Just one year after Barack Obama was elected to the presidency, voters headed to the polls Tuesday night for a mix of gubernatorial, Congressional and various local off-year elections.The stakes in some races were higher than in others for the national Democratic and Republican parties, but one political observer said these races don’t say much about the candidates’ prospects in the 2010 elections in Louisiana despite a mixed bag of success for both parties.Republicans snatched two spots in governors’ mansions — one in traditionally blue state New Jersey and the other in a state trending purple, Virginia. Democrats snagged a Congressional seat in New York’s 23rd Congressional District, a district traditionally dominated by Republicans.”[The November 3 elections] don’t have much to say about the Louisiana Senate race,” or any other future Louisiana races, said Kirby Goidel, senior public policy fellow at the Reilly Center and political communications professor.Goidel said it’s common for winning political parties to try and “nationalize” local races — calling them “bellwether” elections and claiming they are indicative of future election results.”We are now positioned to show new strength as a Party moving forward,” said Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee in a blog post Wednesday. “Republicans will take that momentum into the 2010 midterm elections and beyond.”Goidel cautioned against reading into the results of Tuesday’s elections as holding any significant findings for the 2010 midterm elections — especially for the 2010 Louisiana Senate race.”All politics is local,” Goidel said, echoing a famous quote from former Congressman Tip O’Neill.Goidel said each race Tuesday had its own set of local issues separate from the national ones to which many pundits and political operatives are quick to point.Voters in New Jersey, for example, were voting against an incumbent Democratic governor with dismally low approval ratings, and in New York’s 23rd Congressional District, the favored independent conservative candidate Doug Hoffman had been battling allegations he was a carpetbagger — a politician who moves into a Congressional district just to run for office.”The national tide is a       marginal effect,” Goidel said. “In close races, that margin is enough.”The Louisiana Democratic Party was quick to relay an emphasis on local issues over national ones.”[2010 Senate candidate] Charlie Melancon is focused exclusively on issues that matter to Louisiana,” said Kevin Franck, spokesman for the Louisiana Democratic Party.Goidel said he expects Republican Sen. David Vitter to play up national issues in 2010 and to cast his opponent, Melancon, as a Democrat closely aligned with Obama — a strategy that plays into the 2008 election, in which Louisiana voters largely rejected Obama.Goidel couldn’t identify any lessons for Louisiana candidates looking toward 2010 to take away from Tuesdays’ election results.”Most midterm elections are not largely nationalized,” he said.—-Contact Nate Monroe at [email protected]