let not your heart be troubled. the special election coverage continues. [captioning made possible by fox news] >> election night 2009. democrats under pressure. >> sleep is an overrated habit. >> republicans looking to turn blue states red. >> are you ready to work over the next 48 hours? >> and a congressional district full of surprises. every influential person in the nation's capital is paying attention to tonight's results and thus so are a lot of influential people around the country. america's election headquarters starts right now. greta: this is a special election night edition of "on the record." it is a stunner in virginia. the democrats just got a smack down, virginia voters saying no to the democrats. this time they want a republican governor. meanwhile, in new jersey it is a cliff-hanger. at this hour votes are still being counted. will new jersey return democratic governor jon corzine to the governor's madges -- mansion? are they likewise going to say we want a new guy, a republican? it is very close. carl cameron in virginia, shannon big red machine in new jersey, eric shawn in new york city and molly line live in upstate new york where a congressional seat has pitted some of the biggest names in politics against each other, gingrich, palin, rush limbaugh and more. brit hume and his pan elve will tell you why this election matters to you even if you don't live in these hotly contested states the first to shep, watching the vote count. shepard: first two of the big elve -- biggest races, virginia and new jersey. new jersey is still too close to call. incumbent jon corzine has been locked in a tight battle with chris christie. but we start in virginia. fox news now projects the republican robert mcdonnell is the winner, defeating the democrat cree deeds. that win -- creigh deeds. that win part of a triple sweep out in virginia. >> every time they come to us here, pandemonium in the mcdonnell headquarters. the folks just love it. it's been a very big night for virginia republicans. tonight they've won governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general and that, they say, is a harbinger of things to come for republicans across the country. this is a race in which c.i.a. deeds -- cree -- creigh deeds despite the obama endorsement, couldn't pull it over the line. he did not invigorate and energize african-american or young voters. as a consequence, lots of questions now about what it means for democrats and republicans across the country, beyond the berveds the old dominion. they may be worried that a moderate democrat such as creigh deeds was, may mean they will be in trouble too. and with some may put more distance between themselves and obama and cap and trade and other programs. remember there were questions after the obama question whether the republicans could come out of the wilderness. tonight, they are heading to the governor's office here for the first time in eight years. shepard: now let's get to new jersey. the polls closed less than an hour ago and now it is still too close for fox news to project a winner. jon corzine and chris christie, chris daget very far behind but expected to play some role tonight. shannon, what's the mood there at his headquarters in brunswick, new jersey? >> no one is celebrating here and probably not yet at the christie camp either because this race remains so incredibly close. folks are very subdued here, watching returns and seeing numbers that they were not expecting to see and not hoping to see. there is a little bit of disbelief as folks nudge each other, point to the numbers and ask each other, are those numbers right? they had hoped at this point corzine would be clearly ahead and they would be celebrating the nobody -- in nobody is conceding anything here. >> we're getting word now that this is so close that there is the possibility of the race remaining undecided beyond tonight. >> there is increasing chatter about that because that does appear to be a possibility tonight. governor corzine said the only poll that matters is the one that runs from 6:00 a.m. to 8 p.m. tonight but now it may not even be decide tonight the and daget's presence made it impossible to predict how things would go. and both sides say they have lawyered up and are ready to dig in no matter how long it takes. >> lawyered up? that's telling the there is talk now that the christie camp is pretty optimistic as well. >> they have remained optimistic. as tight as the polls have been they have been very encouraged that christie remained a real contender in this heavily blue state. it was solidly for obama a year ago by 15 points. today he was going beyond taking about just being elected governor and was talking about how he was going to govern as the new chief executive in the state. he was predicting a win the but he said we can't just celebrate, republicans have a lot of work to do so if his predictions come true, he will start with a lot of sober expectations on him the shepard: right now over to brett bare. -- brett bayer. >> we have a lot of talk about tonight. here, senior preliminary analyst brit hume and juan williams. we were just talking from the corzine camp about the situation in new jersey. what do we know now from the exit polls and what we're seeing, brit, about this race? >> two things. the exit polls indicate that people are concerned about the economy, taxes, and corruption. all issues that are bound to cut against the incumbent in the party. secondly, daget, the independent candidate, had polled up in the double digits and it appeared likely he would take more votes from the republican than corzine. it is now down to single digits. and it begins to look like a better night for christie but obviously a lot of votes still to be counted and in a state where strange things happen light -- late at night. >> and in a state that was over the top just a year ago for obama but now the numbers are not lining you. >> you are seeing a drop off of people who voted for president obama in terms of their support. it's a difficult race for corzine because i think some other issues intervened, particularly the corruption issue. a lot of people are saying they voted for christie because they're opposed to corzine. you don't see the flip side of that. for a while the "star-ledger," biggest newspaper in the state, gave the independent a bigger role. tonight that has disappeared. a real negative for corzine's campaign. >> if republicans manage to win new jersey and pull off a win with a conservative candidate in new york 23, what does that mean for the political landscape? >> the first thing is what potential impact it has on the votes yet to be cast for the president's health care program. it's easy to overstate this but i would say this is not going to go unnoticed between the more moderate democrats in the house and senate in washington who are trying to determine this political movement they got a dose of in august when they went home had nip staying power, was real and might last and the signs from tonight are if it's a republican sweep, that yes, it is. >> well, you know, you have fewer blarkss fewer hispanics, fewer democrats in again ssh general coming out to vote. who is out here voting? you are seeing older, whiter, more republican voters energized to play a role tonight. i think that's what we're seeing the is it about barack obama? in virginia most voters said no. in new jersey most voters said no. but they also indicated they want less government. there is a lot of anger in the water. people who feel totally disaffected in washington. >> over to you, greta. greta: the politics coverage does not sfop here -- stop here. all the latest exit polls and streaming video on fox news.com. coming up, everyone is on edge about new jersey right now. new numbers coming in after a short break. plus guess who just spent millions of dollars for a job he doesn't need. would you do that in >> election night 2009 isn't even in the books yet but it is not too early to look head to the critical 2010 mid terms. we are just one year away and there is plenty at stake. right now the democrats are firmly in control of both houses of congress. in the senate they hold 58 seats, with two independents who caucus with the democrats. all that could change next november. jim angle looks at who could be vulnerable head into the mid terms. >> the mid terms are so tough on new presidents, only two in the last center va voided house losses in the mid terms. george w. bush and franklin roosevelt in 1934 for his efforts to combat the depression. >> but those are the two exceptions that prove the rule. in other cases, about 17 house seats have been lost on average in the first mid term election for the president's party. >> in part because as soon as a president moves from soaring campaign rhetoric to the nitty-gritty of policy decisions, some supporters are inevitably disappointed while the opposition is newly energized. >> there is a lot of evidence -- enthusiasm among the opponents of the president's policied and much less enthusiasm among supporters than there was a year ago the >> no one expects republicans to take back the house but the margins may start chipping awhich -- away. >> if they are able to bring it down to even 57 or 58 they will be able to win a lot more votes on the floor of the senate because you need 60 to cut off debate. >> and in whoth -- both houses the most ambitious parts of the president's agenda could be at risk because margins can determine how much support and running room he has. >> so who can -- should be nervous right now and why? karl rove and joe trippy are here. who is more more nervous, the incumbent corzine or the challenger? >> i'd be very nervous if i were corzine, looking at these returns, like ocean county, they're coming out with a 60,000-vote advantage and the adjoining county the -- of mon fouth -- monmouth, and the democrats are underperforming. counties like passaic, they have an 8,000 vote incidental this time so i would be very nervous if i were corzine right now. greta: joe, you're a numbers cruncher. >> i look at the same numbers and i think it's going tab -- to be a squeaker but right now i'd be very concerned if i'm in the corzine camp. scott: -- greta: what's it like if you're sitting around there, the corzine family and core supporters? >> well, they took it all out to get owe the vote today and when you look at these numbers there really say growing margin where corzine would hope that there wasn't one for the g.o.p. so when you look at that i think the corzine people have got to be on pins and needles right now. it's just the way it is. greta: karl, upstate new york. 23rd congressional district. a lot of national attention on it because we had national republican figures weighing in on it. who should be more nervous tonight, the conservative or democrat candidate? >> i think the democrat but this is a very unique race because of new york's unique election laws and also we're spread across a vast swath of territory in new york and i suspect it's going to be tomorrow morning before the votes are counted. one county said it's not going to report its vote on the internet. we're hoping the associated press can go to the white house and get the whote. but it's going to be a long night in norm. i think at the end of the day the conservative half a -- hoffman wins but it's by no stretch a done deal because this is territory barack obama carried by a wide vote. >> i don't think by any means tonight is going to be a good night for democrats but i also would say it's not as good a night as it looks for republicans either. you are seeing in new york 23 for example a real split between the conservative and moderate wing among conservatives. that's going to play out in the primaries next year. it's happening on the democratic side too but right now there's a lot of anti-both of them out there that's i think is what goods og -- going on -- >> this is a fox news election report. fox news can now project the winner is republican chris christie. as we were saying, this race was largely seen as with jobs and corruption and chris christie, the former attorney general in the state, prosecutor -- prosecuted 130 elected and appointed officials during his time. no acquitals during his time there. fox news projects chris christie, the republican, will be the next governor of new jersey. shannon big red machine is live alt jon corzine headquarters, the incumbent governor who is running for re-election. shannon? >> i got to tell you i think folks here are coming to that same conclusion. a lot of different outlets now calling this for chris christie. it is like the air has been sucked out of this room. people came in hoping and examine thing a win tonight, there was a sense of disbeliefs athe -- as the numbers came in and now a sense of rks -- resignation as it appears that their candidate did not pull it off. corzine pulled out all the stops. democrats and the white house invested heavily of the president's time but it doesn't like -- look like it came together for governor corzine tonight. looks like there will be a new governor here. chris christie has remained very positive and it looks like what he predicted and hoped for has come true and folks here recognizing that that seems to be the reality. very disappointed as you can imagine they would be. shepard: i mentioned both sides had lawyered up. there were questions about whether this race might go all night. there was thinking that this thing could be so close that tomorrow morning people in new jersey won't know. is it your sense that there will still be challenged -- challenges out there? or can we expect a corzine concession speech tonight? >> with the margin the way it is now, we would anticipate we're going to hear from corzine tonight. we have not gotten any official word. but because there was that wild card here, chris daggett, who it seems has only gotten 5%, if his supporters actually stayed strong, but they often fizzle a bit when they go into the did booth and many don't want to see their vote as wasted in any way, but because he seemed to continue to be a factor it made for so many unknowns. lawyers were ready. so we understand they are ready to dig in and fight if it seems like it's going to get any closer but i would imagine if the spread remains at five or six percentage points or more it would be very tough for them to make that case. a lot of people here are placing hopes in the absentee ballots still to be counted but you know looking at the numbers now it would be an incredibly strong margin they would have to overcome at this point but they're ready to fight if that possibility remains open to them, shep. shepard: when he left gold mapp saks, he was said to be worth $100 million. he had promised to reduce property taxes in the state of new jersey when elected four years ago but it was widely seen that the recession stopped that and he's bb labeled -- been labeled alongsideoes -- those high-property taxes and corruption in that state. chris christie, fox prects, to be the next governor of the state of new jersey. greta? greta: thank you. fox news obviously projects corzine loses this election but is it really that christie won it? what happened in this race? >> i don't think so. i think corzine with the approval ratings he had most consultants or pundits would say those numbers are termina. greta: so he lost it? >> yeah. if christie had been a stronger candidate he should have really, really done some damage here. he's barely going to win this thing. maybe 100,000 votes. he's held that margin throughout the night and we'll see how that holds up but i thl -- really think this is about throwing out the ins with the outs. and if george bush were president of the united states today and there was a republican governor of new jersey they'd be throwing them out and moving a democrat in. what's really significant is how daggett and hoffman up in new york 23, independent third party candidates, are getting enough support to affect the outcome or mess with or meddle with the two parties. i think both party incumbents should look out in 2010. it's a mistake to think either party's incumbents are safe. they're both in trouble. greta: is that right, karl? or is this a really bad message for the democrats in virginia and now in new jersey? >> i respectfully disagree with joe. when you go from having a 16,000-vote margin in a republican county four years ago to a 79,000-vote margin, that means a lot more turnout and the exit polls four years ago showed independents going for corzine. this year it shows them going significantly for chris christie, the republican. this is a deep blue state. john mccain got 42% of the vote, barack obama got 57% and tonight we are seeing christie winning with close to 50% of the vote. in a three-person rate. greta: and daggett didn't have much impact but hoffman did in new york. >> he did because he represented mainstream views and the republican p nominated by 11 people sitting in a pizzeria turned out not to carry republican views. this state is a bad news story for the democrats. president obama came here and made five stops. vice president biden was here. they dumped millions into this. at the end of 9 campaign corzine will have spent north of $30 million and the republican $11.5 million. >> tonight's a bad news night for the democrats. i am saying don't misread this and think republicans are resurgent and safe. there are going to be problems for incumbents regardless of ideology, party, whatever, in 2010. the economy and some of the problems we're facing, we're not getting things done on capitol hill the greta: back to brett. >> just moments ago we got a reaction from the chairman of the republican governors association, haley barbour saying chris christie secured a major victory for the republican party and defeating a deep pocket incumbent like corzine is a significant achievement and signals the g.o.p.'s comeback the juan, this is significant. how significant? >> the narrative tomorrow will be at this moment that this was a loss for the democrats. what you have to understand is democrats control the state. you can talk about this as a blue state but the fact is the people who turned out to vote tonight are not the same people who turned out to vote and gave the state to barack obama. fewer young people, fewer blacks, hispanics, those people who were energized the but the people who did turn out tonight have sent a clear message of discontent. and even though the state is organized and held by democratic interests who could turn out the vote. that didn't matter. the democratic machinery con deliver new jersey. shepard: -- brit: and it's a change in the intensity of the election. democrats had the intensity a year ago. now the intensity is all on the other side. with the tea party movement, with the protest votes and so on, that's why you see -- i mean corzine was unpopular for a lot of reasons and you could make a pretty good case that if christie was a better candidate he'd have won by more. that's a fair statement. nonetheless, mcdonnell ran a disciplined campaign on the issues, bedrock conservative issues, together with the loss of corzine in new jersey and you have a very different picture of the atmosphere in the country than you did a year ago. >> now we're projecting the next governor of new jersey, also a guy who's seen 120 bruce springsteen concerts. wonder what song he's going to be singing tonight? "tougher than the rest"? shepard: and remember one of the things he was attacked by, the race got so nasty that the local ads were saying how fat he was. that and then on the radio chris christie is like ok, i'm fat, look at you, you're bald. it came down to that and up wonder how it affected the exit polls. coming up, what did the people who just walked out of the ballot booths have to say? we'll hear from them through martha next on america's election headquarters. this is fox news channel. ter anr than ever before? well now you can, introducing the new... powerful... lightweight... oreck xl platinum vacuum. anncr: you don't vacuum open floors, you vacuum rooms filled with furniture. anncr: and the xl platinum makes cleaning under, around, and behind them, fast and easy! anncr: and now david oreck has a payment plan that can fit every budget! so, call now and order your new xl platinum and save with his incredible pay-no-interest-ever finance plans! and just for taking advantage of this limited time offer, he'll also send you his versatile, powerful oreck handheld --a $250 value-absolutely free! , but it won't last long, so don't delay-call now! do: hi, i'm david oreck, and this is my new platinum upright vacuum. it's the best upright we have ever built. i want you to try it risk free for 30 days. anncr you'll also receive a year's supply of filter bags free, plus this incredible steam iron, a $130 value, yours free just for trying the xl platinum upright. anncr: what's the secret to being both powerful and lightweight? unlike big, heavy vacuums, the xl platinum gives you the 102-miles-per-hour cleaning power of direct suction at the floor where you need it the most, in an upright that weighs about nine-pounds. an upright that cleans in virtually one pass, drawing it right into a bag that traps 99.9% of all dirt and allergens down to point three microns. anncr: the xl platinum is agile enough to get where the dirt is, versatile enough to go from carpet right to tile or wood without any height adjustments. and it comes with a 10-year warranty. anncr: your credit is good with oreck. so call now and order your xl platinum with oreck no interest financing! do: if you like it, keep it, if you don't i'll pay return shipping. 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"i look forward to cleaning now." anncr: call now, own the xl platinum, and pay no interest-ever! plus get the free handheld vac, free filter bags, and the free steam iron that's yours to keep even if you return the xl platinum! shipping is free, too! anncr: the new powerful, lightweight oreck xl platinum... clean made easy! greta: welcome back to a special election night edition of "on the record with greta van susteren." i'm greta van susteren. shep smith is here to get you caught up on what we know so far the shepard: some questions remain to be answered but no question in the state of new jersey fox news projects with 80% of all precincts parting, fox news projects that the republican challenger chris christie has defeated jon corzine and we can also tell you that virginia has a new republican governor. now with 99% of all precincts reporting, an 18% margin of victory, fox news projects that bob mcdonnell has beaten the democrat creigh deeds the the story no doubt now is new jersey. martha, as folks left the ballot booth what did they tell us in the garden state? >> it's very interesting. we're learning it's about the medium -- people who turned out to vote today. senior citizens were among the big turnout voters today. one -- one in five of the vote -- voters in new jersey are 65 years old or older and take a look at the seniors. christie, 54%, corzine, 41%. the next one i would imagine would be paid attention to by a lot of democrats and administration people as well. independents in new jersey, who decidedly helped welcome president obama, in this case went heavily for christie. that's got fob a troublesome number the croists came out very strongly for them despite the fact that early on in the primary process they were not backing christie so strongly but went for him by 80%. 39% say they just wanted a change, a new governor for the state. he got 65% of the people who said that was most important to them. and 65% of chris christie's voters, it turns out that quite a few voted for christie as a vote against jon corzine. we know corzine had a lot of trouble early on with his approval numbers being weak. the economy was a major problem for him and it goes back to the property tax issue. he said he was going to do -- address it and the voters obviously thought he did not do so satisfactory. and the corruption issue as well, chris christie is very well known as a person who battled corruption as a prosecutor. one thing oose -- also, young people in 2008, made up 17% of the vote. they didn't show up tonight basically. 9% of the voters in in that vouth -- youth vote group, and that was not enough to help jon corzine tonight. the president spent a fair amount of time on the stump for corzine and it seems that it did not pay or -- off for him tonight as chris christie is the projected winner. some very interesting numbers here, shep. shepard: martha, good to see you. thank you. we still sw -- have the congressional race in the state of new york, plattsburgh new york and surrounding areas up by the canadian border. the democrat bill owens up against the conservative party candidate doug hoffman. the republican, dede scozz afava, suspended her campaign over the weekend and decided to throw her support to owens. molly is live there. >> the mood pretty good here though the hoffman camp seems to be trailing right now in the early polls but they say they're not worried at all and this is a big district. it makes up bait quarter of the state of new york and some of the materials to count these ballots will have to travel quite a long distance. we're hearing perhaps even midnight before the final numbers come down. shepard: brett, over time-out >> ok. log on to fox news.com and go to the politics page. we have the exit polls there, also streaming video. fox news.com. greta? greta: so if you don't live in new jersey, virginia, or new york should you care tonight? as former alaska governor sarah palin says, you betcha. juan williams and the panel tell you exactly why. plus we go to the white house. are the personal tv's turned to the election results? is the president watching fox? he does know how important this election is at the white house. >> you are looking live at america's election headquarters here in new york city. a wig -- big night, election night 2009 with some big races already called. fox news projecting winners in virginia and new jersey for the republicans. joining us now governor haley barbour, chairman of the republican governors association. thank you for being with us the >> thank you, bret. big night for republicans. >> yeah, tell us how big. >> i remember in 19 4 when we won the governorship of new jersey with christie todd whitman and virginia with george allen and it turned out to be the springboards to the victories of -- and it's too early to predict that but 16 years ago after these elections more than half of the 77 freshman republicans elected in 1994 made the decision to run for congress after the new jersey and virginia governor's races. they saw if i'm ever going to run, this is going to be a good year. so while it's too early to say what 2010 is going to end up like there is no question that these elections propelled republicans into 2010 the >> governor, there will be democrats obviously in the new jersey race who say the issues of property taxes and corruption were high on the exit polls and that the candidate was in trouble from the beginning, governor corzine. how do you respond to that, that this was a local situation and not a national explanation for the republicans? >> look, any time the incumbent governor is up for re-election, the election is to some degree a referendum on that incumbent's record and theree i no question governor corzine's record was not considered good by the people of new jersey. but he was also weighted down by the president's and the democrats' policies. now, i want to be clear. i think it's an overstatement to say this was a referendum on president obama but very clearly the obama policies, the democrats' policies in congress of outrageous sfending -- spending, more debt, a health care bill that would drive up the cost of insurance and cost jobs, energy bill that would drive up the cost of energy and cost jobs, all that hurt every democrat on the ticket. sure, incumbent re-election is somewhat an -- a referendum on his record -- record but in this case corzine had the added weight of his unpopularity and the unpopular policies in washington president >> how much does this change the political landscape moving forward and does it send a message to democrats on the hill who are going to have to vote on cap and trade and health care in the coming weeks? >> i can't imagine democrats in congress are not pushed back and take a deep breath and are cautious about hoting -- voting for a health care bill that clearly hurt creigh deeds in virginia, voting for ar -- an energy bill that clearly hurt creigh deeds in virginia. virginia is so close to washington, the washington news media dominates much of virginia and these policies were unpopular. bob mcdonnell is a great candidate but remember he and creigh deeds ran against each other four -- years ago for attorney general and it was a literal tie. p tonight bob mcdonnell won 60-40. an overwhelming land slide and one of creigh deeds', the democrat', problems was the unpopularity of obama's policies not only in virginia but all over the country and the fact that mcdonnell was talking about the issues that people in virginia were worried about, that they saw as the challenges. job creation. higher pay. lower taxes. there's no question if i'm a democrat member i look at this and say ok, democrats got hurt by these policies, do i want to take that risk? >> governor haley barbour, chairman of the republican governors association. thanks for being with us tonight. >> thank you, bret. >> shep? shepard: president obama put the power of the white house behind two candidates, throwing his arm around creigh deeds two times in stea -- virginia and four times around corzine in new jersey. major garrett, was the president watching tonight? >> the wament -- president was not watching election returns, we are told and the white house will issue no statements on the election results in virginia, new jersey, or that hotly contested house election race in new york's 23rd congressional district the they're leaving that all to the democratic national committee, and there hasn't been a peep from the democratic national committee either the remember, president obama carried virginia by 230,000 votes just a year ago. it is clear bob mcdonnell is going to win by 330,000 or 340,000 votes. look at democrat-rich fairfax county which president obama carried just a year ago. in that county right now mcdonnell and creigh deeds are running 50-50. so for the white house, the message is that independents did not turn out for the democratic candidate. republicans that consolidated their base and independents were drawn toward the republican message. that's a very big magnitude in reversal of fortunes in a state where this white house thought just a year ago it was emblematic of the way this president is changing american politics. shepard: it must be somewhat of a setback -- setback for the white house. >> certainly it is. now, governor corzine ran as a partner of the obama white house and yet governor corzine lost. one of the things you could certainly say and the white house has said it before is corzine had deep-seated problems in new jersey. he had the corruption issue, the property tax issue, the recession. all those are true but he came from way back to a very tight neck and neck race with chris christie by identifying himself as a partner and friend of the white house and his loss tonight is in some ways a reflection of the limitations of the message even in a blue state like norge -- new jersey. it's going to be very hard for this white house to say you really can't conclude anything from this loss. the only hope the white house and democrats have now is that the democrat bill owens in that congressional district in the 23rd district of new york can eke out a victory and they can point to some ray of sunlight in what is otherwise a universally gloomy night the shepard: greta, over toup. greta: we add -- asked the white house to send us someone to tell you what they think about tonight's election ruts. the white house took a pass but did offer the vice chairman of the democratic national committee, debby wasserman scommults. we are delighted to have her the is there any sill vir lining on this for the democrats tonight? you lost in virginia and new jersey but we still don't know -- don't know about upstate new york. a grim night? >> well, i think the jury is still out on how grim it is. we're pretty excited about the potential jut coum of the new york -- outcome of the new york race and in new jersey it's been since 1989 that the majority party has won that race so we're looking at a pretty historical trend here and virginia as well, you have to go all the way back to 1977 to see where the majority party won in virginia so both those states have followed the historical trend of the majority party losing the governor's mansion in virginia and new jersey. new york 23 though where the republican party clearly repudiated their own candidate in favor of the extreme right wing candidate, that is showing up in so far although we're certainly not done for the evening, the democratic candidate appearing to the beneficiary of that. greta: it must be a disappointment though, congresswoman, in the state of virginia where the president won so handsomely in wait to -- 2008 and now it turns around the. it has gone back to a republican governor. and in new jersey where the president made three trips to tell the incumbent democratic governor we don't want you, ant -- aren't those signals that make you uneasy tonight in >> well, any time you lose obviously it's disappointing. i certainly would have preferred, we all would have as democrats, for us to have won both those races but given the historical pattern the outcome is not surprising. . if you looked at the exit polls the vast majority of voters in new jersey and virginia coming out of the exit polls have said their vote really was based on what was going on in those states. they wrrnt voting either for or against president obama and the agenda, so if you look at what's going on in jae -- virginia and new jersey right now, there is some frustration and we're a year out from the mid term elections right now and we've got a vast amount of candidates that are going to be battle tested and ready and we expect the economy to continue to turn around as a result of the democratic policies and our candidates and incumbents will do well. greta: 30 seconds left. will health care passing help your party or put you on edge? >> no, i think health care passing will be a tremendous boost to our party. closing the medicare part d doughnut hole will be a tremendous hope -- help for our seniors. bringing costs down, those are going to be a big benefit to our ticket next year. greta: congresswoman, thank you very much. >> thank you. crks -- greta: what do tonight's )d)d)d greta: today's elections will set the table one way or another for next year's midterm voting. here it is larry sabato, a political expert. good evening, larry. if you do not live in vgiginia, new jersey, or upstate new york, why should you care about this? what is the sign for us? >> i think one side is if you look carefully at history, the new jersey and virginia governor ships under certain circumstances could -- governor -- governorships have suggested what will happen in the midterms. in 1993, when two republicans won in new jersey and virginia, there was a landslide in congress, and in 2005, the democrats won, and that led to the democrats taking congress again, and, frankly, i think it is good for republicans that these two victories again indicate what might happen in the midterm elections. that is my prediction. greta: if the economy gets enormously better or is it tanks or gets better between now and the midterm? >> that is 364 days away, but i'd bet the republicans gain seats in the house and probably the senate, even if the economy gets better. that is the history of midterm elections. the out party tends to enjoy a correction from the prior election in gain seats. greta: the african-american turnout is down to 15%. was the president's sort of star power just sort of ineffective tonight? can you assign any of it to him? >> some of it was the incompetence, frankly, of the democratic candidate and his campaign. it was terrible. i would use the t word, terrible. if he is not on the ballot, he cannot generate minority ballett voters, the new suburbanites who rushed to support him -- he cannot generate minority voters. guess what? he is not on the ballot in 2010 either. shepard: breaking news, and governor jon corzine has come to the microphone at his campaign headquarters to concede defeat for republican challenger chris christie pre-empt jon corzine spent $120 million. he says good night -- challenger chris christie. jon corzine spent $120 million. >> i thank you each for being here every step of the way. [applause] a few minutes ago, i called mr. chris christie and congratulated him on becoming new jersey's next governor. i want you to know that chris was gracious in his response, and we will work hard together to make sure that the transition is smith, that we are able to do everything that serves the people of this great state -- to make sure that the transmissitin is smooth, and i know we will live up to it, the responsibility, so thank you. [applause] it has been a long, hard-fought campaign, and for everyone who put their heart and soul into it, and i know so many of you here tonight did, he and i could not be more grateful for everything you have done. we have been everywhere, you know that, from the delaware shore, to cape may county and across and cross. it has been quite a journey. -- and across and across. i hope you know all of those people that i have met, and thank goodness for labor. you have been terrific. [applause] to all of the kids we have seen in grade schools and high schools and all of those new schools we have built, senior centers, all of the churches and synagogues, everywhere we have gone. it has been an incredible, incredible journey together, and i am grateful to all new jersey anans. we have had a lot of fun to talk with folks about jobs and education and health care, economic security, a new energy policy, lots of things that are on the people's agenda. it was not always easy. i know you all know that, but i am telling you, there is a bright future ahead for new jersey if we stay focused on the things that matter in people's lives, and i guarantee you that i will do that for the rest of my life working with you for the things that matter. [applause] to the citizens of this great state, this is a moment where there is a little sadness, i must say, but i must tell you that i have never been more honored then i have been to have a chance to serve as a united states senator -- than i have been to have a chance to serve as a united states senator, and to be the governor of this great state has been a joy that i could never, ever have imagined. we are making a difference in people's lives. i am proud of my administration and the people who worked so hard. [applause] i think the thing that i want to emphasize, which we talked about on the campaign trail, at the end of the day, elections are not about the people who are running. they are about the choices we make. the people have chosen tonight. that does not mean that the people in this room, the democrats in this room, democrats across this state or across this country do not have an agenda to carry forward. it is important that we fight for health care. it is important that we make sure our children get the kind of education that i know new jerseyans want. it is important that we fight for collective bargaining and the right for labor and other things, so let me just say in things, so let me just say in closing.