New Jersey

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Senator Robert Menendez easily won a second full term, extending the Democrats’ winning streak in a state that has not elected a Republican to the Senate in 40 years, as President Obama carried New Jersey comfortably.

Mr. Menendez, the first Hispanic to hold statewide office in New Jersey, defeated State Senator Joe Kyrillos, a Republican who is a close confidant of Gov. Chris Christie, who had hoped his clout would be enhanced by replacing an adversary with an ally.

In a state known for contentious politics, Mr. Menendez and Governor Christie have had an unusually tense relationship. In 2006, when Mr. Menendez was running for his first full term in the Senate, his business dealings were investigated by the federal prosecutor’s office led by Mr. Christie, a Republican.

New Jersey lost a House of Representatives seat in reapportionment, forcing a Democrat out, and in each of the remaining seats, the incumbent party won, leaving a 6-to-6 split. In the most competitive race, a first-term Republican, Jon Runyan, fended off a challenge from Shelley Adler, the widow of John Adler, the congressman Mr. Runyan unseated. Mr. Runyan represents the Third District, stretching from the suburbs of Philadelphia to the Atlantic Coast.

Voters overwhelmingly approved the sale of $750 million in bonds to upgrade and expand colleges and universities. Backers say the improvements are needed to keep New Jersey competitive. Opponents say the state, already deeply in debt, cannot afford more borrowing.

With New Jersey scrambling to respond to the destruction left by Hurricane Sandy, on Tuesday state officials gave first responders and people displaced by the storm an extra three days to cast special ballots by fax or e-mail.

Power failures and storm damage left hundreds of polling places dark, inaccessible or unable to power their electronic voting machines, forcing their relocation on short notice. That meant many voters — thousands of them dealing with power disruptions or gas shortages — spent part of Election Day searching for unfamiliar places to cast their ballots.

Knowing that the storm prevented some people from sending their mail-in ballots in time, county officials permitted voters to deliver those ballots in person in the days leading up to the election.