Midterm poll debacle for Obama as Republicans control Senate

WASHINGTON: Riding a wave of discontent against Democrats, resurgent Republicans today gained control of the US Senate for the first time in eight years and increased their majority in the House of Representatives, as President Barack Obama was relegated to lame duck status.

Propelled by economic dissatisfaction and anger toward the President, Republicans grabbed Democratic Senate seats in North Carolina, Colorado, Iowa, West Virginia, Arkansas, Montana and South Dakota to gain their first Senate majority since 2006.

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, a shrewd Republican tactician, cruised to re-election and stood poised to achieve a goal he has pursued for years --- Senate majority leader.

The midterm election that started as trench warfare, state by state and district by district, crested into a sweeping Republican victory.

Contests that were expected to be close were not, and races expected to go Democratic broke narrowly for the Republicans.

The uneven character of the economic recovery added to a sense of anxiety, leaving voters in a punishing mood, particularly for Democrats in Southern states and the Mountain West, where political polarisation deepened.

Elections were held for the entire 435 House of Representatives seats, 36 of the 100 Senate seats and gubernatorial elections in 36 of the 50 American States.

Republicans picked up seven seats, giving them 52 seats in the 100-member Senate and have the potential to win several more, while Democrats did not take a single Republican seat.

In the House, Republicans were on track to meet or exceed the record 246 seats they held during President Harry Truman's administration more than 60 years ago.
In the current House, Democratic Party has 199 seats and Republicans have 233 seats. When the new Congress is sworn in in January, it will mark the first time the Republicans have held both chambers since 2006.

They will now have the power to complicate, if not block completely, Obama's agenda in the last two years of his tenure in the White House. Control of the Senate will also enable the Republicans to stymie his ability to name new federal judges, cabinet members and senior government officials.

Several Indian-Americans, who were in the fray this year for the crucial US elections, managed to win their respective seats with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and California Attorney General Kamala Harris leading the list by getting elected for a second consecutive time.