WASHINGTON (AFP) — Democrats expanded their control of the US Senate as high voter turnout, economic woes and disdain for Republican policies fueled victories in key races on Tuesday.
Democrats wrested Senate seats from Republicans in Virginia, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Colorado and New Mexico, giving them an expected 56 seats and the solid upper hand in the legislative body.
However, they were likely to fall short of a 60-seat super-majority that could have given them to power to block Republican delaying tactics and would served as a boon to Democrats with Barack Obama in the White House.
Prior to Tuesday's vote, Democrats held 49 seats in the 100-member Senate but enjoyed a relative majority thanks to the support of two independents.
Optimism ran high as Obama was announced the winner of the presidential vote and Democrats won 17 of the 35 seats up for grabs, while Republicans took 13. Five races were still undecided at 0440 GMT.
"It's the night we have been waiting for," said Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose party is eager to use its new leverage with Obama as commander-in-chief.
The first win of the evening went to Democrat Mark Warner in Virginia, elected to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Republican John Warner, who is no relation.
Pre-vote polls had shown Warner with a significant lead over the veteran Republican, and in the northern US state of New Hampshire, Democrat Jeanne Shaheen unseated Republican John Sununu after polls gave her a solid lead.
North Carolina tipped to Democrat Kay Hagan after a tense race with incumbent Republican Elizabeth Dole, whose campaign faces a defamation lawsuit over an ad it ran linking Hagan to "Godless Americans," an atheist political action committee.
"What we were able to accomplish in a little more than a year is a testament to how hungry people are for a change," Hagan said in her victory speech.
"So much has gone off course for the last eight years, and it's going to take all of us working together to get it turned around again."
In the western state of New Mexico, Democrat Tom Udall won the seat left behind by retiring Republican Pete Domenici, who was first elected in 1972.
However, a symbolic race in Kentucky was narrowly won by Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who survived to win his fifth term with 51 percent of the vote, depriving Democrats of what would have been a major coup.
Republicans lost control of the Senate and House in 2006, and braced for further losses amid a public backlash over the widening financial crisis and discontent with outgoing President George W. Bush.
Approval ratings for Congress have sunk to historic lows -- just 15 percent according to a recent CBS poll -- but voters blame the Republican administration for the financial crisis, despite the Democratic majority among lawmakers.
Republicans have argued that liberal policies will be allowed to go unchecked with Democrat running the White House and more Democrats pouring into the House and Senate.
Polls have suggested that Democrats are expected to edge out their rivals in Georgia and Oregon but the races were still too close to call.
Another key battleground was Minnesota where comedian Al Franken is aiming to wrest the Senate seat from Republican Norm Coleman in one of the costliest races in the country -- with more than 32 million dollars raised for the campaigns.
In yet another tight race, Democrats in Alaska aimed to take advantage of veteran Republican Senator Ted Steven's guilty verdict in a corruption trial last month. However, incumbents traditionally have higher chances of winning re-election than newcomers.
In the House of Representatives, Democrats were projected to win as many as two dozen seats to their majority of 36 in the 435-member chamber, according to political analysts.
Early results showed Democrats with a gain of four on their current hold of 235 seats in the House. In the last election in 2006, Democrats gained 30 seats in the House and six in the Senate.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
