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The latest results and data on the 2009 elections. To follow the 79 most informative Election Night Twitterers, check our our list here.

12:16  Networks calls NY-23 for Democrat Bill Owens, and Democrats take control of the seat for the first time in over a hundred years. The latest results, with 88 percent of precincts reporting, have Democrat Bill Owens at 49 percent, Conservative Doug Hoffman at 46 percent, and since-withdrawn GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava taking five percent.

11:58  Christie's speech is about the "out of control" government in Trenton, corruption, and Corzine's negative campaign: "talking heads...have said you cannot win an election in New Jersey without being personally negative, without doing smear attack ads on the character of your opponent. Now in February when I announced [my candidacy] for governor, I said I knew that this campaign would get into the gutter, and I would not follow my opponents into that gutter."

11:31  77 percent of precincts in in New York: Owens 49 percent, Hoffman 46 percent

11:18  Christie has a hard time calming down his supporters, as he talks about receiving a call from Corzine to congratulate. Supporters sing "hey hey, kiss him goodbye"...Christie says "please...please no...come on now," as another supporter shouts something. A few moments later, as he asks the crowd to indulge him in a few thank-yous, he gives an antagonistic stare at a supporter who shouts something, and says "hey now."

11:15  Christie takes the stage to Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run," supporters chant "yes we can"

11:13  Corzine concedes, but rallies the supporters in attendance with an applause line about the national Demcoratic agenda: his loss "does not mean...the Democrats across this state, across this country, don't have an agenda to carry forward. It's important that we fight for health care, it is important that we make sure our children have the kind of education that I know New Jerseyans want, it's important that we fight for collective bargaining and the rights of labor."

10:51  With 67 percent of precincts reporting, Democrat Bill Owens is still ahead of Conservative Doug Hoffman, 49 percent to 46 percent

10:44  Major Garrett reports: President Obama was not watching election returns, according to the White House

10:42  Haley Barbour tells Fox that New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine was "weighted down" by President Obama's agenda...it's all about spending, health care, and cap-and-trade: "Outrageous spending, more debt, a health care bill that would drive up the cost of health insurance...all that hurt every Democrat on the ticket." And: "There's no question that these elections will propel republicans into 2010."

10:39  New Jersey's voters voted for change: 39 percent said "change" was the most important candidate quality in deciding their votes. Values cam in second at 27 percent, experience in third at 17, honesty in fourth at 13. Mildly ironic, given the talk of this being a referendum on Obama.

10:37  Exit-poll breakdown in New Jersey tells the story for Republican Chris Christie's victory: independents broke for Christie 58-31 over incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine (D)

10:31 All eyes are now on New York's 23rd district, where a Democratic source tells Politico's Jonathan Martin that Democrat Bill Owens is overperforming in GOP areas

10:25  In an official statement, Mississippi Gov. and Republican Governors Association Chairman (and possible 2012 candidate) Haley Barbour says "Chris Christie secured a major victory or the Republican Party" that "signals the beginning of the GOP's comeback"

10:18  Christie Wins in New Jersey: networks call the race with 70 percent of precincts reporting and Christie in the lead over Democrat Jon Corzine 49 percent to 44 percent, with independent candidate Chris Daggett (who withdrew earlier this evening) collecting 5 percent of the vote--lower than he had been polling (one survey last week had him taking 14 percent), meaning fewer votes that could have come from Christie's total

10:06  With New Jersey's gubernatorial race still undecided at 50-44 in favor of Republican Chris Christie, both campaigns have reportedly "lawyered up," according to Fox, preparing for a possible election challenge

10:03  A big surprise in NY-23, where Conservative Doug Hoffman had led by double digits in the latest pre-election polling: Democrat Bill Owens is leading the race with 51 percent of the vote and 19 percent of precincts reporting. Hoffman has collected 44 percent, and Dede Scozzafava, the Republican who withdrew over the weekend, gathering 5 percent.

9:55  As Creigh Deeds has already conceded, Bob McDonnell accepts before a happy crowd in VA. His speech is, basically, about job creation and opportunity. Not a lot of conservative ideology or the national conservative discussion about government spending:

"I've met Virginians that have a need and are searching or a much brighter future...some have last their jobs, some have lost their homes, some have lost their businesses...leading Virginia will require innovation and cooperation...my promise to you as governor is the same as my promise to you as candidate for governor...and that is to strengthen the free enterprise system, to create more jobs and opportunity," he said.

"I pledge to you that we will honor the words of Thomas Jefferson to keep a wise and frugal government...keeping...taxes...to a minimum here in Virginia so the freedoms can grow," McDonnell said.

9:30  With only one percent in, Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman is trailing Democrat Bill Owens in New York's 23rd district special election, 39 percent to 56 percent

9:27  New Jersey's gubernatorial race looks like it won't be called for some time, at least, as it's Christie 49, Corzine 44 with 46 percent of precincts in

9:21  Very political acceptance speech by Virginia's attorney general-elect, Ken Cuccinelli, with talk of "government overreach," and the flag theme of his campaign as "a symbol simply of returning to the founders' vision of a limited government that respects constitutional boundaries."

9:18  Tim Kaine, on CNN, focuses on the positive: "We're also watching very carefully the NY-23 race because we think the schism between the Republican Party....is a story that's gonna continue to play out over the next months"...Obama's campaigning or Deeds "did get people energized," touting Obama's approval rating in Virginia

9:05  The GOP has two top-tier Virginia pols on-hand to hash out McDonnell's victory for us: House Minority Whip Eric Cantor and former Virginia Gov. and Sen. George Allen. Cantor calls McDonnell's victory a "warning shot" and says VA voters said "enough with the waste enough with the policies that are promoting government incursions in our lives"...the "positive, solutions-based" campaign McDonnell ran and the "common-sense conservative principles" that Virginia was founded on

8:49  If New Jersey's gubernatorial race is going to be a referendum on "big government," it looks like it won't be a sign that voters think President Obama's administration and the Democratic Congress have been too ambitious: according to exit polls, 51 percent of NJ voters said the government should do more, while 46 percent said it should do less

8:48  More New Jersey results: with 10 percent of precincts reporting, CNN shows Christie up 56 percent to 38 percent

8:45  Returns trickling in from New Jersey: Christie 54.8, Corzine 54.8, Daggett 6.5 percent with 4.3 percent of precincts reporting, via Politico's tracking

8:43  RNC Chairman Michael Steele throws a jab at his DNC counterpart, party chairman and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, in his statement on the GOP wins in Virginia:

"...In a state that had been in the Democrats' column after 2008--and in DNC Chairman Tim Kaine's own backyard--Republicans swept all three top state offices in Virginia for the first time since 1997. This significant victories speak to the fantastic campaigns run by Republicans across the Commonweath and the voters' clear rejection of liberal tax and spend policies that Washington Democrats are trying to force on America.

"Governor-elect Bob McDonnell's common-sense conservative message of less spending, lower taxes, and more responsible government clearly resonated with voters. His opposition to the Democrats' plans or higher taxes, government-run health care and a job-killing 'cap and trade' bill was rewarded by Virginia voters with a victory tonight."

8:32  Tim Pawlenty wins the race among 2012 candidates to congratulate Bob McDonnell on winning in VA. "I want to send my congratulations to Bob, Maureen and their family. Bob ran a positive campaign based on the conservative principles of fiscal responsibility and low taxes, card-check and spending that would hurt economic growth and job creation. I'm especially proud of the RGA's historic role in supporting Bob's effort, and look forward to working with the Governor-Elect next year," Pawlenty said in a statment that was emailed out to press.

8:29  Early, early results (1 percent of precincts reporting) have Christie leading Corzine 51-40...not so close as everyone has expected, but some of the reporting precincts are from heavily Republican areas

8:24  Jim Geraghty hears from a reader who, Geraghty says, is "plugged in to a New Jersey Democrat," whose results have Christie winning by one percent.

8:21  RNC Chairman Michael Steele, on CNN, says that, while he doesn't think it's his role to get involved in local races to try to dictate an outcome, he does plan to talk to the local GOP in New York's 23rd district and recommend some procedural changes changes: "Where I disagree, and think they need to change, as I think they need to do in this case, I'll talk to them about maybe you should think about a primary system, so you don't have this problem in the future."

8: 10 Networks project victories for Bill Bolling (R) as Virginia's next Lt. Gov. and Ken Cuccinelli (R) as the state's next attorney general, meaning a sweep for Republicans

8:09 Politico has live maps of Virginia and New Jersey. Right now, Virginia's map shows seven counties for McDonnell and one for Deeds. With McDonnell already having won, we can now watch to see just how red that map fills in

8:07 TV coverage discrepancy alert: Fox's Bill O'Reilly tells Karl Rove "something's teeing off the independent voters (who agrees) suggesting health care and spending may have something to do with it...while CNN's Campbell Brown asks her panelists, "Are we jumping the gun a little bit to be calling this a referendum on the president right now"

8:05 Meanwhile, in New Jersey...polls have closed exactly five minutes ago, barring irregularities...and some exit polling indicates that Christie is winning heavily among white voters: 68 percent of white men for Christie, 32 percent for Corzine...and that black voters are going for Corzine, to the tune of 90 percent

8:02 Fox calls Virginia "a cautionary tale for Democrats," and that there were concerns about spending, about health care..."it did have an impact, it does raise questions," Fox chief correspondent Paul Cameron says

7:57  CNN and Fox are calling the VA-gov race for McDonnell. 32 percent of precincts are in, and CNN has it 64-36 in favor of McDonnell

7:49  23 percent of precincts have reported in Virginia, with McDonnell's lead holding at 65-35

7:45  More exit poll results: 55 percent of Virginia voters say their vote was NOT about President Obama.

7:41 After a brief respite spent in a traffic jam on Connecticut Ave., the Election Livestream is back. With 13 percent of precincts reporting in Virginia, Republican Bob McDonnell is up 65 percent to 35 percent. Not looking good for Democrat Creigh Deeds...networks will probably call the race in not too long.

6:46  Fox has exit polls now, too. According to their interviews with voters in New Jersey, 72 percent say Corzine made unfair attacks, while 62 percent say Christie did as well (but only 29 percent say campaign ads were important to their votes. The most important issues were:

the economy     31 percent
property taxes   26 percent
corruption         20 percent
health care       18 percent

In Virginia, the most important issues were:

the economy   46 percent
health care      25 percent
taxes              14 percent
transportation    8 percent

6:16  If you're hoping for some spin from the White House tonight, you won't get it: Fox's Major Garrett reports that the White House decided last night not to put any of its spokesmen out tonight to talk about the election results.

6:15  CBS News has the first round of exit polls (see Marc's breakdown here). The message: it's not about Obama. Fewer than half who voted for the Republican candidates in Virginia and New Jersey say they did so to send a message about President Obama

6:10  We're about an hour away from closing time for polls in Virginia (7 p.m. Eastern), when results in the Republican-favored gubernatorial election will come in. The latest opinion polling on the race has Republican Bob McDonnell expected to win by 18 points; see RealClearPolitics' compilation of VA-gov polls here.

Polls in New Jersey and Maine, meanwhile will close at 8 p.m. Opinion polling on New Jersey's gubernatorial race indicates a contest that's too close to call: the latest surveys show a mixed picture, one with Gov. Jon Corzine (D) up by two percentage points and three others published in the past couple days show Republican Chris Christie up by two or three. See the RCP breakdown here. Maine's vote on whether to overturn the state legislature's approval of gay marriage, meanwhile, is expected to be similarly close.