The 2005 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 8. During this off-year election, the only seats up for election in the United States Congress were special elections held throughout the year. None of these congressional seats changed party hands. There were also two gubernatorial races, state legislative elections in two states, numerous citizen initiatives, mayoral races in several major cities, and a variety of local offices on the ballot. Federal Elections There were three total special elections to the United States House of Representatives during 2005: California's 5th congressional district, California's 48th, and Ohio's 2nd. In each of these special elections, the incumbent party won. State elections Gubernatorial elections Only New Jersey, Virginia, and the Northern Mariana Islands featured off-year gubernatorial races in 2005. New Jersey Democratic U.S. Senator Jon Corzine defeated Republican businessman Doug Forrester, taking the open seat held by an acting governor since Democrat Jim McGreevey resigned. Virginia Democratic Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine defeated former Republican Attorney General Jerry Kilgore in the race to succeed term-limited Governor (and Democrat) Mark Warner. Northern Mariana Islands Benigno Fitial, who belonged to the local Covenant Party, narrowly defeated independent Heinz Hofschneider and incumbent Republican Governor Juan N. Babauta to win the governorship in that U.S. territory. State legislative elections Legislative elections were held for the New Jersey General Assembly, the Virginia House of Delegates, and the Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature. Democrats maintained a comfortable majority in the lower house of the New Jersey legislature, while Republicans maintained control of the lower chamber of the Virginia legislature. Mayoral races Many additional cities across the United States held mayoral elections; this list is representative, not inclusive. Nationally, the vast majority of mayors were reelected, often by wide margins, and there were few partisan upsets. Some of the major races included: Buffalo, New York: Democrat Byron Brown defeated Republican Kevin Helfer to replace the retiring Anthony Masiello. New York, New York: Incumbent Republican mayor Mike Bloomberg defeated former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer. San Diego, California: Republican Jerry Sanders defeated Democrat Donna Frye in a special election held after the resignation of Dick Murphy. St. Paul, Minnesota: Democrat Chris Coleman defeated incumbent Randy Kelly. Citizen initiatives As with mayoral races, every referendum item nationwide is not included California California had eight questions on the ballot for the voters to consider. The election was seen as a referendum on Gov. Arnold