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NYC MAYOR NYC mayor bruised by surprisingly close victory

NEW YORK (AP) Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg has won a surprisingly close reelection in a race that was supposed to be a lot easier and he's pledging to work even harder for New York City.

The closeness of the race may have exposed lingering anger over his reversal on term limits and his prodigious campaign spending.

Bloomberg won by just five percentage points and promised that New Yorkers "ain't seen nothing yet" from him.

City Comptroller William Thompson hammered the mayor relentlessly on term limits, saying Bloomberg went back on his word when he orchestrated a change to allow him to run again. Voters had upheld a term-limits law by referendum twice in the 1990s.

Simmering voter resentment this year may have energized the political opposition in City Hall, with Democrats suggesting that Bloomberg's third term could be his most difficult.

Bloomberg is only the fourth New York mayor ever to win a third term.

NY-SPECIAL ELECTION UPDATE: Democrat wins in heavily GOP area

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) A battle for control of the Republican message may have cost the party a special election for a northern New York House seat.

Democrat and retired Air Force Capt. Bill Owens, running in a historically Republican stronghold, capitalized on a split that emerged between Republican moderates and conservatives.

Owens defeated businessman Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate, 49 percent to 45 percent, after a boost from unified labor efforts and the withdrawal of the Republican candidate over the weekend.

In thanking his family, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, Owens said the race "has been an extraordinary journey." Republicans hadn't lost in the region in more than a century.

Owens will be up for election for a full term next year.

New York state now has only two Republican congressmen in its 29-seat delegation.

NJ GOVERNOR Republican Christie captures NJ governor's seat

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) Chris Christie says he will restore hope and dreams to New Jersey as its next governor.

The Republican former prosecutor said Tuesday in his acceptance speech that "tomorrow, we are going to pick Trenton up and turn it upside down." The state has been battered by the economic recession and plagued by political corruption.

Christie received a concession call from Gov. Jon Corzine before taking the stage in Parsippany just after 11 p.m.

Christie unseated the deep-pocketed but unpopular governor after a bruising contest that focused on New Jersey's ailing economy and its highest-in-the-nation property taxes.

The 47-year-old Christie is the first member of his party in a dozen years to win a statewide contest in heavily Democratic New Jersey.

VIRGINIA GOVERNOR UPDATE: With most precincts reporting, Republican wins in closely watched Va. race

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) Republican Bob McDonnell wooed Virginia's independent voters Tuesday to win a landslide election for governor.

The win comes just a year after the state bucked tradition and voted for Barack Obama.

McDonnell, a conservative former state attorney general, had about 60 percent of the vote with most precincts reporting. He takes back the governor's office after eight years of Democrat control.

The election largely turned on independent voters, who preferred McDonnell by nearly a 2-1 ratio over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds, exit polls showed. It was a shift from 2008, when independents in the state split about evenly between the parties.

GAY MARRIAGE-MAINE Maine voters repeal gay-marriage law

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) Maine voters have torpedoed a state law that would have allowed gay couples to marry.

With 84 percent of the precincts reporting, gay-marriage foes had 53 percent of the vote Tuesday.

The outcome amounts to a heartbreaking defeat for the gay rights movement particularly since it occurred in New England, the corner of the country most supportive of gay marriage.

At issue was a law passed by the Maine Legislature last spring that would have legalized same-sex marriage. The law was put on hold after conservatives launched a petition drive to repeal it in a referendum.

Gay marriage has now lost in every single state 31 in all in which it has been put to a popular vote. Gay-rights activists had hoped to buck that trend in Maine.

DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS-Washington NEW: Expanded gay rights leading in early returns

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) Washington state voters are narrowly approving the state's new "everything but marriage" law that marks a significant expansion of rights for gay couples.

With about 50 percent of the expected vote counted, Referendum 71 was leading 51 percent to 49 percent.

The measure asks voters to approve or reject the final expansion to the state's domestic partnership law, which gives registered domestic partners additional state-granted rights currently given only to married couples.

The expanded law would add benefits, such as the right to use sick leave to care for a domestic partner, and rights related to adoption, child custody and child support.

Opponents have warned that if the domestic partnership measure passed, gay marriage could be the next step in Washington state.

OHIO CASINOS NEW: Voters in struggling Ohio approve 4 urban casinos

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Ohio voters hit hard by the economic downturn have approved casinos on the fifth try by gambling supporters in the past two decades.

Tuesday's vote is a significant victory for Penn National Gaming Inc. and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert.

They spent nearly $35 million to promote four casinos in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Toledo.

Unemployment in Ohio has topped 10 percent. A study commissioned by the campaign predicted nearly 40,000 jobs and $4 billion in economic impact.

Voters approved amending the Ohio Constitution with details on where casinos could be built and how to distribute generated tax revenues to various agencies.

With 91 percent of precincts reporting, the question passed 53 percent to 47 percent.

marijuana LEGALIZATION Colorado ski town legalizes pot

DENVER (AP) The Colorado ski town of Breckenridge has voted overwhelmingly to legalize marijuana.

Early returns Tuesday night showed the proposal winning with 72 percent of the vote. The measure would allow adults over 21 to have up to 1 ounce of marijuana.

The measure is largely symbolic because pot possession remains a state crime for people without medical clearance. But supporters said they wanted to send a message to local law enforcement to stop busting small-time pot smokers.

The vote comes as communities nationwide are struggling with how to enforce pot laws at a time when medical marijuana has surged in popularity.

RAPIST'S HOME-BODIES Body count up to 10 at Ohio rapist's home

CLEVELAND (AP) A search for evidence and possibly more bodies will continue Wednesday at the Cleveland home of a murder suspect.

That's after authorities reported recovering four more bodies and a skull Tuesday. Six other bodies were found last week at the house where convicted rapist Anthony Sowell had been living.

A spokesman for the Cuyahoga County coroner says the 10 bodies may have been there from weeks to months to years. Police don't know yet whether the skull belongs to an 11th victim.

Community leaders are calling for an investigation into whether police and health inspectors missed signs including reports of foul smells that could have tipped them off to the bodies.

Sowell has been charged with five counts of aggravated murder, as well as rape, felonious assault and kidnapping. He's due to be arraigned Wednesday.

IRAN-EARTHQUAKE NEW: Earthquake injures 270 in southern Iran

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) A moderate earthquake has shaken southern Iran, injuring 269 people and cutting power and telephone lines.

State radio says residents of the southern port city of Bandar Abbas poured into the streets after the 4.9-magnitude quake hit at 2:56 a.m. local time Wednesday.

The broadcast says there are no reports of deaths in the quake, which hit 850 miles (1,367 kilometers) south of the capital.

Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. It experiences at least one slight earthquake everyday on average.

Some 26,000 people were killed by a 6.6-magnitude quake that flattened the historic southeastern city of Bam in the same region in 2003.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 11-04-09 0256CST | save this article / add to your favorites list