Republicans establish control in Senate, retain majority in House

At about 2 a.m. today, Democratic Sen. Jean Carnahan's concession speech to Republican Jim Talent in the Missouri Senate election signaled the political triumph of the Republican Party in a country persisting through terrorism, a downtrodden economy and a stock market collapse.

In contrast to the controversial 2000 presidential election, Americans, in the only poll that counts, validated President Bush's high approval ratings and awarded him control of the House of Representatives and Senate. Americans broke with the tradition of electing the party opposing the president in midterm races. The elections were also a bitter warning to the Democratic Party, which has struggled to stand with the president on national security while fighting him on domestic policy.

Election results early this morning indicated that Republicans would maintain and perhaps extend their six-seat lead in the House. Republican Senate victories gave them at least 50 seats of the 100 available. If the Republicans do not gain any more seats, Vice President Dick Cheney can break Senate ties.

Republicans Elizabeth Dole and John Sununu won in North Carolina and New Hampshire, respectively. These were not net gains for the Republicans, as both replaced Republican incumbents.

In Georgia, Republican Saxby Chambliss unseated Democratic Sen. Max Cleland. In an extremely tight election, Vice President and Sen. Walter Mondale, who replaced the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, seemed to be trailing Republican challenger Norman Coleman in Minnesota, though a winner could not be declared early this morning. Republican incumbent Sen. Wayne Allard kept his seat in Colorado.

Two other tight races, Louisiana and South Dakota yielded no definite results. In Louisiana, Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu won a plurality of the vote but will still face a runoff on Dec. 7 with Republican challenger Suzanne Terrell. The outcome of one of these elections will determine whether the Republicans get an absolute majority over the Senate.

There were some Democratic victories in close elections. Former Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg, replacing beleaguered Sen. Robert Torricelli, won in New Jersey. Democrat Mark Pryor beat Republican Sen. Tim Hutchinson in Arkansas.

Thirty-six governorships were also at stake yesterday. The president's brother, Republican Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, won a second term. Republican Robert Ehrlich '79 unseated Democratic Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in Maryland. In New York, Republican Gov. George Pataki won a decisive victory.

Democratic challenger Ed Randell won the governor's race in Pennsylvania. In California, where Democratic Gov. Gray Davis was expected to win overwhelmingly, the contest with Republican challenger Bill Simon remained closer than expected this morning.

Definitive conclusions about the outcome of the tighter races could not be made this morning because the Voter News Service, the news consortium that forecasts election outcomes based on voter surveys, decided its data were unreliable yesterday and withheld forecasting.