Live Updates: Voters Decide on Governors, Mayors and Marijuana

  • Share
  • Read Later
NYC Mayor de Blasio

Bebeto Matthews / AP

Democratic mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio waves as he arrives to meet potential voters outside the Eastern Parkway subway station on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013, in the crown heights section of Brooklyn, N.Y.

There are big gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey; it’s the end of an era in New York City and Boston; closure time for the scandal-ridden mayoral office in San Diego; and the first step toward secession for a few districts in Colorado. Voters took to the polls across the country Tuesday to choose their elected officials and decide on 31 ballot items in six states. There’s lots to watch for in cities and states across the country. Follow TIME’s blog for live updates on election results throughout the evening.

This page is no longer being updated regularly. Please visit TIME.com for up-to-date election coverage. 


11:52 p.m. | Here’s a quick roundup of some of the day’s victory speeches:

Chris Christie, re-elected governor of New Jersey:

“Thank you, New Jersey, for making me the luckiest guy in the world…. I know that if we can do this in Trenton, New Jersey, maybe the folks in Washington, D.C. should tune in their TVs right now, see how it’s done…. My pledge to you tonight is I will govern with the spirit of Sandy.”

Terry McAuliffe, elected governor of Virginia

“I know this has been a hard fought race, and part of that, as you know, is the nature of politics, and part of it was that the attorney general and I had some very big differences on some very important issues.”

Bill de Blasio, elected mayor of New York City:

“Make no mistake the people of this city have chosen a progressive path, and tonight we set forth on it together as one city … We are all at our best when every child, every parent, every New Yorker has a shot.”

Marty Walsh, elected mayor of Boston

“This is Boston Strong. And together we’re going to make Boston even stronger … Mayor Menino’s legacy is a world class city.”

Mike Duggan, elected mayor of Detroit

“At this moment what we have in common is much more powerful than what divides us. And now the real work begins.”


11:38 p.m. |


11:06 p.m. | The GOP establishment candidate narrowly beat out “arch-conservative rival” Dean Young in a runoff for a vacant seat in Alabama’s First Congressional District, TIME’s Alex Altman reports:

Byrne’s triumph spared the GOP establishment the stinging embarrassment of losing the first battle of the intraparty war that both sides predict will play out in the 2014 midterms. Business lobbies, Fortune 500 company PACs, big-ticket donors and more than 20 members of the House GOP funneled cash to Byrne, who outraised Young by more than eight to one. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce forked over nearly $200,000 in independent expenditures such as direct mail, and handed Byrne a coveted endorsement. The polished candidate, who ran for governor in 2010, also garnered the support of the district’s former congressmen and multiple rivals in the nine-way GOP primary that preceded the runoff.


10:51 p.m. | De Blasio’s Republican opponent, Joe Lhota, concedes.

“We are five boroughs, but we are one city,” he told supporters.


10:43 p.m. | From de Blasio’s victory speech:

[tweet https://twitter.com/MichaelHwrdSaul/status/397931557828034560%5D


10:36 p.m. | Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s victory in Virginia represents the first time the party occupying the White House has won the state’s off-year gubernatorial election since 1973, TIME’s Alex Rogers reports.


10:34 p.m. |


10:21 p.m. | With 66% of precincts reporting in Colorado, the 25% marijuana sales tax passed 64.7% to 35.3%, the Associated Press reports.


10:15 p.m. | TIME’s Zeke Miller reporting from Gov. Chris Christie’s victory speech:

View this post on Instagram

Sea of iPhones

A post shared by Zeke Miller (@zekejmiller) on


10:10 p.m. |


10:08 p.m. | Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin, chair of the Democratic Governors Association, on Terry McAuliffe’s victory in Virginia:

The DGA congratulates Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe on his extraordinary victory … Instead of focusing on the economy, Republicans in Virginia chose this year to run on a series of radical social policies that alienate women, immigrants, young people, and gay Americans. And when they did pay lip service to jobs, it was in support of an economic scheme that rewards the wealthiest and big corporations at the expense of the middle class and critical investments in education.


10:01 p.m. | Democrat Terry McAuliffe is Virginia’s next governor, the Associated Press reports.


9:43 p.m. | More from Buono:


9:36 p.m. |


9:29 p.m. |


9:23 p.m. | Marty Walsh will be the new mayor of Boston.


9:08 p.m. | Bill de Blasio will be New York City’s first Democratic mayor in two decades, the New York Times and NY1 are both reporting. Polls closed at 9 p.m. https://twitter.com/deBlasioNYC/status/397907220433629184


9:03 p.m. | Democrat Barbara Buono, who lost to New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie, received minimal help from local and national Democrats, some of whom endorsed Christie. President Barack Obama never campaigned for her. https://twitter.com/1PatriciaMurphy/status/397906287369158657 https://twitter.com/carrienbcnews/status/397902397025968128


8:46 p.m. | The Associated Press is calling Democrat Ralph Northam the winner of the Virginia race for lieutenant governor. With 70% of precincts reporting, Northam had 52.7% of the vote to Republican E.W. Jackson’s 47.3%. In Virginia, governor and lieutenant governor are elected separately. Republicans nominated Jackson, a conservative minister with a history of controversial comments who made it more difficult for GOP gubernatorial nominee Ken Cuccinelli to pivot to winning over the wider electorate.


8:38 p.m. | In Virginia, votes are still being counted, with 52.7% of precincts reporting. Republican Ken Cuccinelli was up in early vote totals as results came in from more conservative areas of the state, but now that numbers are rolling in from elsewhere and Democrat Terry McAulliffe is closing the gap in a race that polls have indicated he’ll win. https://twitter.com/HuffPostPol/status/397900440785784832


8:30 p.m. | Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal on Christie’s re-election:

Governor Chris Christie’s overwhelming victory proves that voters are looking for confident and competent leadership. His tenure as chief executive has placed a premium on achieving results over scoring political points.


8:26 p.m. | TIME’s Zeke Miller reporting from the Christie celebration: http://instagram.com/p/gWgtDmxi_q/


8:08 p.m. | Exit polls are showing that New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie won re-election by 20 points, drawing support from across political and ethnic lines in the traditionally Democratic state. TIME’s Zeke Miller reports:

From the start, the outspoken governor focused his campaign on expanding the electorate, and the payoff is clear. The governor made significant inroads with minorities, a must for Republicans nationally, winning the support of 19 percent of African-Americans and 31 percent of Hispanics, according to exit polls.


8:02 p.m. | Polls are closed in New Jersey, and the Associated Press is calling Gov. Chris Christie the winner.


7:33 p.m. | As expected, voters are giving Republican Gov. Chris Christie high marks for his handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy last year: more than 80% of voters said they approve of his response, according to a CBS exit poll. But the economy is the top issue for voters, according to the poll. Nearly six in 10 said it’s in bad shape, with nearly a third saying it’s worse than it was four years ago.


7:25 p.m. | Bill de Blasio, the New York City mayoral candidate running on an anti-Bloomberg message, struck a chord with New York voters. Exit polls show 70% of voters said they would rather see the next mayor take the city in a different direction than continue Bloomberg’s policies. Still, 52% percent said Michael Bloomberg, mayor since 2002, was doing a good job, according to the poll conducted by Edison Research and published in the New York Times.


7:13 p.m. | Colorado voters are deciding Tuesday how high marijuana will be taxed when legal sales begin by next year. On the ballot is the option to approve a 15% pot excise tax that will go toward school construction and an extra sales tax of 10% to fund enforcement of marijuana policy. Both measures are expected to pass, adding an expected $50 to an ounce of medium-quality marijuana.


7:07 p.m. | Polls officially closed in Virginia at 7 p.m. EST, in the most competitive race of the day. Not surprisingly, it’s too close to call. But CNN’s preliminary exit poll — key word preliminary — points to a bad night for Republicans. Democrat Terry McAulliffe has 50 percent of the vote, according to the exit poll, leading Republican Ken Cuccinelli’s 43 percent. Libertarian Robert Sarvis looks like a perfect spoiler in the exit poll with seven percent.


6:41 p.m. | “I’ve governed conservatively,” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told Politico hours before his expected reelection — in what feels a bit like a turn toward 2016. He acknowledged his campaign has been is buoyed, in part, by his “moderate” reputation in the traditionally Democratic state. Christie said he thinks he was dubbed a moderate after he and President Barack Obama toured the New Jersey coastline last year after it was devastated by Hurricane Sandy. “President Obama came in, he did a good job, I said nice things about him, so all the sudden I’m a moderate,” the governor said.


6:28 p.m. | TIME’s Eliana Dockterman put together a roundup of what to be looking for in tonight’s elections. There’s Chris Christie’s likely reelection in New Jersey, a potential GOP flop in Virginia, and a GOP Establishment vs Tea Party showdown in Alabama, and more. Dockterman writes: 

Many of the 2013 contests still carry important national implications, with Republicans again road-testing messages against Obamacare, Democrats branding Republicans as extremist,s and one White House contender looking to make a big show of strength.

Check out TIME’s roundup here.