Resurgent Democrats win control of House

Voters restless with status quo
All 435 House seats were on the ballot, and most incumbents won easy re-election. The current lineup: 229 Republicans, 201 Democrats, one independent who lines up with the Democrats for organizational purposes, and four vacancies, three of them in seats formerly held by Republicans.

The fight for control came down to 50 or so seats, nearly half in a swath from Connecticut through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. All were in Republican hands, a blend of seats coming open and incumbents in trouble.

For months, national surveys showed Democrats favored over Republicans by margins unseen since 1990 as voters grew restless with the Bush administration and seemed more ready to end one-party rule on Capitol Hill.

American casualties and costs climbed in Iraq, and public support for the war fell, as did approval ratings for Congress along with the president.

Scandals dogged the ruling party as well.

DeLay, R-Texas, was charged with participating in a campaign finance scheme and resigned from the House. Ney, R-Ohio, resigned, too, after pleading guilty in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling investigation. A month before the election, Foley, R-Fla., left office when it was disclosed that he had sent sexually explicit electronic communications to male, former congressional pages.

Through it all, Democrats cast the race as a national referendum on Bush and Iraq, accusing Republicans of walking in lockstep with the president and rubber stamping his policies.

Republicans insisted the elections came down to choices between individual candidates from coast to coast, and that Democrats were liberals who would raise taxes, flee from Iraq and be soft on terrorists.

Recounts for some races likely
Initially, Democrats targeted GOP-held seats left open by retiring Republicans as well as districts where Bush won by close margins in 2004, many in the Northeast and Midwest. In recent weeks, Democrats were able to expand the battlefield, mounting plays for seats long in Republican hands, such as in Wyoming and Idaho.

The GOP made serious bids for only a handful of Democratic-held seats, including two districts in Georgia that the Republican legislature redrew to make more hospitable to the GOP. The only two endangered Democrats appeared to be in those districts, where the vote totals were so close the races appeared to be headed to recounts.

One of the Democratic victories was in Louisiana, where scandal-tarred Rep. William Jefferson was forced into a runoff against another Democrat.

Along with elections for the next Congress, there were two contests to fill vacancies for the remaining few months of this Congress.

Republican Shelley Sekula-Gibbs will fill DeLay's unexpired term in the Houston suburbs, but only until DeLay's successor, Democrat Nick Lampson, is sworn in come January. And in New Jersey, Democrat Albio Sires will be seated early as a replacement for Bob Menendez who left his House seat for the Senate.

MORE FROM POLITICS

Politics Section Front

Poll: Obama approval dips below 50 percent   Single-payer health care plan dies in Senate Dean urges defeat of emerging health care bill Analysis: Obama's hands tied on climate Newsweek: Lieberman motivated by need for respect Drugmakers will pay more for health bill   House narrowly approves Democratic jobs plan House rushes to finish its work for year   Congress probes Afghan trucking contract House OKs $290 billion increase in debt limit Politics Section Front   Add Politics headlines to your news reader: