Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe was elected governor of Virginia, largely with the support of the heavily populated Washington suburbs that were hard hit by last month's partial shutdown of the federal government.
McAuliffe's campaign had held up rival Ken Cuccinelli, the state's attorney general, as a symbol of the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party, seen by many voters as responsible for the shutdown, which economists said took a $24 billion bite out of the U.S. economy.
Christie, whose broad, cross-party appeal makes him a top contender if he decides to run for the White House in 2016, addressed Americans' frustration with partisan stalemate in his victory speech.
"A dispirited America, angry with their dysfunctional government in Washington, looks to New Jersey to say, 'Is what I think is happening really happening? Are people really coming together?'" Christie told supporters. "Let me give the answer to everyone who is watching tonight. Under this government, our first job is to get the job done and as long as I'm governor, that job will always, always be finished."
In liberal New York City, Bill de Blasio, the city's public advocate, crushed Republican Joseph Lhota, running on a platform to bring the "two New Yorks" of rich and poor closer together.
The results came less than three weeks after the 16-day partial government shutdown, a maneuver pushed by conservative Republicans seeking to delay or de-fund Democratic President Barack Obama's signature healthcare reform law, known as Obamacare.
Cuccinelli's loss was a setback for the Tea Party movement, which swept a wave of right-wing lawmakers into Congress in 2010 and has been seeking to extend its legislative influence in next year's congressional elections.
The close race reflected the political split in Virginia, which Obama won in both his presidential races, but that elected a Republican governor four years ago.
Cuccinelli, a social conservative, carried the state's more rural southern and western districts.
NATIONAL ATTENTION
The hotly contested Virginia race drew intense national interest and more out-of-state funding than any gubernatorial contest in the state's history.
Top stars of the Democratic Party campaigned for McAuliffe in the final weeks, including Obama, former President Bill Clinton, and his wife, Hillary Clinton, a former secretary of state and likely 2016 White House contender. Conservative Republicans including Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal stumped for Cuccinelli.
Analysts warned that the results in Virginia and the Northeastern state of New Jersey were unlikely to be indicative of congressional and governors' races next year in more conservative sections of the country.
"You have to be careful only in that these are state elections. It's not surprising that in New Jersey, the preference of a Republican would be a moderate Republican," said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history at Princeton University and the author of 2012's "Governing America: The Revival of Political History."
SPRINGBOARD FOR CHRISTIE?
Christie's strong showing in New Jersey over Democratic state Senator Barbara Buono could leave Republicans wondering whether they would do better in 2016 to support Christie, a moderate able to win strong majorities in a Democratic-leaning state, than a more conservative candidate, such as Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.
"In Christie, you have the emergence of a powerful political candidate who has consciously separated himself from the Tea Party wing," Zelizer said.
In New Jersey, Christie is known for his readiness to work with Democrats, a nod to the state's politically moderate population, where registered Democrats and independents both outnumber Republicans.
Most famously, Christie stood side by side with Obama as they toured the Jersey Shore in the wake of 2012's destructive Superstorm Sandy. Some Republicans criticized the move, saying it boosted Obama's chances against former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.
Christie's moderate politics could pose problems in a presidential race in such places as South Carolina, an early primary state that is home to a significant number of evangelical Christians and more conservative Republicans.
On his home turf of Asbury Park, New Jersey, supporters said they had no worries about the possibility of him leaving the governor's mansion early if he won the White House.
"That didn't change my opinion about voting for him a bit," said Pepa Sanin, of Totowa, who had volunteered with the campaign.
NEW YORK BACK TO ITS ROOTS
De Blasio's victory in the New York mayoral race gives America's most populous city its most liberal mayor in a generation, and the first Democrat in two decades, following law-and-order Republican Rudolph Giuliani and billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who focused on issues including tackling smoking and obesity.
De Blasio is expected to take on some Bloomberg-era policies, notably the controversial "stop-and-frisk" policing program. The Bloomberg administration saw it as a powerful crime-fighting tool, but de Blasio and liberal activists contend it unfairly targets black and Hispanic men.
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