CUTLER RIDGE, Fla. -- Residents in Cutler Ridge, Homestead and Sunny Isles Beach are voting in city elections today.

A lot of people and businesses are still in the process of recovering from Hurricane Wilma, but most polling places opened Tuesday morning.

About 700 absentee ballots have already been cast.

Because of Hurricane Wilma, Gov. Jeb Bush postponed several city elections in Miami-Dade County that were scheduled for Tuesday. Elections in Hialeah, Miami Beach and Miami were rescheduled for Nov. 15.

For more information and sample ballots, visit http://elections.metro-dade.com or call the Miami-Dade elections office at (305) 499-VOTE.

Elections Could Gauge Nation's Mood

Meanwhile, across the country, candidates in future races are watching the contests being decided this Election Day.

Voters in Virginia and New Jersey will elect new governors, and some other contests are being watched for what they might reveal about voter attitudes.

At a pre-election rally in Richmond on Monday night, President George W. Bush stumped for Republican Jerry Kilgore for governor.

But the real question is whether the president's limping popularity would help or hurt the candidate. Kilgore's Democratic rival, Tim Kaine, insisted the Bush stop would motivate Democrats to turn out for him.

Political analysts said the president and his policies are being judged in Tuesday's contests.

"I think that if the Democrats were to win in this Republican-leaning southern state, that will indicate that the difficulties of the Bush administration and of the Republican party are having real implications throughout the country," said Mark Rozell, a political analyst from George Mason University.

In New Jersey, Sen. Jon Corzine paints Republican Doug Forrester as a virtual Bush clone.

Mayoral races in New York and Detroit, along with ballot initiatives and referenda, may all reveal the mood of the voters.

Off-year elections are closely watched for that reason. In 1989, Douglas Wilder's win as Virginia governor was seen by many as foreshadowing of Bill Clinton's victory in 1992.

And in 1993, Republican George Allen's win as Virginia governor, along with Rudolph Giuliani's victory as mayor of New York, were both big hints at the Republican revolution to follow in 1994.