Former U.S Attorney Chris Christie (R-N.J.) ousted New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D) tonight, delivering Republicans a sweep of the two gubernatorial contests on the ballot today.

With more than three quarters of all votes counted, Christie led Corzine 50 percent to 44 percent, according to tabulations from the AP.

Christie's victory was the more closely-fought of the two races as Corzine moved from a double-digit deficit into a small lead in the final weeks of the campaign. But, the collapse of independent candidate Chris Daggett, who was taking just five percent of the vote with 75 percent of precincts reporting, and the broad distaste for Corzine among the state's voters doomed the incumbent.

Corzine's loss comes on top of a stunningly large defeat for Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds (D) at the hands of former state Attorney General Bob McDonnell (R). (McDonnell is only the third candidate for governor in Virginia history to win more than one million votes; George Allen was the first in 1993 and Tim Kaine was the second in 2005.)

Republican strategists quickly seized on the twin losses in two states carried by President Barack Obama in 2008 as evidence that voters were rebelling against full Democratic control in Washington.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele called the results a "clear rejection of liberal tax and spend policies that Washington Democrats are trying to force on Americans."

Democrats, for their part, stuck to their pre-election talking points, noting that it had been 24 years since the president's party had won even one of the two governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia.

"With the worst recession since the Great Depression and history favoring the other side, we knew this race would be difficult," said Nathan Daschle, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, about the Virginia result.

At the center of both Republican victories were independents, the same voting bloc that went overwhelmingly for President Obama in 2008.

Christie walloped Corzine among independents by a 58 percent to 31 percent margin, according to exit polling in the contest, a major turnaround from 2008 when President Barack Obama won independents 51 percent to 47 percent over Arizona Sen. John McCain.

In Virginia, McDonnell's victory was driven by his wide 65 percent to 34 percent margin among independents. Last year, Obama split independents with McCain (49 percent for the Republican, 48 percent for the Democrat) in the Commonwealth.

White House strategists were quick to note that Obama's numbers remain high with independents but the fact that unaligned voters went so heavily against the Democratic candidates in Virginia and New Jersey are almost certain to cause considerable consternation among those Democrats targeted in 2010.

The other two closely watched races on the ballot today were in New York.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) held a narrow 49 percent to 47 percent edge over New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson (D) with 68 percent of precincts reporting. That the race was so close given Bloomberg's massive spending edge -- he reportedly dropped $100 million on the race -- may well be a testament to the anti-incumbent mood in the country.

In the upstate New York special election to fill the seat vacated by Secretary of the Army John McHugh, Democrat Bill Owens led Conservative party nominee Doug Hoffman 51 percent to 44 percent with just under one-third of precincts reporting.