kentucky elects democratic governor, big cities elect mayors

We focused on Texas elections, but big news was made across the country last night as the nation's faithful voters took to the polls.

The AP and MSNBC tell us that the Republican governor of Kentucky, Ernie Fletcher, lost his re-election bid to a Democrat, Governor-Elect Steve Beshear. Fletcher's first term was marred by scandal.

Beshear cruised to a 20-percentage-point victory in Kentucky after a campaign in which he repeatedly reminded voters of accusations that Fletcher directed the hiring of political allies for jobs protected by the state's merit system.

"Tomorrow begins the time when I call on every person in this state to come together with us, join hands with us, because together, folks, we can make Kentucky a much better place to call home," the 63-year-old Beshear told supporters.

On a different note, Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, a Republican, sailed to re-election victory last night. Barbour defeated his Democratic opponent by twenty points after a campaign that focused on his deemed successful Katrina recovery efforts in the state.

Elsewhere, big cities came out to vote for mayoral races.

Houston re-elected Mayor Bill White. In Baltimore, Sheila Dixon became the first black woman to be elected mayor. Philadelphia chose a new mayor, Michael Nutter, that promised to reduce gun violence. Pittsburgh chose to keep the youngest mayor of a big city in the nation, 27-year-old Democrat Luke Ravenstahl. San Francisco re-elected scandal-plauged Mayor Gavin Newsom, who admitted this year to cheating on his wife and having a drinking problem.