Corzine Defeats Forrester To Become N.J. Governor

In Texas, voters overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, the 19th state to do so. But voters in Maine rejected an attempt to repeal a law passed by the state legislature that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick -- at 35, one of the country's youngest urban mayors -- was trailing Freman Hendrix, a fellow Democrat and former deputy mayor by nine percentage points with approximately half of the votes counted. Kilpatrick, who would be the first Detroit mayor to lose a reelection bid in more than four decades, struggled to turn about his troubled city, and was beset by charges of misspending city dollars on a luxuryLincoln Navigator and $200,000 in credit card charges.

The transgression of St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly was different: He offended partisans last year by endorsing Bush for reelection. Kelly was routed last night by former city councilman Chris Coleman, another Democrat.

In a surprise with possible echoes for 2008 presidential politics, the three-term mayor of Manchester, N.H., Democrat Robert Baines, was defeated by Alderman Frank Guinta. Baines had a moment in the spotlight every four years during New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary.

Other incumbent mayors fared far better, including Thomas M. Menino in Boston, Bill White in Houston and Patrick McCrory in Charlotte. All were easily reelected.

In Cincinnati, four years after rioting broke out in the city, voters elected a black mayor for the first time. State Sen. Mark Mallory defeated Councilman David Pepper, another Democrat, in a nonpartisan runoff to lead Ohio's third-largest city. With all precincts reporting, Mallory had 52 percent of the vote.

Yesterday's gubernatorial election in New Jersey ended a wild 15 months in state politics that began with then-Gov. James McGreevey's August 2004 announcement that he was having a gay relationship with a state government employee, who critics said had no qualifications for his job.

With McGreevey's departure, state Senate President Richard J. Codey (D) became acting governor. Codey seemed interested in running for a full term, but Corzine -- and his bankroll -- effectively ended that thought.

Last night's victory is the latest breakthrough in a five-year ascendancy for the former Goldman Sachs executive.

Corzine emerged on the political scene in 2000, crushing former governor James Florio in the Democratic primary and narrowly defeating an underfunded Republican House member, Bob Franks, to claim the open Senate seat.

Two years after his victory, Corzine became a member of his party's leadership team -- chairing the Senate's campaign arm. After Democrats lost four Senate seats in the 2004 elections, Corzine announced his intention to seek the governorship.

Although New Jersey voters last night approved creation of a lieutenant governor -- it had been one of the eight states without such a post -- Corzine will enjoy almost unquestioned power over the state government.

His first major decision will be selecting a Democrat to fill out the year remaining on his Senate term. Codey is the preferred choice of many Washington Democrats to fill the remaining year of Corzine's term, although he has said publicly he is not interested. Several Democrats in the New Jersey House delegation are also contenders, with Rep. Robert Menendez widely regarded as the leading candidate, but Rep. Rush D. Holt, a friend of Corzine's and five-time winner on the game show "Jeopardy!," also winning considerable support. Republicans have coalesced behind state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. as their 2006 Senate nominee.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee expressed confidence his party will hold Corzine's seat. "A [Corzine] victory by 11 points and the fact we will have a strong incumbent is a pretty good stepping-off point for keeping the Senate seat in 2006," Schumer said.

Cillizza is a staff writer for washingtonpost.com. His online political column appears daily at www.washingtonpost.com/thefix.