For most Americans, this Election Day is dominated by local issues like school levies, but political experts will be combing through results in some key states to see if they can get a better fix on what might happen in 2012.
That is especially true in Ohio, where labor unions and their allies seem posed to win a major victory in a bid to repeal a law passed earlier this year that restricts benefits for state and local governor union workers.
Unlike in Wisconsin, where Republicans narrowly held on to power in the state legislature when challenged by Democrats over such a law, opponents of the reforms have mustered a huge fund raising advantage and by all accounts are ready to overturn that law and deliver a stinging rebuke to Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R).
"We're asking them to pay 15% of their health care and 10% for a guaranteed pension," Kasich has argued in appearances across the state, saying the current share of 0% for government workers - zero - makes no sense.
"It's asking everybody to pitch in a do a little bit," Kasich said.
But Kasich and his GOP allies have been badly outspent in this fight, as unions and their Democratic Party supporters have poured huge amounts of money into the Buckeye State for ad buys and get-out-the-vote efforts.
"Are we going to respect workers in the United States of America?" asked U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) as he charged that Kasich had gone too far in trying to rein in benefits.
And there is a major difference between this law and one in Wisconsin - as police, fire and first responders were included, a point that backers have tried to exploit in one of many ads running for the repeal.
"Issue 2 makes it illegal for us to negotiate for enough firefighters to do the job," said one ad by the group "We Are Ohio," which has led the opposition.
Joining that drive have been big names like former U.S. Sen. John Glenn (D-OH) who weighed in with his own advertisement in recent weeks.
For Democrats, this would be a big victory not only for obvious reasons, but also to maybe give them a sense of internal momentum for 2012 - and there might be no more important state than Ohio, where if you can win next year, you might win the White House.
