Republicans inflicted a double blow on President Barack Obama's Democratic Party, winning gubernatorial races in two states that had backed him last year.
Republican Chris Christie said that he won in spite of 'negative personal' attacks launched against him during the hard-fought contest against incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine.
Maine voters repealed a law that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed, dealing the gay rights movement a big defeat in a corner of the country most supportive of gay marriage.
GM reported its first monthly gain in U.S. sales in almost two years while Toyota and Ford also improved, a sign the auto industry it starting to crawl back from a yearlong slump.
Democrat Bill Owens was the projected winner in a special Congressional election in northern New York that grabbed national headlines in its final days as it highlighted divisions within the Republican Party.