In a dramatic return to the statehouse in California, Democrat Jerry Brown is projected to win the gubernatorial race over Republican Meg Whitman.
Whitman, former CEO of eBay, has spent a record $150 million in a fierce battle for the seat currently held by actor-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger — in a race that appeared to be a toss-up on polling day. Brown, currently California’s attorney general, was California governor from 1975 to 1983.
Brown, who was the youngest governor of California his first time around, and will now become the oldest, declared himself experienced and full of energy for the job and told his supporters that what California needs over the next four years is "creativity and imagination."
Noting the deep divisions in his state and in the nation, Brown said: "I take as my challenge forging a common purpose... based on a vision of what California can be," including a leader in renewable energy and public education.
Whitman echoed his message of unity.
"It is time now for Californians to unite behind the common cause of turning around this state that we love," she said in a concession speech. "We need leaders in Sacramento to rise to the occasion and work together… And tomorrow we are all Californians."
Voters on Tuesday selected governors in more than two-thirds of the states, the largest-ever number of gubernatorial races on the ballot.
The balance of Republican and Democratic governors is significant because they will work with state legislatures to redraw Congressional districts based on the the results of the 2010 census. Those decisions can be decided in ways that benefit their own parties.
And while Democrats have California and New York for consolation — with candidates winning the top office in the nation’s two most populous states — they have also lost at least nine seats to Republicans that were previously held by Democrats.
GOP candidates displacing Democrats included John Kasich of Ohio, Susana Martinez of New Mexico, Mary Fallin of Oklahoma, Bill Haslam of Tennessee, Rick Snyder of Michigan, Matt Mead of Wyoming, Tom Corbett in Pennsylvania, Sam Brownback in Kansas and Scott Walker in Wisconsin.
Addressing supporters after his victory, Wisconsin's Walker laid out the top issue on his agenda, getting people back to work, announcing that he would call a special session of legislature to ease business tax burdens.
"You don’t have to be afraid anymore because help is on the way," he said. "You have an ally in the governor's office; Wisconsin is open for business."
The defeat of Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland is an especially painful one for Democrats. Republican Kasich edged out the incumbent in this quintessential swing state after a tight race.
Strickland criticized Kasich for having been managing editor of the now-defunct Lehman Brothers after exiting Congress, but Kasich appears to have ridden the national tide into this seat.
Among the Republican victories were two firsts. New Mexico’s Martinez will become the first Hispanic woman to win a governorship, and Indian-American Nikki Haley, projected to win in South Carolina, will be the first woman to hold the office in that state.
Other Republicans projected to win governorships include incumbents Gary Herbert of Utah, Sean Parnell of Alaska, Robert Bentley in Alabama, Dennis Daugaard in South Dakota, Butch Otter in Idaho, Jan Brewer in Arizona and Rick Perry — the longest serving governor of Texas.
In a victory speech, Perry laid out the conservative agenda. "We got our work cut out for us, we need to be ready to make some tough decisions … all without raising taxes," he said.
In Rhode Island, Independent Lincoln Chafee, a former Republican senator, was projected as winner against Democratic State Treasurer and Republican John Robitaille. Caprio made headlines last week when he told the president he "could shove it" after Obama vowed to remain neutral in the contest.
Meantime in New York, Democrat Andrew Cuomo, coasted past Tea Party Republican Carl Paladino after an exceedingly nasty race. It's the same job Cuomo's father, Mario, held in the 1980s and '90s.
Cuomo, 52, led in the polls from the start of his well-funded campaign and helped the combative and conservative Paladino sink himself by shifting the focus from economic issues to Paladino's opposition to abortion and gay marriage.
Paladino, a 64-year-old millionaire developer and political novice, made some major missteps during the campaign. He got into a shouting match with a newspaper reporter and hinted at one point that the divorced Cuomo had had affairs while married — accusations that Paladino later backed away from.
He also created a furor when he said children shouldn't be "brainwashed" into thinking homosexuality is acceptable. He said being gay is "not the way God created us."
In his concession speech, Paladino maintained the Tea Party mantra, saying people want lower taxes, less government spending, more accountability and the end of insider dealing in Albany.
"Last year, with the unexpected and remarkable ascent of the Tea Party, we saw the passion of regular people spill into the streets. I shared their feelings," Paladino said.
"We're frustrated with big government. We're tired of our politicians spending like drunken sailors …"
Sharing what he learned in his run for the office, Paladino said: "You don’t want the media noticing you. It ain't pretty. And it sure ain't fair."
Other Democrats winning included incumbents Deval Patrick in Massachusetts, John Lynch in New Hampshire, who staved off a challenge by Republican John Stephen, Mike Beebe in Arkansas and Martin O'Malley in Maryland.
The gubernatorial race in Florida was too close to call at the end of election night, but Democrat Alex Sink conceded to Republican Rick Scott Wednesday morning.
Florida's was among the hardest-fought races in the country, with both parties spending millions on the race between Scott, a businessman, and Sink, the state's chief financial officer. The race had been very close with Scott holding a razor-thin lead Wednesday with 49 percent of the vote to Sink's 48 percent.
The winner replaces Gov. Charlie Crist, who eschewed a second term to run for U.S. Senate. He lost Tuesday to Marco Rubio.
Meanwhile, in Illinois, Republican Bill Brady said Wednesday he won't concede to Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn in the exceptionally tight race for governor, one of several contests nationwide that could take weeks to decide.
Clearly, this Election Day was not one Democrats were savoring, with anti-incumbent fever running rampant and unemployment stuck for months at near 10 percent.
Historically, the party holding the White House has lost around five governorships in the first midterm election after a new president takes office. Analysts in both parties expected Democratic casualties to be higher this year. Republicans anticipated a net pickup of at least six and possibly as many as 12. Democrats hoped losses could be held to half that.
Both national parties spent heavily on the race. The Republican Governors Association said it spent $102 million this year, roughly half of it in 10 states it deemed crucial to the 2012 presidential contest: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The Democratic Governors Association spent roughly $50 million.
Some 37 governorships were on the line. Why so many? A coincidental combination of the usual rotation plus races to fill unexpired terms and some states changing their election cycles.
Of these races, 24 were for "open" seats, ones in which no incumbent was running. Some incumbents were term-limited; others decided not to run in such hard economic times.
Prior to this election, there were 26 Democratic governors and 24 Republicans.
As of 2:30 a.m. ET, a number of races were still considered too close to call, including Florida, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Oregon and Vermont.
Governors were directly in the line of fire in high unemployment states, and many had already been casualties of the worst economic downturn since the 1930s. Unlike the federal government, most states can't borrow to spend or print money.
That's resulted in higher taxes and layoffs across the nation. In the budget year that ended in September, 29 states increased taxes by a total of $24 billion, the largest amount in more than 30 years, according to the bipartisan National Governors Association.
That didn't lead to an atmosphere conducive to incumbents seeking re-election; or for members of the party that now controls the White House and both houses of Congress.