending and give him more power to cut budgets, rein in public employee unions, and take away legislators' power to redistrict. (Watch: Stars battle in California -- 1:46)

"I'm never going to give up because I have the people power," Schwarzenegger told supporters at a retirement community in suburban Sacramento. But in a widely played radio ad, Schwarzenegger nemesis Warren Beatty tells voters: "Don't give him more power."

In New York City, Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg held onto a clear lead against Democratic underdog Fernando Ferrer, who campaigned with the Rev. Al Sharpton and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois.

Ferrer, the former Bronx borough president, had spent only about an eighth of the more than $66 million that the billionaire mayor has funneled toward winning a second term.

In Boston, Mayor Thomas M. Menino hopes to set a record for the longest serving mayor in city history, while challenger Maura Hennigan wants to become Boston's first elected female mayor.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was seeking another term while fending off allegations of misspending. Kilpatrick blames the fiscal problems on his predecessor, Dennis Archer, for whom challenger Freman Hendrix worked.

Allegations of ballot improprieties also have surfaced. A judge ordered Detroit election officials to oversee absentee voting after finding problems with the way the city clerk organized the effort.

Texas voters were asked to decide whether a state constitutional ban should be placed on same-sex marriage. And in Maine, a referendum seeks to repeal the state's anti-discrimination law.

In San Diego, Donna Frye, a surf-shop owner and Democrat, was staging an uphill battle against Republican Jerry Sanders, who enjoys strong backing from the city's business establishment. (Watch 'regime change' in San Diego -- 1:57)

Four constitutional amendments in Ohio would expand voting by mail, limit campaign contributions and create bipartisan boards to draw districts and oversee elections. The amendments were proposed by Democratic-leaning groups in the state they blame for costing them the White House last year.

Recent polls show the gubernatorial race in Virginia -- estimated to have cost a record $42 million -- has tightened. Kaine got 45 percent of voters, and Kilgore had 44 percent in a survey released Friday by the Mason-Dixon Polling & Research. The gap was well within the poll's error margin of 4 percentage points.

For New Jersey, a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday showed Corzine at 52 percent to Forrester's 45 percent. The sampling error margin was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Corzine and Forrester spent a combined $70 million on the priciest campaign in state history, much of it their own money going to TV and radio advertising criticizing each other.

"All I've seen is negative campaigning," said Nick Russo, a New Jersey businessman. "I can see why people get frustrated with that. You get tired of hearing this. It just turns you off."