Several key governors races too close to call, outcome crucial to health law implementation

A Republican wins the gubernatorial election in N.C. while N.H. picks a woman to lead the state. Meanwhile, KHN examines how the state-level results will affect the implementation of the health law.

NPR: Gubernatorial Battles: Republican Takes N.C., Democrat Wins N.H.
Voters in North Carolina put a Republican in their governor's office for the first time in two decades, and New Hampshire elected a new female Democratic governor. ... Eight of the gubernatorial seats up for grabs are now held by Democrats; three are in Republican hands. Republicans currently hold 29 governorships, Democrats have 20, and Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee is an independent (Halloran, 11/7).

The Seattle Times: Inslee Takes Strong Lead, But McKenna Won't Concede
Buoyed by strong support in King County, Democrat Jay Inslee looked well-positioned to maintain his party's three-decade winning streak for the governor's office. ... [Republican Rob] McKenna, the two-term state attorney general from Bellevue, began the race with an advantage in name familiarity and a reputation as a moderate Republican. But Democrats spent the past two years relentlessly chipping away at that image ... McKenna gave Democrats ammunition for that argument when he joined the national lawsuit attacking the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare (Brunner, 11/7).

KHN examines how the state-level results will affect the implementation of the health law.

Kaiser Health News: Obama Win Boosts Health Law, But States Still Control Its Destiny 
President Barack Obama's re-election ensures the survival of his landmark health care law, but predominantly Republican state officials will get a big say in how it is carried out. State lawmakers will control whether millions of uninsured people get coverage through Medicaid beginning in 2014, as the law envisions. They'll also decide whether to set up online markets where individuals can shop for coverage and seek federal subsidies to lower their costs (Galewitz, 11/7).