Democrats Win House, Move Closer to Control of Senate

Democrats Win House, Move Closer to Control of Senate

By Kristin Jensen and Michael Forsythe

Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Democrats captured the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years and moved within one vote of taking control of the Senate after a midterm campaign shaped by the war in Iraq and corruption scandals.

Capitalizing on President George W. Bush's declining popularity, Democrats picked up at least 27 House seats, ensuring control of the 435-seat chamber in January. They wrested four Senate seats from Republicans, two shy of the six needed for a majority, as races in Virginia and Montana remained in doubt.

The results set the stage for two years of divided government as Bush attempts to get his policy initiatives through a Democratic House. Bush will also face the possibility of investigations into his administration and a series of new initiatives from Democratic committee chairmen.

``The American people voted for change and they voted for Democrats to take our country in a new direction, and that is exactly what we intend to do,'' said California Representative Nancy Pelosi, who is set to become the first female speaker of the House in January. ``Democrats are ready to lead.''

The fate of the Senate may now hinge on a recount in Virginia, where Democrat Jim Webb leads Senator George Allen by less than 1 percentage point. In Montana, Democrat Jon Tester defeated Senator Conrad Burns. Earlier, Democrats picked up Senate seats in Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

Conceding Control

The White House conceded control of the House shortly before midnight yesterday. ``We're obviously disappointed,'' White House Counselor Dan Bartlett said in an interview.

The president made congratulatory phone calls today to Pelosi and other Democratic leaders, Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino said. ``They had a very friendly conversation and they pledged to work together,'' Perino said. The president also plans a news conference at 1 p.m. Washington time.

Pelosi is ``making history and she ought to feel incredible pride when she does,'' Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee, said on NBC's ``Today'' show. ``I think there's no reason we can't work together in a bipartisan way'' on Iraq, security and terrorism. ``I know the president wants to.''

Democrats needed a net gain of 15 seats to win the majority in the House and they exceeded that number.

Republican Representatives J.D. Hayworth of Arizona, Richard Pombo of California, Nancy Johnson of Connecticut, Clay Shaw of Florida, Jim Ryun of Kansas, Anne Northup of Kentucky, Gil Gutknecht of Minnesota and Charles Taylor of North Carolina all lost, along with Jeb Bradley and Charles Bass in New Hampshire and John Sweeney and Sue Kelly in New York. John Hostettler, Chris Chocola and Mike Sodrel lost in Indiana and Curt Weldon, Don Sherwood and Melissa Hart were defeated in Pennsylvania. And in a race that wasn't considered competitive by most analysts, 15-term Republican Representative Jim Leach lost in Iowa.

Scandals

At least five open seats previously held by Republicans flipped parties with victories by Democrats Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona, Ed Perlmutter in Colorado, Bruce Braley in Iowa, Michael Arcuri in New York and Steve Kagen in Wisconsin.

Congressional scandals also had an effect. Democrat Tim Mahoney picked up the seat vacated by Republican Mark Foley, who resigned from Congress after lewd messages he sent to former congressional pages became public. Democrat Zack Space claimed the seat previously held by Representative Bob Ney, who pleaded guilty to accepting gifts in exchange for legislative favors from lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Democrat Nick Lampson won the seat left by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who had also been linked to Abramoff.

Reynolds, Shays

Amid the losses, there were bright spots for some Republican incumbents. New York Representative Tom Reynolds, the leader of his party's House campaign efforts, won re-election, as did Connecticut Representative Christopher Shays. Both of their races were considered among the most competitive in the nation.

As of early morning Washington time, Democrats had won 227 seats and Republicans had 194. Fourteen races were undecided. On the Senate side, Republicans had 49 of the chamber's 100 seats. Democrats won 47 seats and two independent candidates who pledged to vote with the Democrats had also won.

The four Democratic pickups came as Claire McCaskill defeated Republican Senator James Talent in Missouri, Bob Casey Jr. beat Republican Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, Sherrod Brown overcame Senator Mike DeWine in Ohio and Sheldon Whitehouse knocked off Senator Lincoln Chafee in Rhode Island.

Meanwhile, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez staved off a challenge in New Jersey, and Democrat Ben Cardin retained the open Maryland Senate seat for his party, beating Republican Michael Steele. Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, who ran as an independent after losing in the Democratic primary, also won. Lieberman has said he will vote with the Democrats.

Arizona, Tennessee

Republican Senator Jon Kyl fought off a challenge in Arizona and Republican Bob Corker held onto the Tennessee seat being vacated by retiring Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

Of the 33 Senate seats up for grabs in this election, only 10 races were really competitive. The last two left to be decided are Montana and Virginia, where Webb led Allen by 7,847 votes with more than 99 percent of the precincts reporting.

``The election continues,'' Allen told a rally of his supporters. ``We are still counting votes.''

With that margin, a recount is practically guaranteed because the affected counties and cities will pay for it if the trailing candidate requests it. Even so, Webb claimed victory. ``The votes are in and we won,'' Webb told supporters.

At polling places yesterday, about six in 10 voters said they disapproved of the way Bush is handling his job, the Associated Press reported, citing surveys taken by the newswire and television networks. That is roughly the same percentage that opposed the war in Iraq.

`Overhanging Cloud'

``The overhanging cloud in this election is the war in Iraq,'' Bill Archer, a former Republican representative from Texas, said on Bloomberg Television. ``It really has brought down many, many Republicans who would otherwise win.''

Experts had predicted only modest Democratic gains until around midyear when Democratic momentum began to build. Going into yesterday, 35 House seats, 33 held by Republicans, were regarded as competitive. Another 30 seats were at least in play, and 27 of those were held by Republicans.

Bush watched the returns in his private study in the White House residence and was informed after 11 p.m. Washington time that the Republicans had lost the House, Bartlett said.

``We readily accept the fact that the House will change to a Democratic majority, and the president looks forward to speaking tomorrow with the new leadership,'' Bartlett said.

Governor's Races

Democrats also had a good night in statehouses across the country, winning a majority of U.S. governorships for the first time since 1994. Democratic candidates won Ohio and Massachusetts for the first time in 16 years, while New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer ended 12 years of Republican rule in that state.

There were some reports of problems in voting yesterday, including reports of long lines, voting machine malfunctions and court disputes over ballot procedures. In South Carolina, Republican Governor Mark Sanford was turned away at his polling place by election officials who told him he had insufficient identification, CNN reported.

The FBI was investigating reports in Virginia that voters received telephone calls to direct them to the wrong polling place or discourage them from voting.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kristin Jensen in Washington kjensen@bloomberg.net Michael Forsythe in Washington mforsythe@bloomberg.net