Key governor's races on ballot

Elections are under way across the country today (Nov. 3) which will test President Reagan's political pull. The spotlight is mostly on gubernatorial horse races in normally Democratic New Jersey and usually Republican Virginia. In New Jersey, big political guns including Vice-President George Bush, Senate GOP leader Howard H. Baker Jr., and even President Reagan himself campaigned for Republican Thomas H. Kean, a former Assembly speaker. Stumping for Mr. Kean's opponent, Democratic US Rep. James J. Florio, was Sen. Bill Bradley. The Virginia race also attracted the President's support for the Republican candidate, Attorney General J. Marshall Coleman. Mr. Coleman's opponent is Democratic Lt. Gov. Charles Robb, son-in-law of former President Lyndon Johnson.

Among the scores of mayoral races today are 15 of the nation's largest cities , including New York, where Mayor Edward Koch is a shoo-in. And in Kentucky, voters will decide whether to rescind the ban against governors succeeding themselves. Gov. John Y. Brown is expected to seek reelection in 1982 if the initiative is approved and use his office as a springboard in a quest for the Democratic presidential nomination two years later.