GOP Wins In Closely Watched Va. Contest

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Republican Bob McDonnell wooed Virginia's independent voters Tuesday to win a landslide election for governor.

The win comes just a year after the state voted for Democrat
Barack Obama for president, as Virginia bucked its four-decade long tradition of backing Republican candidates.

McDonnell, a conservative former state attorney general, had
about 60 percent of the vote with most precincts reporting. The
Republican takes back the governor's office after eight years of
Democrat control.

Exit polls showed the election largely turned on independent
voters, who preferred McDonnell by nearly a 2-1 ratio over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds. It was a shift from 2008, when independents in the state split about evenly between the parties.

McDonnell will succeed Gov. Timothy Kaine, chairman of the
Democratic National Committee. Kaine directed $6 million in DNC
money into Virginia for Deeds and other Democratic candidates.

Virginia state law bars a governor from running for a second
consecutive term.