The loss of Democratic governorships in New Jersey and Virginia on Tuesday is an ominous sign for Gov. Ted Strickland's 2010 re-election -- or not.

The spin machine was in overdrive yesterday as the leaders of Ohio's two political parties cast differing interpretations on the meaning of defeats for Democrats in Election Day's two high-profile races for governor.

"If I were Ted Strickland, I'd be worried by the loss of an open seat in Virginia, and I'd be terrified that Democrats couldn't hold the governor's seat in New Jersey," said Ohio GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine.

Those losses had everything to do with voter wrath against incumbents and little to do with the incumbents being Democrats, countered Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party.

"If (Tuesday's) election showed anything, it's that the 2010 elections (in Ohio) will be very close," Redfern said.

Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine's loss to Republican Chris Christie in heavily Democratic New Jersey was viewed by Republicans as a troubling sign for Democrats heading into next year's midterm elections.

And Republican Bob McDonnell's recapturing of the Virginia governor's office after eight years of Democratic control caused DeWine to crow that the results from the two states "give us a great starting point" in Ohio.

In an interview, Strickland said the outcome of Tuesday's races doesn't mean much for Ohio in 2010 because just as Democrats were riding high a year ago, the conditions probably will be different a year from now.

When asked what lessons Democrats can learn from the races in New Jersey and Virginia, Strickland replied: "I think the lesson from New Jersey is that if you're associated with Wall Street, you're not very popular with the voters."

That was a reference to Corzine, a former Goldman-Sachs executive. Strickland's likely GOP opponent, John Kasich, previously was a managing director in the investment-banking division at Lehman Brothers.

John Green, director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron, said it's difficult to draw many conclusions about how Tuesday's races could affect Ohio because of the local factors involved.

But he saw two major implications: The economy is very important to voters and often leads them to vote against the incumbent party, and President Barack Obama's followers from 2008 are not easily transferable to gubernatorial candidates.

The White House said yesterday that Republicans victories in the governor's races were not referendums on the president and that voters went to the polls in Virginia and New Jersey to work through "very local issues that didn't involve the president."

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs acknowledged that the 2010 midterm congressional elections will be more about the Obama agenda.

Information from the Associated Press was included in this story.

mniquette@dispatch.com

jhallett@dispatch.com