The fact that Chris Christie rolled to a second term in New Jersey and Terry McAuliffe won in Virginia wasn’t a surprise. Public opinion polls have consistently shown both men in the lead. But the exit polls showed two very different paths to victory.
Christie steamrolled hapless Democratic nominee Barbara Buono, 60% to 39% with 80% of the vote counted, crushing her in almost every key demographic. …
McAuliffe’s victory was much narrower than most of the polls indicated, 48% to 46% with 98% of the vote in. He didn’t win every key group — self-described independents broke for Republican nominee Ken Cuccinelli — but he successfully stoked fears about Cuccinelli’s strident brand of conservatism in an increasingly moderate battleground state. CONT.
Alan Silverleib, CNN