Voters heading to polls in N.J. and Pa.
Voters are heading to the polls today, with offices in Congress, statehouses and governor's mansions up for grabs.
Polls in Pennsylvania are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., while New Jersey voters can cast their ballots between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Voters can look up their polling locations online in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Turnout for elections in non-presidential years is typically low, and both sides in Pennsylvania's race for governor brought out big-name surrogates -- President Barack Obama and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie -- over the weekend to encourage voters to show up at the polls.
In his Center City precinct, Judge of Elections Jonathan Stanwood said he was expecting just 10 to 15 percent of registered voters to turn out.
But the early-morning stream of voters was busier than expected, he said, possibly in part due to interest in the gubernatorial contest, which "impacts the school system."
The race for governor has been the most high-profile race in Pennsylvania this year. Democrat Tom Wolf, a York businessman, is trying to unseat incumbent Republican Gov. Tom Corbett.
Polls throughout the race have shown Wolf holding double-digit leads over Corbett, who could become the state's first governor to lose reelection in decades.
At another 5th ward precinct, Judge of Elections Peter Dunn said there wasn't a "groundswell" around any one issue that would drive turnout, with the Wolf-Corbett battle as the only marquee contest. Still, he was expecting consistent voting at the polling site.
"Here, it's pretty much regular," he said. "Everyone who votes, votes" in every election.
Nationally, Republicans are expected to have a strong year, with the GOP pushing to win control of the Senate and add to its majority in the U.S. House.
That could bode well for Republicans running for Congress in Pennsylvania. The two most-contested House races in the Philadelphia region are in the Chester County-based Sixth District and Bucks County-based Eighth District.
Democrat Manan Trivedi and Republican Ryan Costello are vying to replace retiring GOP Rep. Jim Gerlach in the Sixth District. In the Eighth, Democrat Kevin Strouse is challenging Republican Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick.
In New Jersey, Rep. Jon Runyan's retirement has triggered a hotly contested race for his Third District seat, which covers parts of Burlington and Ocean counties.
The battle between Democrat Aimee Belgard and Republican Tom MacArthur has been hard-fought and expensive: MacArthur has pumped millions of his own dollars into the campaign, while national Democratic groups have kicked in funds to help Belgard, viewing the contest as one of the few places where the party could pick up a GOP-held seat.
Political observers nationwide will be watching U.S. Senate races closely as Republicans fight to win the majority. Local races won't play a role in any GOP takeover, though. Neither of Pennsylvania's Senate seats is up for reelection and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is expected to handily beat Republican challenger Jeff Bell.
Other items for voters at the polls include state Senate and General Assembly offices in Pennsylvania and ballot questions.
The bitter fight between Democrat John Kane and Republican Tom McGarrigle for a Chester and Delaware County-based state Senate seat could determine which party controls the upper chamber in Harrisburg, currently held by the GOP.
In Philadelphia, voters will also decide three ballot questions regarding the Mayor's Office of Sustainability, oversight of prisons and borrowing $137 million for capital projects.