Democrats recapture US House of Representatives

Democrats won control of the US House of Representatives early today after a dozen years of Republican rule in a resounding repudiation of a war, a president and a scandal-scarred Congress.

“From sea to shining sea, the American people voted for change,” declared Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the hard-charging California Democrat in line to become the nation’s first female House leader, known as the speaker.

“Today we have made history,” she said, “now let us make progress.”

Faced with the inevitable, the White House made plans for President George Bush to call Pelosi first thing in the morning; he will enter his final two years in office with at least one chamber of Congress in the opposition party’s hands.

Just after 1am (6am Irish time), Democrats had won 218 seats, enough to control the House, and were leading for another 15, which would give them 233. Republicans, who hold 229 seats in the current 435-member House, won 176 and were leading in another 26, which would give them 202.

The Democrats won 24 Republican-controlled seats, and no Democratic incumbent had lost by early today.

Faced with the inevitable, the White House made plans for President George Bush to call Pelosi first thing in the morning, and Republican Party Chairman Ken Mehlman called to congratulate Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean and Emanue.

“It’s been kind of tough out there,” conceded Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who won an 11th two-year term.

The magic number for control was 218 seats. By late yesterday, Democrats had won 211 seats and were leading for another 22, which would give them 233. Republicans won 172 and were leading in 28.

Casualties of a Democratic call for change, three Republican congressmen lost in Indiana, three more in Pennsylvania, two in New Hampshire, one in North Carolina and one in Kansas. Democrats won open seats in New York, Arizona, Iowa and elsewhere.

Scandals that have dogged Republicans appeared to hurt Republican incumbents even more than Bush’s unpopularity and the nearly for-year-old war in Iraq.

Republicans surrendered the Texas seat of former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who resigned from the House after being charged in a campaign finance scheme, the Ohio seat once held by Bob Ney, who resigned after pleading guilty in a lobbying scandal, and the Florida district of Mark Foley, who stepped down after the disclosure that he sent sexually explicit messages to teenage male congressional assistants.

In Pennsylvania, Democrats defeated Curt Weldon in the fallout from a federal corruption investigation and Don Sherwood who admitted to a long-term affair with a much younger woman who says he choked her.

Midway through the evening, Pelosi, a grandmother five times over, briefly addressed a crowd of party faithful at an election-night fete at a Washington hotel.

“I thank all of you for taking us to where we are tonight,” said Pelosi, who won an 11th term. As she left the stage, half the crowd started chanting “Madam Speaker” and the other shouting “Nancy, Nancy.”

Ethics woes, the war and overall anger toward Bush appeared to drive voters to the Democrats, according to surveys by The Associated Press and the television networks of voters as they left voting places. Several traditionally hard-fought demographic groups were choosing Democrats, including independents, moderates, the middle class and suburban women.

Those early exit polls also showed that three in four voters said corruption was very important to their vote, and they tended to vote Democratic. In a sign of a dispirited Republican base, most white evangelicals said corruption was very important to their vote – and almost a third of them turned to the Democrats.

Two out of three voters called the war very important to them and said they leaned toward the Democrat, while six in ten voters said they disapproved of the war. About the same number said they were dissatisfied with the president - and they were far more likely to vote Democratic.

Additionally, eight in ten voters called the economy very important to their House vote, and those who said it was extremely important – about four in ten voters – turned to Democrats.

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 organisational 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 of them in a string stretching 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 have showed Democrats favoured over Republicans by margins unseen since 1990 as voters have grown restless with the Bush administration and seemingly more ready for an end to one-party rule in Congress.

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

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.