US: Millions of Americans went to the polls yesterday in local contests that President Bush and his opponents will study for signs of a national political trend. Republicans and Democrats were running neck-and-neck in races for the governorships of Virginia and New Jersey after bitter campaigns marked by the trading of personal insults between the candidates.
Californians were voting on governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's initiatives that would limit state spending and give him more power to cut budgets, defang public employee unions, and take away legislators' power to redistrict constituencies. In New York, voters were expected to give Republican mayor Michael Bloomberg a resounding endorsement for a second term.
Detroit, Boston, Houston, Cleveland, Minneapolis, St Paul, San Diego, and Pittsburgh were voting for new mayors and in Maine, voters decided whether to repeal a state law banning discrimination against gay people.
In Washington DC, voters considered whether to ban smoking in bars, restaurants and some other public places.
Mr Bush made a last-minute dash to Virginia on Monday night to drum up support for Republican Jerry Kilgore, who has been slipping in opinion polls after a rough campaign in which he cast Democrat Tim Kaine as soft on crime and in hock to special interests. Mr Kaine, who personally opposes the death penalty, has promised to approve executions if he becomes governor of Virginia, which executes more people each year than any other state except Texas.
New Jersey Democratic senator Jon Corzine wants to give up his seat halfway through his first term in order to become governor, the only elected official in New Jersey. His opponent, Doug Forrester, has told voters that Mr Corzine, a multimillionaire, has links to the Mafia and channelled public money to his girlfriend.
Mr Forrester has drafted Mr Corzine's ex-wife to warn New Jersey's citizens that, since her husband betrayed her, he could let them down too.
After two months of relentlessly bad news, with the Iraq war increasingly unpopular and Mr Bush's poll ratings at record lows, the White House badly needs a Republican victory in New Jersey or Virginia to boost party morale.
Republican fundraisers say that the party's supporters are apathetic and reluctant to help a party that has disappointed them by achieving little, despite holding the White House and enjoying majorities in both houses of congress.
For Democrats, winning Virginia's election would bolster those within the party who believe they can reclaim much of the south from Republican control.
It would also boost the presidential ambitions of Mark Warner, the outgoing Democratic governor whose popular, moderate record has been the basis of Mr Kaine's campaign.
Mr Warner welcomed the last-minute arrival of Mr Bush, who is unpopular even in predominantly Republican Virginia.
"If they want to compare how things are going in Washington versus how things are going in Virginia, I'll take that comparison every day of the week," Mr Warner said.