Steady hand will clinch mayoral elections

New York City has voted in a cliffhanger election to choose a successor to popular mayor Rudolph Giuliani - one of dozens of races across the country, including two for state governor.

Both governorships were won by Democrats, ending long Republican reigns, according to partial results yesterday.

In New Jersey, Jim McGreevey became the first Democrat elected governor since 1989. In Virginia, Democrat Mark Warner broke an eight-year Republican hold on the seat, early results showed.

Dozens of cities - including Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Miami and Seattle were choosing mayors. Official results were expected later today.

With the victories, there would be 21 Democratic governors, 27 Republicans and two independents.

Exit polling in New York indicated that Democrat Mark Green and Republican Michael Bloomberg were neck and neck in the race to succeed Giuliani, a Republican barred from seeking a third term.

Green, an elected city official, spent about $12m on his campaign, while Bloomberg, the billionaire owner of the Bloomberg financial information company, was thought to have spent more than $50m of his own money.

That makes it the most expensive mayoral campaign in US history, according to Common Cause, a public lobbying group.

Green’s once-large lead in the polls faded after the popular Giuliani endorsed Bloomberg as the man to guide New York through the aftermath of the World Trade Centre terror attack.

Voters in other mayoral elections said they were looking for strong leadership.