Election results 2013: Christie sets up 2016 bid with big victory – live

The Guardian's Kayla Epstein (@kaylaepstein) speaks with de Blasio supporter Lori Zeno after the mayor-elect's victory speech. 

"It may seem silly but I think his kids keep him young, they keep him grounded," she said. "It makes me want to trust him with my own children... When it comes to schools and education."

And check out video Kayla shot of de Blasio's speech here.

Oh, bother:

Guardian data analyst Harry Enten (@ForecasterEnten) is watching the Virginia attorney general's race converge to a near-tie. If Mark Herring gets ahead of Mark Obenshain, the Democrats would have their first three-office sweep in the state in 25 years. Right now the race looks like this:

President Barack Obama painted New Jersey deep blue in 2012, winning it by almost 18 points.

That's not what it looks like tonight:

The Guardian's Adam Gabbatt (@AdamGabbatt) reports on NYC mayor-elect Bill de Blasio's victory speech. Here's Adam:

Just after 10.30pm the hundreds-strong crowd in Brooklyn's Park Slope got their first glimpse of the man they had all been waiting for. Out walked the star of the campaign – Dante De Blasio, the 15-year-old son of Bill whose advertisement appearances and sizable afro have made him the face of this election. De Blasio's daughter, Chiara, and wife, Chirlane McCray, were there too, and it was McCray who offered the introduction.

“The man I love has exactly what it takes to take on the big challenges we face,” McCray said, as the crowd finally quietened down. McCray had worked with De Blasio on the campaign of New York's last Democratic mayor, David Dinkins– and now she was introducing the next.

De Blasio waved down the cheers and thanked his wife and staff. “We're proud of what we've accomplished on this campaign and we're humbled by it,” he said, before getting down to business in a speech that sought to temper expectations that were sky-high after De Blasio's repeated campaign pledges to united New York's “two cities” – those of the haves and have-nots.

“Let me be clear, our work, all of our work, is really just beginning,” he said.

“We have no illusions about the task that lies ahead. Tackling inequality isn't easy. It never has been and it never will be. The challenges we face have been decades in the making, and the problems we sought to address will not be solved overnight. But make no mistake, the city has chosen a progressive path and tonight we set forward together on it, together as one city.”

De Blasio went on to praise his family, who have been so central to his campaign. His children came in for special praise. "They make me proud every single day. And my fellow New Yorkers, they are very stylish," he said, to cheers.

There was mention of New York's controversial stop-and-frisk policing in the speech – something that had served as a divisive issue between he and Lhota on the campaign. Safety and civil liberties “are not mutually exclusive”, De Blasio said, adding that there needs to be communication between police and the neighbourhoods they serve. “We are stronger and safer as a city when police and residents work hand in hand.”

De Blasio signed off with more realism before this self-confessed “night owl” left to enjoy his victory.

“The road ahead will be difficult but it will be travelled. Progressive changes wont happen overnight but they will happen. There will be many obstacles that stand in our way but we will overcome them. And I know this. I will never stop fighting for the city I love, the city we all love so much and I will never forget that as mayor I work for you.”

– Adam Gabbatt

McAuliffe's done. He calls on God to bless Virginia. They play Life is a Highway, but it's hard to make out whether the Tom Cochrane or Rascal Flatts version.

Skipping briefly back to Detroit: the city has its first white mayor in 40 years, Mike Duggan, a Democrat responsible for bringing the city's hospitals back from dysfunction and the verge of bankruptcy: 

Guardian Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan) reports on McAuliffe's speech from inside the room:

Even McAuliffe nodded to the often bitter money-driven campaign when he joked to supporters: “I think that every single person in the state of Virginia is glad that the TV ads are now over.”

But he made an appeal for bipartisan co-operation with Republicans, a theme which he and the Clintons have used to subtly distance themselves from the Obama White House throughout the campaign. 

“We want to make Virginia a model for pragmatic leadership.. and bipartisan co-operation,” McAuliffe told supporters in his acceptance speech.

Terry McAuliffe's voice is nearly as shot as Ken Cuccinelli's, Dan Roberts reports:

Back to McAuliffe. He says people won't have to watch political TV ads any more. Everyone cheers wildly. The race has attracted a disproportionate amount of out-of-state money and by now Virginia TV viewers are beyond saturated.

McAuliffe says he'll make Virginia a model for job creation, for strong schools, for welcoming scientists and innovators, a model for non-discrimination, and a model for an efficient transportation system. 

And also, he says, "the model for bipartisan cooperation." McAuliffe says that's a view he shares with the lieutenant governor-elect, Ralph Northam. Who is a Democrat, of course. 

He says the election was never a choice between Democrats and Republicans. 

Meanwhile the Associated Press calls the Alabama 1st district Republican runoff race for Bradley Byrne.

McAuliffe is thanking everyone. He asks the crowd to "give yourselves an enormous round of applause."

"And I want to thank" he continues...

He thanks Republicans for "crossing party lines" to support him.

He thanks the voters of Virginia. 

Still thanking.

Here comes McAuliffe in Virginia. 

His crowd is chanting Ter-ry! Ter-ry! Ter-ry!

He is hoarse. Happy hoarse. He thanks his wife, with whom he recently celebrated his 25th wedding anniversary. 

Bill de Blasio has launched into his victory speech in Brooklyn.

He's thanking his family. 

There is a heck of an echo in the room. He sounds like he's speaking in a big empty tin can, which is pretty much the case. 

The Guardian's Dominic Rushe (@dominicru) is in Detroit, where the Democrat has built a solid lead in the mayoral race:

Mike Duggan is ahead 55% to 45% with 67% of the vote in. Not quite the trouncing polls were suggesting Benny Napoleon would get. But still some way to go.

Duggan's party isn't expected to kick off until 11. Which is late for a Tuesday in Detroit these days.

With 83% of precincts reporting in Alabama's 1st district Republican runoff, establishment- and business-favorite Bradley Byrne leads Tea Party conservative Dean Young by 8 percentage points, Harry Enten reports via AP. 

For more on Young read this earlier post. Call it a victory for Hawaii. 

In his concession speech in the Virginia gubernatorial race, Republican Ken Cuccinelli did not see a defeat brought about by his retrograde policy views on abortion and women's health. He saw a money gap – and a near-victory powered by the failings of Obamacare. Dan Roberts reports: 

Cuccinelli blamed the $15m gulf in campaign finance between the two candidates for his defeat. “We were very heavily outspent but I am glad that we ran on first principles,” he told GOP supporters in Richmond.

But he insisted the last-minute recovery in his support showed the unpopularity of Democrat healthcare reforms.

“You have sent a message tonight to the president of the United States that you believe that Obamacare is a failure. This race came down to the wire because of Obamacare. That message will go out across America tonight.”

Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli lost badly among women voters, and the victor in the lieutenant governor's race explains his view of why, the Guardian's Dan Roberts reports: 

Ralph Northam, who comfortably won the race to become Democratic lieutenant governor, credited the unpopularity of Cuccinelli's views on abortion as a major factor in his defeat.

“If there is one thing we have learned in Richmond it is that no group of legislators, most of whom are men, should be telling women what they should and shouldn't be doing with their health,” he told party supporters after his victory.

Christie's done. 

Christie so much as says that he is the answer to the national political frustration:

He says that "a dispirited America angry" with their government in Washington "looks to New Jersey to say, "'is what I think happening really happening?"

Let me give the answer to everyone who is watching tonight: Our first job is to get the job done, and as long as I am governor, that job will always be finished.

Christie says a lot of people in the aftermath of the hurricane have asked him for hugs. Then he's interrupted a couple times by people asking for hugs.

"I guess there is open bar tonight, huh?" he cracks. The crowd laughs.

"Welcome to New Jersey," he says. The crowd cheers.

He says the hugs have done more for him than they could've done for the partner-huggers.

Christie says every victim of Hurricane Sandy will receive help from the state to rebuild their lives. "I'm resolved to complete this mission," he says:

I want to promise you tonight, I will not let anyone, anything, any political party, any government entity or any force get in between me and the completion of my mission.

Christie pledges to "govern with the spirit of Sandy." He means the solidarity among people from all walks of life that followed the storm, working together. 

For me being governor is always about getting the job done, first....

I did not seek a second term to do small things. I sought a second term to finish the job. Now watch me do it.

That's an applause line.

Christie: "You can agree with me or you can disagree with me. But I will never stop leading the state I love."

Until just over halfway through his second term, when it's time to move on to bigger things? 

Christie says leadership is as much about listening as it is about talking. He says his candidacy brought people together. "I was the governor for all the people... and now we have a big big win tonight."

He says Washington should heed his victory:

I know that if we can do this in Trenton, NJ, maybe the folks in Washington DC should tune in their TVs right now, see how it's done.

Christie thanks his state. He sounds like he's talking to his life partner on their 20th anniversary.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight I stand here as your governor, and I am so proud to be your governor," he begins.

What people have never understood about us is that I didn't need any introduction to all of you. I know you, because I'm one of you.

Tonight... I want to say, thank you New Jersey for making me the luckiest guy in the world.

Here comes Chris Christie, taking the stage to give a victory speech in Asbury Park, New Jersey. 

The Democrats have bagged the governor's race and the lieutenant governor's race in Virginia tonight. The question is whether the party will sweep the state with a victory in the razor-thin attorney general's race. The Republican, Mark Obenshain, has held a slight lead through much of the evening – but it is shrinking: 

"McAuliffe won the campaign by spending big," Guardian Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan) writes in a quick note on the McAuliffe victory:

 He amassed an estimated $34m, including 37 personal donations worth more than $100,000, to fund a series of television ads painting Cuccinelli as a hardliner with views on abortion and gun control that are thought to have deterred many moderate voters.

The Guardian's Adam Gabbatt (@AdamGabbatt) reports on Republican Joe Lhota's concession speech in the New York City mayoral race:

I have fought the good fight and I have finished the race," Lhota said in a relatively low-key concession speech. He wished his mother happy birthday and thanked former mayor Rudy Giuliani, under whom he served as deputy.

There were no great cheers at De Blasio's party as Lhota's speech was aired - after all, this result has been fairly apparent for a number of weeks. Most paid little heed to De Blasio's rival as he took his bow, with many here flooding the bar area on one side of the YMCA hall and leaving the myriad local politicians to glad-hand the area infront of the stage.

"Let it be known I will not spend one moment of my future regretting what might have been," Lhota said. He left with an upbeat message in what has been a rather damp squib of a campaign.

"New Yorkers never quit, New Yorkers never surrender, New Yorkers never hide from history, we make history."

The Guardian's Dan Roberts gets some video from inside the Terry McAuliffe party as CNN calls the race for their man:

The Guardian's Adam Gabbatt (@AdamGabbatt) and Kayla Epstein (@KaylaEpstein) are at the Bill de Blasio party in Brooklyn, where no, those drinks aren't free – or free-range. Kayla writes:

It's a cash bar and people are restricted to a Designated Area when they drink. When they finish their brews they can leave. An attendee referred to it as "alcohol jail."

They are packed in like cattle. 

With just over 52% of precincts reporting in New Jersey, Chris Christie is at just over 60% of the vote, with a 23-point margin of victory for the moment, Guardian polling analyst Harry Enten (@ForecasterEnten) reports.

Ladies and germs, Virginia's next governor, arguing in 2008 that Hillary Clinton was beating Barack Obama no matter what the numbers said.

Guardian Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts sends two lines from the McAuliffe party – finally, really a party:

Huge cheers here.

The room has called it.

NBC News also has just projected a McAuliffe victory.

Fox News has called the Virginia gubernatorial race for Democrat Terry McAuliffe – a call supported by Guardian polling analyst Harry Enten.

Harry points out that with 91% of precincts reporting, McAuliffe has opened up a slight lead – 0.4% – and the remaining precincts represent overwhelmingly Democratic territory. 

In the Detroit mayoral race, the Guardian's Dominic Rushe (@dominicru) reports an edge for Democrat Mike Duggan:

With 12% of the votes in, Mike Duggan, potentially the city's first white mayor since 1974, is slightly ahead of Benny Napoleon, 52% to 48%.

The Guardian's Adam Gabbatt (@AdamGabbatt) is at mayor-elect Bill de Blasio's victory party in Park Slope, Brooklyn:

Amina Abdul-Wahhab was one of the first to enter the YMCA in Park Slope, where television screens showed De Blasio being named the prospective winner.

"It makes me feel great, I feel like there's gonna be a lot of progress, he's really fighting for the world class," she said. "We finally have a politician who is fighting for the everyday people."

Abdul-Wahhab, 40, lives in East Flatbush, around four miles from Park Slope but a world away in terms of average incomes.

"There's a lot of working class people struggling just to make ends meet," she said. She said early childhood education was a key policy for single parents in the neighbourhood.

Around 100 people were in front of the stage – where a red "progress" banner hung from the podium – at 9.25pm. Katy Perry was booming from speakers as others headed for the refreshments on offer. The main attraction was beer from the Brooklyn Brewery – a nice touch, given De Blasio's roots in the borough.

Leon Goldenberg, a real estate agent from Midwood, was "absolutely excited", despite observing that De Blasio's victory "seems to have been set in stone after the primary".

"You don't have the high you normally would when it's a close race," he said.

Asked how the city will change under De Blasio's leadership, Goldenberg said the change would "not nearly be as dramatic as people expect".

"There'll be a little less of the friction that the current mayor has caused," he said. De Blasio would be "less Manhattan-centric", and "hopefully there'll be more affordable housing", Goldenberg said.

Former union leader Marty Walsh has been declared the victor in the Boston mayoral race. Opponent John Connolly has called Walsh to concede the race, the Boston Globe reports:

Walsh will succeed five-term Boston mayor Tom Menino.

The Guardian's Kayla Epstein (@kaylaepstein) has been speaking with people waiting in line to get into the Bill de Blasio party in Brooklyn. 

Julia Easterlin and her husband, Bradley, 73, are some of the first in line for Bill de Blasio's election night party. They arrived an hour early, they said.

Julia is a retiree and member of the United Federation of Teachers union, and supports de Blasio mainly because of his opposition to charter schools. 

"Teachers work hard but nobody ever recognizes that," she said. "De Blasio does."

Neither had ever been to a politician's victory party before, but Bradley said, "if he wins we'll be back again in 4 years."

Zachary Brodkin, 25, also arrived about an hour early in order to get a good spot. He uses crutches, but said that standing "wasn't really a big deal."

Brodkin said he was a longtime supporter of de Blasio, ever since the public advocate race in 2009. "The reason why isn't just about his policies," he said. "It's the way he communicates with the public."

The count in the Detroit mayoral race appears to be moving notably slowly. 

Dan Roberts notes more encouraging results for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe, the Democrat – and Dan divulges his proprietary metric for calling close races:

"Senator Mark Warner predicts the crowd will see Terry McAuliffe as Virginia governor within the next 45 minutes," Dan writes. Warner "declares Ralph Northam the lieutenant governor winner already, but says the attorney general race is too tight to call."

And the Virginia race keeps tightening – in the wrong direction for Republican Ken Cuccinelli. Republican attorney general candidate Mark Obenshain, however, retains an edge:

Democrat Bill de Blasio has been elected mayor of New York City, returning Gracie Mansion to the Democrats after a 20-year hiatus.

Exit polls have de Blasio winning by somewhere in the vicinity of 50 points, Guardian polling analyst Harry Enten reports. 

22% of precincts have now reported in the Boston mayoral race, and it's basically tied. It's an open general election, meaning Democrat can run against Democrat, which is just what's happening. John Connolly, a lawyer with a focus on education, and Martin Walsh, a former union leader, are the candidates.

Dan Roberts feels the temperature rise a bit at the McAuliffe party, on the strength of speeches predicting victory:

Confidence slowly growing here at McAuliffe campaign party as succession of state politicians insist 'we are going to win' to loud applause.

Some cheer seeps in to the McAuliffe room – but not yet for the gubernatorial candidate:

New numbers in Virginia, where the Democrat is gaining: via Guardian data analyst Harry Enten:

Cuccinelli's lead with 68% of the precincts in is now only 2.3 points, and it's been falling as more Democratic areas come in. McAuliffe is performing very well in the late-reporting northern municipalities, as anticipated. 

The Guardian's Adam Gabbatt is at Bill de Blasio's anticipated victory party in Brooklyn:

Guardian Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan) is at the McAuliffe party – which isn't a party yet – in Fairfax:

The Guardian's Dominic Rushe is in Detroit, where one magazine, called Governing, called the mayoral race for Democrat Mike Duggan – before the polls even closed. 

From the Free Press report:

In what must be an accident, “Governing” magazine has posted a story headlined “Detroit elects former hospital CEO mayor.”

The sub-headline heads: “Mike Duggan, the former head of the Detroit Medical Center, becomes the city’s first white mayor in 40 years.”

The Virginia result could weigh on the debate over the president's health care law, Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan) writes – especially if the state result proves to be as close as it's looking:

If things are closer than expected, you can expect Republicans to double down on their attacks over Obamacare. Cuccinelli was crediting a last-minute backlash against the botched healthcare roll out today as a reason for his closing in the polls in the last few days.

Guardian Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan), in Fairfax, is watching a very different race from the New Jersey result we have just seen. "This is going to be close," Dan writes:

The latest weighted exit poll from CNN shows Democrat Terry McAuliffe ahead 47-45, with 30% of actual counties in.

They hoped for a clearer lead than that in Democratic campaign headquarters.

What are the exit polls telling us about Chris Christie's potential crossover appeal in a 2016 presidential election?

He better keep working on it, Ed Pilkington writes:

Chris Christie has been reelected governor of New Jersey, according to the decision desks at every network and cable outlet and the Associated Press.

New Jersey polls closed at 8pm ET. It'll be awhile before we have a margin of victory. The question that has attended the race is whether Christie chalks up a big enough margin of victory to establish himself as a national candidate, as if there's any question whether he's established himself as a national candidate. But number crunchers got to crunch.

Election Day. Savor it. 

The Guardian's Ed Pilkington (@edpilkington) is in Asbury Park, New Jersey, where polls close in about 20 minutes. Here's Ed's report from the scene of the anticipated big victory party:

Supporters of the rising star of the Republican party, Chris Christie, are descending on Asbury Park in New Jersey to hear the state governor deliver his victory speech after what is expected to be a comfortable bout for re-election.

Christie is expected to speak at about 10pm on the Jersey Shore in the venue immortalized by Bruce Springsteen in what many observers see as a blatant launching pad for a 2016 presidential bid. The New Jersey governor is expected to win a second term without difficulty, having out-spent and out-advertised his Democratic rival, state senator Barbara Buono, by a margin of eight to one.

With victory not in doubt, all eyes will be on the margin by which he wins, as a resounding victory would act as grist to the Christie mill, and support his argument that it is time for the Republican leadership to steer the party in a new, more moderate, direction.

Polling in the lead-up to the election has underlined Christie’s rare ability among modern Republicans to appeal beyond the party base to independents and even Democratic voters. The latest Quinnipiac university poll has him with a resounding two-to-one lead over Buono among independents, and attracting almost a third of the Democratic vote.

Guardian Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan), stationed chastely next to the champagne post at Terry McAuliffe's party in Fairfax, notes a tale of two Virginias:

The contrast between these Northern Virginia suburbs where McAuliffe is expected to romp home and the blue collar towns in the south of the state where Cuccinelli has been campaigning is striking. The Sheraton Premiere is next door to Porsche and Aston Martin dealerships and just 12 metro stops from downtown DC.

Breaking: Nothing yet.

If you need Virginia election results at either a level more granular or a speed more vicious than your present bloggers may deliver, we'd refer you to Harry's referral to the Virginia board of elections site:

Guardian Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan) is in Fairfax at the anticipated Terry McAuliffe victory – did he win? – they're calling it a victory party. So far there are a lot of media hacks in the room, Dan reports – but no one else yet.

Programme due to start around 8pm. Party officials staying schtum but a quietly confident air about the place.

Here's the Virginia gubernatorial race from another angle: the tale of the polls six months ago, in May 2013. Back then, different polls awarded the lead to different candidates. Guardian polling analyst Harry Enten wrote at the time:

From two polls produced this week we can make similar conclusions with different results. An NBC/Marist poll has T-Mac up by 2pt among registered voters and down by 3pt among likely voters. A Washington Post survey has Cuch up 5pt among registered voters and 10pt among likely voters. You'll note that the overall results are different, but that the gap between the registered and likely voters is the same.

But Harry warned the polls were not predictive, at such an early stage in the race – advice that appears to have been sound, especially if McAuliffe wins with any strength:

But does this current polling actually tell us anything about what will happen on election day? Not really. At this point in 2009, all but one scientific poll had eventual winner and current Republican Governor Bob McDonnell winning by 9pt or less. A few polls even had Democrat Creigh Deeds ahead by mid-June, but most had McDonnell ahead by about 5pt. With a few exceptions – notably from SurveyUSA, which consistently showed double-digit McDonnell leads by early August – most surveys continued to show a single-digit McDonnell lead through September. McDonnell won by 17pt.

Doug Mataconis is a good follow for Virginia politics. "In the end, though, I think the real question in Virginia will be whether the Dems sweep all three seats or does the GOP win the AG's race," he tweets:

The Guardian's Dominic Rushe (@dominicru) is in Detroit, where Mike Duggan is the odds-on favorite to become the first white mayor to be elected since 1974.

Wayne county sheriff Benny Napoleon has some visible support around town in posters and lawn signs, Dominic says, but interviews with voters do not seem to contradict polls putting him in a distant second. Voting places close at 8pm ET.

It's 7pm on the East Coast and polls are closed in Virginia. 

It's too early to call the gubernatorial race but Democrat Terry McAuliffe leads, MSNBC's decision desk thinks.

If you follow New York politics you won't want to miss this pic.

From left to right are (1998 senatorial loser) Al D'Amato; (1998 gubernatorial loser) Betsy McCaughey Ross, (2013 mayoral loser) John Catsimatidis and (2013 mayoral loser) Anthony Weiner.

It doesn't pertain to tonight's elections, but if you came for politics and policy news, here's some: following an historic vote today in the legislature, Illinois is poised to become the latest state to legalize gay marriage. The AP reports:

Under the measure, which the state House approved 61-54 before sending it on to the Senate for technical changes, gay weddings could be held in Illinois starting in June. The bill heads next to Governor Pat Quinn, who has pledged to sign it but didn't immediately indicate when.

Fourteen states plus Washington DC, allow same-sex marriage. Most recently, New Jersey, Minnesota and Rhode Island have legalized it.

Read the full piece here.

Virginia voters have no illusions about the moral probity of their gubernatorial candidates. 30% of exit-poll respondents believed neither Terry McAuliffe nor Ken Cuccinelli has high ethical standards, according to the New York Times. 

Only 13% thought both candidates had high ethical standards.

Here's a list of where we are tonight: 

Adam Gabbatt (@AdamGabbatt) and Kayla Epstein (@KaylaEpstein) are in Brooklyn with mayoral favorite Bill de Blasio 

Ed Pilkington (@EdPilkington) is in Asbury Park, New Jersey with gubernatorial favorite Chris Christie

Dan Roberts (@RobertsDan) is in Fairfax, Virginia with gubernatorial favorite Terry McAuliffe

Dominic Rushe (@dominicru) is in Detroit with mayoral favorite Mike Duggan 

Here are poll closing times. Results will begin to come in – municipality by municipality in statewide races – after the polls close:

7pm ET

Virginia (governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general)

8pm ET

New Jersey (governor)

Boston (mayor)

Alabama (1st congressional district)

Detroit (mayor)

9pm ET

New York City (mayor)

And now, our continuing election coverage.

And here's the gist of "preliminary" Virginia exit poll data, from the Washington Post:

Preliminary Virginia exit poll results, including interviews with early voters, suggest an electorate more closely resembling 2012 than the last gubernatorial election four years ago. Early voters are more Democratic, less white and more highly educated than the final composition of the electorate in 2009.

Exit polls are starting to trickle in. (Necessary warning for all exit polls: they may be completely wrong.)

The New York Times, citing exit poll data from Edison Research, finds that "[s]even out of very eight voters in New Jersey said they were worried about the direction of the nation’s economy over the next year." Imagine that, people still care about the economy. "This figure is nearly identical to the proportion who said they were worried four years ago."

And lest we forget why Christie is popular enough to ride to an overwhelming reelection in a blue state: "One year after Hurricane Sandy ravaged the state, one-fourth of New Jersey voters said they were severely affected by the storm, and seven in eight voters said they approved of Gov. Chris Christie’s handling of the problems it caused."

How many will turn out to vote in New York City? "But as evening approached," the New York Times writes, "turnout at the city’s 1,200 polling places was low to moderate, according to election officials and campaign aides." (This likely has to do with polls showing Bill de Blasio leading by fifty billion percentage points going into the day.)

The setting of what could, in a few hours, be America's saddest party:

Another crucial ballot measure: will 11 counties in Colorado secede from the state? (No.)

Anyone think the conservative New York Post is a bit anxious about NYC electing its first Democratic mayor since 1989?

Enjoy our election day 2013 gallery.

The last few days of Ken Cuccinelli's gubernatorial campaign have been an interesting spectacle. He's been tilting his message hard-right, as either/both (a) a means of firing up the conservative turnout (b) a means of networking for a job opportunity once he's no longer in elected office. 

Last night, Cuccinelli ceded the stage at his rally to libertarian icon Ron Paul, who implored the crowd to consider "nullification" of federal law.

And today, we get a little last-minute robocalling action warning that Terry McAuliffe will abort everyone, everywhere, all the time.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) has been getting a last-minute boost in his bid for governor, with a number of robocalls accusing his Democratic opponent of profiting off a dying man and favoring "abortion on demand."

Speaking of Chris Christie: Mitt Romney called him to apologize for leaks about the New Jersey governor's vetting in last year's vice presidential search that appear in the hot new campaign tell-all Double Down: Game Change 2012. 

The Washington Post reports that "[t]urnout was steady and strong around Virginia as voters went to the polls Tuesday."

Turnout was heavier than expected in precincts around Richmond and in Northern Virginia, especially since this is an off-year election with no presidential or congressional races on the ballot. In Arlington County, both early morning votes and absentee balloting were up significantly, said county registrar Linda Lindberg.

The better the turnout in Northern Virginia suburbs, the better things are for Terry McAuliffe.

The Guardian's Kayla Epstein (@KaylaEpstein) has been making the rounds at New York City polling stations and elsewhere today. Here are a couple of her photos:

The mayor of Boston for the past 20 years, Tom Menino, exits a polling station after casting a vote for his successor.

The Guardian's Dominic Rushe is in Detroit, where there's also a mayoral race today:

Boris Hernandez is out on Woodward Avenue, Detroit’s main drag, campaigning for Mike Duggan, the former business executive who looks set to be the city’s first white mayor since 1974 and in a city that is 82% African American.

Hernandez, who works for the city, says voting is slow at the moment but he thinks things will pick up. “What’s going to change? This right here is what’s going to change,” he says pointing at his Vote Duggan T-shirt. Mike Duggan (a former business executive who specialised in turnarounds) saved two hospitals in this city. "He has the experience this city needs,” says Hernandez. “We are all pulling together now. This city needs jobs and he’s the one to deliver them.”

The polls seem to suggest voters are with Hernandez. Voting closes at eight, but Duggan has a 2-1 margin over his opponent, Wayne County sheriff Benny Napoleon.

Recommended reading: "I Can’t Believe Terry McAuliffe is Going to be Governor of Virginia," from a reporter who's covered McAuliffe for years.

Perhaps the most interesting race to watch today will be the special election runoff in Alabama's first congressional district, between Republican establishment representative Bradley Byrne and conservative activist Dean Young.

Recent polling shows Young with a slight lead, within the margin of error.

The Guardian's Paul Lewis asked each candidate a few simple questions last week and received some divergent answers. A couple of examples:

Where was Barack Obama born?

Byrne: He was born in Hawaii and he has produced a birth certificate.

Young: That is what we call the $64,000 question! I have no idea! [When pushed for an answer:] Kenya.

Leaving the question of gay marriage aside, do you believe homosexual people can feel the same love for one another as straight people?

Byrne: Yes.

Young: When you start talking about that, I don't even know … Homosexuality is wrong, and that is just the way it is. Always has been, always will be.

What election day is this again, 2013? Let's skip ahead to 2016, and consider what Christie's likely win today means for his presidential prospects. Here's a smart look at it from The New Republic's Nate Cohn:

To be fair, the massive net-41 point gap between Romney and Christie’s performance isn’t simply the result of flipping on a few wedge issues. Christie isn't a federal candidate; there's a long history of Republican governors in blue states. Christie’s also an incumbent who was elected in favorable conditions, who’s now running against a challenger—Barbara Buono—whose name I occasionally forget. It's an open question whether Christie from four years ago could win an open seat in New Jersey today. And it would be malpractice to forget Hurricane Sandy, the real turning point in the race. Before the storm, Christie’s approval ratings were in the low-to-mid fifties—low enough that he was potentially vulnerable in a very blue state. At the very least, he wasn’t on track to win by 23 points. So Christie isn’t a blueprint for perpetual Republican dominance: It would be extremely misguided to assume that conservative Republicans can simply jettison guns and immigration and routinely win blue states.

But that doesn’t justify discounting Christie, either. After all, Republicans don’t need to win New Jersey to win the presidency. They mainly need to hold down Democratic margins in areas that aren’t too different from New Jersey, like the well-educated and diverse suburbs around Philadelphia, Washington, Columbus, and Denver. The sheer margin by which Christie is surpassing what’s necessary is consistent with the possibility that even modest changes would be enough for a sufficient number of moderate voters to reconsider a Republican candidate.

Happy election day! This is Jim Newell in Washington. Today, and into the evening, we'll be following the developments and results of the handful of big races to be decided in this off-year cycle.

The focus will be on the "big three": gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey, and the mayoral race in the country's biggest metropolis: New York City. Unfortunately, for liveblogging excitement reasons, none of these elections are expected to be especially close. Bill de Blasio and Chris Christie are expected to cruise through with large double-digit victory margins in NYC and New Jersey, respectively.

In Virginia, Democrat Terry McAuliffe has a narrowing but still comfortable edge over attorney general Ken Cuccinelli.

As the Guardian's Harry J Enten writes in his election guide, there are a few other notable races out there: a special election runoff for Alabama's first congressional district, a mayoral runoff in Boston, and a very narrow Virginia attorney general's race. 

If there are any other races, ballot initiatives, and so on out there that you want us to cover to tell us about, let us know at jim.newell.freelance@theguardian.com.