GOP Takes Weiner's Seat

The president started his day with very bad news on poverty. He ended it by learning that New York City voters had just sent him an unwelcome message. Andy Kroll writes for Mother Jones:

Democrats took a beating on Tuesday night in a pair of special elections in Nevada and New York. A Democratic loss was expected in Nevada's GOP-friendly 2nd congressional district in the race to replace Rep. Dean Heller, who was appointed by Gov. Brian Sandoval to take over the seat of disgraced US senator John Ensign after his resignation. But in the fight to fill the seat left by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Republican Bob Turner's victory dealt Democrats a stinging blow in a traditionally blue district.

Turner defeated State Assemblyman David Weprin 53 percent to 47 percent, with 79 percent of precincts reporting. In Nevada, Republican Mark Amodei, a 12-year member of the state Senate, cruised to victory over Democrat Kate Marshall, the state treasurer, 57 percent to 32 percent, with 68 percent of precincts reporting.

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Turner's victory in NY-9 can be seen as a referendum of sorts on Obama. "If Turner wins on Tuesday it will be largely due to the incredible unpopularity of Barack Obama dragging his party down in the district," Public Policy Polling's Tom Jensen wrote on Sunday. "Obama won 55 percent there in 2008 but now has a staggeringly bad 31 percent approval rating, with 56 percent of voters disapproving of him."