Election day looms for St. Pete mayor and two state governors

St. Petersburg, Florida - The ballots cast for St. Petersburg mayor Tuesday will not have political parties on them. But races elsewhere in America are partisan, and a few are generating a lot of attention from political talkers and the White House.

The race for St. Pete mayor is nonpartisan, but the two candidates certainly belong to parties. Democrats have backed Kathleen Ford in e-mail campaigns and other efforts.

The St. Pete Times reports Bill Foster has asked for help from activists in the county's Republican organization.

In the race for New Jersey governor, party politics have been a bigger factor. President Barack Obama has been pushing hard to re-elect Democrat John Corzine.

But it's a very tight race.

The latest numbers show Corzine trailing or tied with Republican challenger Chris Christie. And supporters of Independent Chris Daggett seem to be shifting to Christie.

Virginia appears to be leaning toward Republican Bob McDonnell in its governor's race, even though the state went to President Obama last year.

"What these elections prove is that President Obama has trouble transferring popularity -- that if he's not on the ballot, he really can't generate coattails," said Larry Sabato, a political analyst with the University of Virginia.

The President tried to drum up support for Virginia Democrat Creigh Deeds last week with a trip to Norfolk. Even President Obama's top spokesman admits his visit may not have much sway.

"Roughly 70 percent of the state said their vote had nothing to do with the president of the United States," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.

While pundits will surely look to connect these governors' fates to the President's, the blog Politics Daily points out these are regional races with their own rules.

For more than 35 years, Virginia has picked a governor from the opposite party as the President. And New Jersey has re-elected an incumbent governor every time except one for six straight decades.

In another national voting note, Minneapolis will start using "ranked-choice voting" for the first time Tuesday. Voters casting a ballot for, say, mayor will choose their first, second, and third choices of the office.

The votes are counted, and if no candidate gets a majority, the candidate with the fewest number of votes is removed, and the numbers are run again. It's like a primary and general election all in one.

Click here for 10 Connects' most recent coverage of the race for St. Petersburg mayor. Polls will be open Tuesday, November 3rd, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Connect with 10 Connects multi-media journalist Grayson Kamm on Twitter as @graysonkamm, on his Facebook page, by e-mail at this link, or on AOL Instant Messenger as screen name GraysonConnects.