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Democrats set to take control
08/11/2006 06:51 - (SA)
Washington - Resurgent Democrats swept towards control of the House of Representatives and made gains in the Senate on Tuesday in elections shaped by an unpopular war in Iraq, scandal at home and dissatisfaction with President George W Bush.
Democrats picked up at least 16 House seats in Republican hands. They needed 15 to end a long turn in the minority, and a final result would depend on dozens of races yet uncalled. All 435 House seats were on the ballot.
If Democrats win control, Bush faces the prospect of stalemate in the final two years of his presidency, with Democrats likely to investigate his administration and block his conservative political agenda.
In the Senate, Democrats picked up three of the six seats they need to take control.
Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, the No 3 Republican in the Senate and one of its most conservative members, lost his seat after two terms to Bob Casey Jnr, the state treasurer.
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In Ohio, Senator Mike Dewine lost to Democrat Sherrod Brown, a congressman strongly opposed to free-trade agreements. Senator Lincoln Chafee, the most liberal Republican in the Senate, lost to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse.
Democrats also held on to two Senate seats they were in danger of losing, in Maryland and New Jersey.
Democrats also elected governors in Ohio and Massachusetts for the first time in more than a decade, plus took control of the New York state governor's seat.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California - in line to become the first woman speaker, or House leader, in history if her party wins control - said early in the evening, "We are on the brink of a great Democratic victory."
Just two years after Bush was re-elected by a comfortable margin, Democrats made his low popularity the focus of their campaigns in the wake of the never-ending bloodshed in Iraq, his administration's bungled response to Hurricane Katrina and scandals that have forced the resignations of powerful Republican lawmakers. Some Republicans tried to distance themselves from Bush.
Scandals mattered
In surveys at polling places, about six in 10 voters said they disapproved of the way Bush is handling his job, and roughly the same percentage opposed the war in Iraq. They were more inclined to vote for Democratic candidates than for Republicans.
In even larger numbers, about three-quarters of voters said scandals mattered to them in deciding how to vote, and they, too, were more likely to side with Democrats. The surveys were taken by The Associated Press and television networks.
Surveys of voters at their polling places nationwide suggested Democrats were winning the support of independents by a margin of almost 2-to-1, and middle-class voters were leaving Republicans behind.
"I'd rather be us than them," said Rahm Emanuel, the chairperson of the House Democratic committee, referring to Republicans, as the first votes were counted.
Though glitches were reported in several states, the justice department said polling complaints were down slightly from 2004 by early afternoon.
In addition to the congressional races, voters also elected governors in 36 states, filled state legislative seats and decided hundreds of statewide ballot initiatives on such contentious social issues as banning gay marriage, limiting abortion, controlling illegal immigrants and making English an official language.
- AP
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