In a night of cliff-hangers, the Mississippi governor's race went down to the wire Tuesday and may be thrown to the Democratic-controlled state House, while Democrats escaped with a narrow victory in Philadelphia to retain their 50-year grip on City Hall.
The third key race of the off-year elections went to Republicans, who seized control of Virginia's Legislature for the first time in history."These elections are precursors to the most important election in a generation in 2000," said Democratic National Committee chairman Joe Andrew.
In Mississippi, former GOP Rep. Mike Parker and Democratic Lt. Gov. Ron Musgrove finished in a dead heat to succeed Kirk Fordice, the state's first Republican governor this century.
Under state law, the House would elect the governor during its session next year if no candidate gets a majority of the popular vote. Two minor-party candidates split just enough votes to make that scenario likely.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Musgrove had 367,489 votes or 49 percent and Parker had 362,371 votes or 49 percent.
"We're going have to wait another day to find out exactly what has happened," Parker told about 500 supporters who were not subdued by the close numbers.
Republicans, hoping to keep the election out of the House, where Democrats prevail by better than a 2-1 margin, said a recount was possible.
"If it goes to the House of Representatives you can pretty much say Ronnie Musgrove will be made governor," said state Rep. George Flaggs, a Democrat from Vicksburg. "I can't see after eight years them not voting Democratic."
In Philadelphia, Republican businessman Sam Katz gave City Hall veteran John F. Street a tough race in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans 4-to-1. Though Katz conceded defeat, Republicans said a recount was possible there, too, if official returns showed the margin narrowing.
With 96 percent of precincts reporting, Street had 211,024 votes or 50 percent and Katz had 203,818 votes or 49 percent.
As hundreds of supporters shouted, "Too close! Too close!" Katz declared, "Not everybody gets to live out their dream."
The GOP retained its majority in Virginia's Senate and claimed at least 52 seats in 100-seat House. With GOP Gov. Jim Gilmore at the helm, Republicans will control redistricting after the 2000 census -- recasting political maps long drawn by Democrats.
The victories also give the party momentum in next year's campaign to topple vulnerable Democratic Sen. Chuck Robb.
Ballot issues also dotted the landscape. In Maine, a measure to legalize medical marijuana was approved by voters, while a proposal to ban a late-term abortion procedure failed. San Francisco voters were favoring a measure to ban ATM bank surcharges. Tax questions for sports stadiums passed in Scottsdale, Ariz., and San Antonio, and failed in Houston and St. Paul, Minn.
The Republican National Committee spent about $1.5 million, twice the total of the cash-strapped DNC, to influence voting.
Democrat Paul Patton, the first Kentucky governor eligible for a second term in nearly 200 years, coasted to re-election. His party also won mayor's races in Indianapolis and Columbus, reversing more than a quarter century of Republican control.
Patton defeated Republican Peppy Martin, a weak challenger who campaigned in discount store parking lots and made wild, unfounded charges about the governor and others. Patton was the first Kentucky governor eligible to seek a second consecutive term since James Garrard in 1800; voters changed the constitution in 1992 to allow succession.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Patton had 353,991 votes or 61 percent, Martin had 129,282 votes or 22 percent, and Reform Party candidate Gatewood Galbraith had 85,945 votes or 15 percent.
After winning the South Carolina and Alabama governors' races in 1998, Democrats hoped to continue making inroads against Republicans in the South with a victory in Mississippi. That state was supposed to be the tie-breaker of the three 1999 governor's races: Republican Gov. Mike Foster of Louisiana was re-elected last month.
President Clinton's last-minute campaign apperance for Street may have made the difference in Philadelphia's hard-core Democratic districts. Outgoing Mayor Edward G. Rendell is a new DNC chairman. The victory was especially sweet for Democrats since the city will be host to the GOP presidential convention next summer.
Democrats also scored big victories in Indianapolis, where Bart Peterson defeated Republican Sue Anne Gilroy, and in Columbus, Ohio, where Democrat Michael B. Coleman defeated Republican Dorothy Teater. Both cities have been run by Republicans for more than a quarter-century.
The standard rules of urban politics may no longer apply this year: A white Republican ran strong against a black Democrat in Philadelphia; a pro-business, tough-on-crime Democrat won in Indianapolis; and a black Democrat will lead Columbus after 28 years of GOP control.
In Houston, Mayor Lee Brown, former national drug czar, won a second term and in Baltimore, Democrat Martin O'Malley was elected on platform of zero tolerance on crime. In San Francisco, Mayor Willie Brown was forced into a runoff by fellow Democrats.
In New Jersey, Democrats made slight inroads into the GOP's 48-32 margin in the Assembly. Democrats picked up at least two and possibly three seats.
And in Washington state, Democrats failed to break a 49-49 tie in the House, losing a special election in a rural district that has voted Republican since 1936.
The statehouse races were critical because of redistricting. Mayoral elections often provide the first glimpse of a trend -- as they did in 1993 when Republicans Rudolph Giuliani of New York and Richard Riordan of Los Angeles won Democratic strongholds in advance of the GOP takeover of Congress.
In presidential politics, governors and mayors offer footholds into the nation's population centers.