NEW YORK, Nov 5: Democrats celebrated the re-election of Washington state’s Gov Chris Gregoire and wins in two open gubernatorial contests, including the election of the first woman governor of North Carolina.

Republicans said they were lucky to hold onto three incumbent governorships amid a national Democratic onslaught on Tuesday. At the end of an Election Day in which 11 governorships were decided, the Democrats won seven.

Gregoire beat Republican Dino Rossi in a rematch of their historically close 2004 election. She thanked supporters in a victory speech, saying she looked forward to working with president-elect Barack Obama in January. The campaign, she said, had been “a long haul”.

Three incumbent Republican governors were easily re-elected, however, at the same time several Republican incumbents in the House and Senate lost seats.

In North Carolina, where Democrats have held the governor’s seat for 88 of the last 100 years, Lt Gov Beverly Perdue defeated Republican challenger Pat McCrory, the longtime mayor of Charlotte. Perdue replaces Democrat Gov Mike Easley, who is stepping down because of term limits.—AP