Five Races to Watch Tonight

The 2012 presidential election is less than a year away, but voters across the country head to the polls today to decide thousands of local races.

First Read is watching five contests: 1) the referendum on the anti-collective-bargaining law in Ohio, where polls close at 7:30 pm ET; 2) the governor’s race in Kentucky, where all polls close at 7:00 pm ET; 3) the governor’s race in Mississippi, where polls close at 8:00 pm ET; 4) the “personhood”/abortion amendment in Mississippi; and 5) the battle of control for the state Senate in Virginia, where polls close at 7:00 pm ET.

David Nir provides a handy “pocket guide” to today’s elections.