Voters clean house: Rejecting Bush agenda, Americans look for new direction

he tidal wave against the Republican right swept every region of the country, including states long controlled or dominated by the Republicans. At press time, Democrats had won at least 229 House seats, guaranteeing them a majority in the 435-seat chamber.

Democrats picked up three House seats in Indiana, three in Pennsylvania, two in New Hampshire, at least one in Connecticut, one in North Carolina, two in Florida, one in Kansas, one in California, and more elsewhere. Several House races remained too close to call in Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Mexico.

In the Senate, the Democrats held all their incumbent and open seats. Democratic pick-ups included Sheldon Whitehouse in Rhode Island, Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Jon Tester in Montana. A victory for Jim Webb in Virginia, who held a razor-thin lead over Sen. George Allen, would strip the Republicans of control of the Senate.

The Democrats also captured a majority of governorships, an important advantage heading into the 2008 presidential season.

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