Today's the big election day in parts of the country. We're keep an eye on results from New York City where several Asian Americans including John Liu, Kevin Kim, Margaret Chin, Peter Koo and Yen Chou are up for election, as well as Maine and Washington with their marriage equality referendums. 

UPDATE at 1:41 am EST - Voters in Washington approved of Referendum 71 which grants domestic partnership rights to LGBT couples. Coupled with the victory in Kalamazoo, it shows that the LGBT community has made a lot of headway in our ability to secure most of our rights. It's just that last nut of "marriage" that is proving difficult.

UPDATE at 1:22 am EST - In the race for ABC School Board in Los Angeles , with 14% of the votes counted, the top three vote-getters were James Kang (2,257 votes/25%), Mark E. Pulido (1,974 votes/21.9%) and Olympia Chen (1,719 votes/19%).

UPDATE at 12:44 pm EST - Trinity College professor Naogan Ma has won a seat on the West Hartford School Board.

UPDATE at 12:35 pm EST - It looks like Alex Wan has finished first in the his race for the Atlanta City Council, District 6. Wan was endorsed by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund.

UPDATE at 12:26 pm EST - So far it looks like the Asian American winners tonight are New York City Comptroller John Liu, New York City Councilmembers Margaret Chin and Peter Koo, New Jersey Assemblymember Upendra Chivukulu and St. Paul school board member Vallay Varro. The ones who came up short: New York City Council candidates Kevin Kim and Yen Chou. Still waiting to hear the results in Maine and Washington, but a win in Kalamazoo.

UPDATE at 11:46 pm EST - Bad news out of New York City. It looks like Kevin Kim has lost in his bid to become the first Korean American elected to the New York City Council. Here are the results. It also looks like Queens businessman Peter Koo has upset Democrat Yen Chou in District 20, the seat that John Liu previously held.

UPDATE at 11:43 pm EST - Okay, Upendra has won his re-election in New Jersey.

UPDATE at 11:32 pm EST - Looks like the Democrats have gained another House seat. NBC has just called it for Bill Owens. He's a conservative Democratic, so I'm not getting too excited about this one.

UPDATE at 11:28 pm EST - Despite the combined efforts of "Floon," Boston Mayor Thomas Menino wins a record fifth consecutive term.

UPDATE at 10:59 pm EST - In the New Jersey Assembly, Democratic incumbent Upendra Chivukula looks in good shape to win re-election. He is currently in second place with 29% of the vote in a race where the top two candidates win.

UPDATE at 10:57 pm EST - Things are looking tight in NYC for both Kevin Kim and Yen Chou. With 97% of the votes in District 19, Kim trails Republican Daniel Halloran III, 52.6%-47.4%. And in District 20, with 98% of the votes in, Peter Koo leads Chou, 49.5%-44.7%.

UPDATE at 10:47 pm EST - The good folks in Kalamazoo, Michigan have passed their non-discrimination ordinance.

UPDATE at 10:45 pm EST - It looks like the A.P. is calling the New Jersey Governor's race for Republican Christie. This is a big blow here as Obama campaigned hard for Corzine. It's also a big setback for marriage equality as the Republican has stated he is against it, while Corzine would have pushed for it in the upcoming session.

UPDATE at 10:37 pm EST - This was called earlier tonight, but it looks like Mayor Mike Bloomberg is getting a third term in the Big Apple. 

UPDATE at 10:23 pm EST - Here's another update on Maine from the great folks at Open Left.

General update- most of our base vote cities/towns are in, and we're at 57% overall. It's a good number. We're waiting for more rural parts of the state e.g. Region 4 to come in and a little of 3. See my earlier thread for an explanation of the Regions.

UPDATE at 10:18 pm EST - According to the Star Tribune, things look pretty good in St. Paul for Vallay Varro in her race for the school board. With 88% of the precincts in, Vallay has 15,228 votes (60%) against her opponent Pat Igo's 10,263 (40%).

UPDATE at 10:05 pm EST - No surprise here. NYC Councilmember John Liu is now the city comptroller, the first Asian American elected to citywide office in New York. With 46% of the vote in, he leads his opponent, Republican Joseph Mendola, 76%-18%

As for the city council races, Margaret Chin has handily won, but Kevin Kim is in a tight race, as are Yen Chou and Peter Koo. With under 40% reporting, the New York Times has not called either race.

District 1

District 19

District 20

UPDATE at 10:00 pm EST - Not Larry Sabato is projecting APAP PAC-endorsed candidate Mark Keam as the winner in his Virginia Assembly race.

UPDATE at 9:39 pm EST - Openleft has some really detailed results for Maine's No on 1 campaign.

"Let me do an overall roundup- we are getting the base vote numbers in that we need from Portland, its suburbs, and the college areas of Orono and Farmington. Bad news so far is losing Lewiston 60-40%, but not horrible. Still waiting on a lot of Region 1 precincts- where our other base votes are- and rural areas."

UPDATE at 5:00 pm EST - The Virginia-based website Not Larry Sabato is calling all three statewide races for the Republicans, including McDonnell over Deeds.

LINKS TO ELECTION RESULTS

No on 1 - Marriage equality in Maine

New Jersey results including Democratic Governor Jon Corzine's re-election bid

New York City where the AAPI community is hoping to make history

CLOSING TIMES (compiled by Swing State Project)

7 pm ET/4 pm PT 

Georgia: Atlanta mayor, several legislative special elections 
South Carolina: HD-48 
Virginia: Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, all Assembly seats

7:30 pm ET/4 pm PT 
North Carolina: Charlotte mayor, Chapel Hill mayor 
Ohio: Issue 3 (to allow casino gambling)

8 pm ET/5 pm PT 
Alabama: HD-65 
Connecticut: Stamford mayor 
Florida: St. Petersburg mayor, Miami mayor 
Maine: Question 1 (to repeal gay marriage), Question 4 (to limit taxes) 
Massachusetts: Boston mayor 
Michigan: Detroit mayor, SD-19 
Missouri: HD-73 
New Jersey: Governor, all Assembly seats 
Pennsylvania: Supreme Court (1 seat), Philadelphia DA, Pittsburgh mayor, Harrisburg mayor, Allentown mayor 
Texas: Houston mayor

9 pm ET/6 pm PT 
Colorado: the town of Breckinridge (popu. 2,500) is voting whether or not to legalize marijuana 
Minnesota: Minneapolis mayor 
New York: NY-23, New York City mayor, Nassau Co. Executive, Westchester Co. Executive

11 pm ET/8 pm PT 
California: CA-10

??? * 
Washington: R-71 (to keep expanded domestic partnership), I-1033 (to limit taxes), Seattle mayor, King County Executive, HD-16