Election outcomes in Ohio, New Jersey, Arizona and Mississippi on Tuesday suggest the American electorate is shifting slightly to the left, boding well for President Obama’s re-election next year.

Big boosts came from Democratic activists and labor unions. Voters overwhelmingly rejected a piece of anti-union legislation proposed by Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a tea party favorite. Mississippians defeated a “life begins at conception” measure, and Arizonans succeeding in ridding their state of a fierce, anti-immigration senator. New Jersey voters failed to respond to Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s huge election spending efforts, handing seats to a number of state Democrats. — ARK

The Guardian:

The big surprise on Tuesday night was in Mississippi, where polls had suggested conservatives would succeed in introducing a measure that would have defined life as starting at conception and would have banned abortion even in cases of rape or incest. But it too was defeated, dispelling the idea that America is trending rightwards on social issues.

In Arizona, Russell Pearce, the Republican senator who was the architect of that state’s draconian anti-immigration laws, was ousted. In New Jersey, Democrats made inroads in state legislature elections in spite of massive spending against them in the campaign by Republican governor Chris Christie.

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