Election results from around the nation

Anchorage, Alaska – Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s unusual write-in bid to hold on to her U.S. Senate seat appeared to be gaining steam in early returns Tuesday, but analysts warned Alaska could be in for a long, close ballot count. With early-voted ballots and about 40 percent of the precincts tallied, write-in votes – most presumably cast for Murkowski – were leading with 39.44 percent. Tea Party Express-backed Republican Joe Miller was trailing with 34.62 percent, while Democrat Scott McAdams had 24.88 percent.

Phoenix – Arizona Republican John McCain defeated a little-known Democrat, former Tucson City Councilman Rodney Glassman, to win a fifth term in the U.S. Senate.

Little Rock, Ark., – Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln lost her seat to a Republican challenger after months of criticism that she was too closely aligned with the Obama White House. Republican John Boozman will become only the second Republican from Arkansas to serve in the Senate since Reconstruction.

Los Angeles – California voters returned Democrat Jerry Brown to the governor’s office 28 years after he left it. He defeated Republican Meg Whitman, a billionaire who spent $142 million of her personal fortune on her campaign. In the state’s U.S. Senate race, Democrat Barbara Boxer won a fourth term, turning back a strong challenge from former Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Carly Fiorina.

Hartford, Conn. – Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, was elected to the Senate in a bruising cage-fight of a campaign against pro wrestling mogul Linda McMahon, extending the Democrats’ hold on the seat.

Dover, Del. – After a campaign that became a political spectacle, Chris Coons defeated tea party favorite Christine O’Donnell, retaining for Democrats the Delaware Senate seat once held for more than 36 years by Vice President Joe Biden.

Honolulu – Sen. Daniel Inouye won a ninth term after coasting to victory over a Republican with little money or name recognition. The 86-year-old Democrat is the nation’s most senior senator.

Chicago – Republican Mark Kirk on Tuesday captured the Illinois Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama. Kirk, a five-term congressman from Chicago’s northern suburbs, defeated Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa voters elected Republican Charles Grassley to a sixth Senate term, extending a political career that dates to 1958.

Topeka, Kan. – Republican Sen. Sam Brownback is returning home to be governor of Kansas after 16 years in Washington. Brownback defeated Democratic state Sen. Tom Holland.

Louisville, Ky. – Kentucky voters made Rand Paul their next senator in a convincing display of tea party strength that defied Democratic hopes and early Republican fears that his ultraconservative views made him unelectable. Paul, son of libertarian-leaning GOP Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, defeated Democrat Jack Conway.

Baltimore – Democrat Barbara Mikulski was re-elected to a fifth term to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate.

Boston – U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, a favorite target of conservatives, is going back to Washington for a 16th term after beating back one of the toughest re-election campaigns.

Las Vegas – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid survived a ferocious challenge from tea party star Sharron Angle to win a fifth term, giving the White House reason to celebrate on a night of sweeping Democratic losses in Congress.

New York – Despite anger at incumbents across the country, New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, who has spent most of his adult life in government, Tuesday was elected governor of New York, the job his father, Mario, held for three terms. In recent weeks, Democrat Cuomo ran far ahead of his Republican opponent, Carl Paladino, a Buffalo real estate developer who came out of the primaries with strong support from the tea party movement.

Columbus, Ohio – Former Rep. John Kasich defeated Gov. Ted Strickland in Ohio and seized GOP control of a state considered crucial to the 2012 presidential election.

Philadelphia – Pat Toomey, the conservative Republican whose popularity scared Arlen Specter out of the GOP, was elected to the longtime U.S. senator’s seat in one of the most hotly contested races in the nation. Toomey defeated Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak.

Columbia, S.C. – Republican Nikki Haley beat Democratic opponent Vincent Sheheen to win the South Carolina governor’s race, becoming the first minority governor in the state’s history and the second Indian-American governor in the nation, after Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. In South Carolina’s U.S. Senate race, Republican Jim DeMint scored an easy victory.

Austin, Texas – Republican Gov. Rick Perry defeated Democrat Bill White to win a third four-year term as Texas governor.

Montpelier, Vt. – The U.S. Senate’s second-longest serving member is headed back to Washington. Democratic U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont easily won re-election to a seventh term.

Morgantown, W.Va. – Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin overcame voter anger at President Barack Obama to win West Virginia’s Senate race Tuesday. His Republican rival, businessman John Raese, claimed Manchin would be a “rubber stamp” for Obama’s policies.

Milwaukee – A businessman who sought support from the tea party toppled one of the Senate’s most prominent liberals. Republican Ron Johnson defeated three-term Democrat Russ Feingold.