Republican Chris Christie, a former federal prosecutor, pulled out a win in the New Jersey governor's race Tuesday, defeating a deeply unpopular Democratic incumbent whom voters blamed for the state's high taxes and crushing budget woes.

The Associated Press called the race for Mr. Christie over incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine just after 10 p.m. With 91% of precincts reporting Tuesday night, Mr. Christie had 49% of the vote to Mr. Corzine's 45%.

In Virginia, the referendum was even more pronounced:

Former Attorney General Robert F. "Bob" McDonnell, a calm, hard-line conservative Republican from Virginia Beach, clobbered his earnest but vaguely moderate Democratic opponent from Bath County, state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, by 18 percentage points.

Finally, NY Times editorialist David Carr expressed surprise over the close mayoral race in NYC:

Both polls and pundits had Michael Bloomberg walking away with the New York City mayoralty, but he won only by a margin of five points, and the race was close enough so that media outlets were finessing their predictions deep into the night. It will take weeks to figure out how a two-term incumbent who spent $90 million on his re-election, overpowering his opponent by a 14-1 margin in spending, limped to a narrow victory.

The law, enacted this summer and kicking in today, directs the FDA to crack down on candy and fruit-flavored cigarettes that public health officials say turn children into life-long nicotine addicts.

"These flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children and young adults to become regular smokers," FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg told reporters.

Dr. Lawrence Deyton, head of the FDA's new Center for Tobacco Products, said they are favored by teens.

"Studies show that 17-year-old smokers are three times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over the age of 25," Deyton said.

Tobacco companies sweeten their cigarettes because "flavors make cigarettes and other tobacco products more appealing to youth," he added.

Deyton read what he called "a historic memo" from one tobacco manufacturer, outlining plans to directly target children by making "a cigarette that's obviously youth-oriented" and by featuring "flavor which would be candy-like but give the satisfaction of a cigarette."

As for flavorings, the law specifically exempted the most popular one – menthol. But the agency is studying ways to close that loophole – and to regulate flavorings in cigars, chewing tobacco and snuff.