Analysis: Independents rule in off-year election

Republicans have big night as voters vent political frustrations

Adam Nagourney / New York Times

Washington -- Republicans emerged from Tuesday's elections energized by victories in Virginia and New Jersey, but their leaders immediately began maneuvering to avoid a prolonged battle with conservative activists over what the party stands for and how to regain power.

The victories, in races for governor, were cast by the party's national chairman, Michael Steele, as a sign of a "Republican renaissance." In New Jersey, Gov. Jon S. Corzine, a Democrat, was toppled by the Republican nominee, Chris Christie. In Virginia, Robert F. McDonnell, the Republican, defeated his Democratic opponent, R. Creigh Deeds.

Republicans said the victories showed that President Barack Obama and his party were vulnerable on the economy, government spending and other issues.

Yet throughout the day, Republicans grappled with the outcome of a special election for what had been a reliably Republican House seat in upstate New York, a contest that became a battleground between the party establishment and a conservative insurgency demanding more ideological purity from candidates. The race was won by a Democrat, Bill Owens, after the Republican nominee, Dede Scozzafava, a moderate, quit as conservative leaders and grass-roots organizations rallied around a conservative, Douglas L. Hoffman.

Despite Hoffman's loss, many conservatives promised to press on with their effort to oppose centrist Republican candidates. That vow intensified concerns among party leaders that the opportunities they see coming out of Tuesday's results could be dimmed by intramural battles over whether to reach for the political center or do more to motivate the base on the party's right.

"When our party is united, whether you run in a Northern state or a Southern state, our party can win," said the House Republican whip, Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia. "But when you are divided, you can lose a seat that has been in the Republican column for quite a long time."

The situation is all the more complicated because, after the party's defeats in 2008, it has no dominant leaders or cohesive establishment to bridge the divides and help articulate a positive agenda. In that vacuum, both the conservative activists and party leaders were jockeying for advantage on Wednesday.

Steele, the party chairman, said the outcome in New Jersey and Virginia, where Christie and McDonnell had played down their conservative views on social issues, instead focusing on the economy, should go a long way toward relieving the divisions and showing the party how to win next year.