The polls close in Virginia at 7:00 ET. The reports show light turnout, seen as a boost for Bob McDonnell, who doesn’t really need a boost. I’d expect a call on this race within minutes of the polls closing. Actual results can be found here.

NBC News has released some exit poll information:
Obama’s approval rating among VA voters: 51% support, 48% oppose
Was your vote in VA an endorsement or opposition of Obama: 18% support, 24% oppose, not a factor 55%.
Obama’s approval rating among NJ voters: 57% support, 42% oppose
Was your vote in VA NJ an endorsement or opposition of Obama: 19% support, 20% oppose, not a factor 60%.

The polls close in New Jersey (and Maine) at 8pm ET, and in New York at 9pm ET. In California, polls close in CA-10 at 11pm ET.

…I’m hearing that the turnout in Maine is crazy, especially for an off-year election. High turnout on an issue of progressive values with low turnout for Blue Dog-like Democrats should turn the “Dems need to move to the center” meme on its ear. Here’s a pic from outside a polling booth in Maine:

photo-2

…And the polls have closed in Virginia. MSNBC is reporting that exit polls show a lead for McDonnell over Deeds, but that the race is “too early to call.” I’m a bit surprised, actually, I expected an immediate call. Fox News expects to make a projection “within the next few minutes.”

…Here’s the CNN exit poll results from Virginia:
Independents: 60-39 for McDonnell
Voters under 30: 52-46 for Deeds
Voters over 65: 55-44 for McDonnell

They’re not calling the race yet.

…Nonwhites just 20% of the Virginia electorate in 2009; 30% of the electorate in 2008 (per MSNBC).

…Hilarious. The winger bloggers accused ACORN of slashing tires up in NY-23 to stop people from getting to the polls. Turns out the only evidence for this is a guy who drove over a bottle.

…Chris Matthews is a complete buffoon, hitting the “netroots” for wanting change too soon like “getting pancakes from Mommy,” saying you need “strong majorities” in Congress to get real change. I guess 60 Senators and 256 House members don’t qualify. Tweety is in rare form tonight. Chuck Todd talks him down.

…between the three cable nets, we have anchors Chris Matthews, Lou Dobbs and Shepard Smith. Fox News is easily the most watchable right now.

…(very) early returns in VA – .874% of the precincts reporting:
McDonnell 67%
Deeds 33%

…Ben Nelson said today that today’s elections have no national impact. BEN NELSON said that. In case anyone’s trying to sell you on this whole “Blue Dogs will get spooked by this election night” line.

…here’s some more exit poll data in Virginia and New Jersey, via the Washington Post. Jobs and the economy top the list of concerns. African-Americans are actually up from last year in New Jersey, which is good news for Democrats.

…Chris Bowers notes that the pro-Republican areas typically report first in Virginia. I’m just surprised they haven’t called it already. Maybe there’s less data this year than in a midterm or Presidential election.

…4% reporting in Virginia:
McDonnell 65.5%
Deeds 34.4%

…Where the hell did this meme take root that Jon Corzine stayed competitive in the NJ Governor’s race by saying “fatty boombalatty” over and over? Corzine focused almost entirely on Christie’s corruption scandals, using the US Attorneys office to partisan ends, using his position in power to get out of parking tickets and hitting pedestrians, and more than anything, Christie’s ACTUAL POLITICAL STANDS, like taking mammograms off of mandatory state health insurance coverage and calling universal pre-K “babysitting”. The weight thing was one word in one ad that the New York Times spun into a story and that conservatives hyped to fool people into thinking that this was Corzine’s only argument. It’s disappointing to see people fall for it.

…8% in Virginia:
McDonnell 63.5%
Deeds 36.4%

I wonder how the Democrat is doing in the race (snark).

…12% in:
McDonnell 63.7%
Deeds 36.1%

…Eric Cantor leads with the Republican message: “Virginia has said, enough with the spending, enough with the waste, and enough with the government overreach.” Tweety’s calling him on the fact that Obama had nothing to do with these elections. Cantor: “It’s Barack Obama’s economy.” Tweety: “That’s just a partisan statement.”

This is an amusing interview. Tweety’s still a bonehead, however. “You can’t honestly believe that this is a lousy economy just because of Barack Obama.” Cantor is glib as hell.

…17% in:
McDonnell 63.5%
Deeds 36.4%

Incidentally, Virginia is poised to elect a far-right Attorney General tonight, too.

…Taegan Goddard sez that leaked exit polls show the NJ-Gov race tied. That sounds about right. It’s going to be a LONG night in Jersey.

…21% in:
McDonnell 64.1%
Deeds 36.7%

Again, the Democratic areas count late in Virginia. Which is probably why the race hasn’t been called yet.

I’m going to start a new thread for the top of the hour.

UPDATE: New thread here.