As most everyone already knows, yesterday was an "off-year" election day. Cities and municipalities across the nation held elections for local politicians, and some states held elections for governor or to fill vacated congressional seats. Considering yesterday was my first day at my new job in another state, I decided to not vote this year. It didn't seem right to early vote for Atlanta's mayor when I wasn't going to be there beyond election day. This is the first election I have not participated in since I've been old enough to vote. But - back to the results. Surprisingly, there weren't a lot of surprises.

Starting with my soon to be adopted home state, Virginia got a new governor, and he's Republican Bob McDonnell. McDonnell beat Democrat R. Creigh Deeds, handily, who conceded last night. There's been a lot of talk this cycle about how Obama's "disapproval" ratings are to blame:

The NJ results were similar. Quite frankly, I think the reason that Democrats lost in swing states is because Obama isn't on the ticket. Like it or not, he was the inspiration for a lot of people to get out and vote. The loud mouth teabaggers that the media portray as Americans angry with Obama's actions are people that did not vote for him in the first place. These are extreme right-wingers, and to portray them as "disgruntled Democrats" or even mainstream Americans is disingenuous at best.

Even the Republicans don't like the teabaggers. By now the race for "NY-23", the conservative district in upstate NY, is ground zero for ugliness and teabaggery. There have been reports of voter intimation by Hoffman supporters (and yet they complain about losing THEIR rights). Hoffman also tried to claim that Democrats were trying to steal the election and slashing tires, blaming all-purpose ubiquitous boogyman group ACORN. Naturally, these claims proved to be completely false. Projection much Hoffman? None of this worked, and the traditionally Republican district went Democratic.

Having lived in Atlanta so long, I've been watching the Atlanta Mayoral race closely. As the counting looks so far, Mary Norwood has the lead, but this will go to a runoff. If she wins she will be the first white person to hold that office since I've lived there, and the first white woman ever. How's THAT for breaking new ground? None of the candidates were inspiring, and voter turnout was low. No mandate for any candidate.

So what were the results in your neck of the woods?