(USA Today) Fueled by voter angst over the economy and the direction the Democrats and the Obama administration is leading this country, the Democrats lost control of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Republican Party as of right now has gained approximately 61 seats in the House. There are nine contested House seats as we speak. One of those House seats is in Kentucky's sixth Congressional district. The race between Democratic incumbent Ben Chandler and Republican challenger Andy Barr is too close to call. The 61 seat pickup by the Republicans is considered very historic. In the 1994 Republican Revolution the Republicans picked up 54 seats in the House. This is the first time since around 1938 have the Republicans picked up this many seats. What's considered interesting about this race is the Republican Party appeared to be in shambles two years ago when both the House and Senate increased the number of Democrats representing them. Also, America elected a Democratic president as well in the midst of the mortgage meltdown. With the help of the newly emerging Tea Party last year, the Republican Party once again regained a majority in the House since 2006. Republicans gained seats in the Senate, but fell short of picking up the ten seats needed to regain majority. There were a couple of close Senate races on Tuesday evening that have now went into the Democratic column. The Senate race in Alaska could take approximately a week or two given the write-in candidate received a plurality of the votes. The write-in candidate is assumed to be Senator Lisa Murkowski.
The House:
In the House of Representatives, there were many incumbent Democrats who were outsted such as Chet Edwards (TX), Ike Skelton (MO), and John Spratt (NC), to name a few. Chet Edwards, a 20-year House veteran who oversaw a military spending panel, lost his set. In Florida, 14-year veteran Democrat Allen Boyd lost his north Florida seat, as did first-term Democrats Alan Grayson and Suzanne Kosmas, despite a more than 2-to-1 fundraising advantage over Republican Sandra Adams. In Virginia Republican Morgan Griffith upset Democrat Rick Boucher's bid for a 15th term. In Pennsylvania, 13-term Democratic Congressman Paul Kanjorski lost to Lou Barletta, the Republican mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania. John Spratt, out of North Carolina who headed the House Budget Committee in a year when growing budget deficits have emerged as a hot campaign issue, Spratt's opponent tied Spratt to Democratic policies, including the healthcare law. In Missouri, Ike Skelton, who has served for 34 years in Congress and chaired the House Armed Services Committee, lost to Republican challenger Vicky Hartzler. South Carolina voters made history, electing Tim Scott to a House seat. He is the first black Republican elected to Congress since 2003 and the first from the Deep South since Reconstruction. There were some Democrats who won competitive seats such as Joe Donnelly, who won a third term despite a strong challenge from Republican Jackie Walorski, who was backed by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Many of the districts in which Republicans beat Democrats this year are many of the same districts in which John McCain carried in the 2008 presidential election. The balance of power in the House as it now stands as 239-187 in favor of the Republicans. There are nine House seats still to be decided.
The Senate:
In some of the huge Senate races across the country, Republicans gained approximately six seats. The balance of power in the Senate now stands 53-46. The is one seat which is in Alaska which might take a while because the write-in candidate picked up a plurality of votes. It's assumed the write-in candidates the voters have chosen is present Senator Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski was defeated in the Republican primary by Tea Party backed candidate Joe Miller. As a result, Murkowski decided to wage a write-in campaign. It could take a week or two to decide.
Dr. Rand Paul won the U.S. Senate seat in the state of Kentucky. He will replace retiring Senator Jim Bunning. In Arizona, John McCain won a fifth term as U.S. Senator despite a "challenge" from former Arizona congressman J.D. Hayworth in the primary earlier this year. Dan Coats won the open Senate seat in Indiana, replacing Senator Evan Bayh, who chose not to run again. Patrick Leahy won his Senate seat in Vermont. Chuck Schumer won in New York. Here are some other candidates that easily won re-election. They are Jim DeMint (R-SC), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Richard Burr (R-NC), Mike Vitter (R-LA), John Thune (R-SD), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Now I'm going to list some of the more contested Senate races and list the winners. Harry Reid (D-NV) defeated Sharron Angle, Barbara Boxer (D-CA) defeated Carly Fiorina, Ron Johnson (R-WI) defeated Russ Feingold, Pat Toomey (R-PA) defeted Joe Sestak, Michael Bennett (D-CO) defeated Ken Buck, Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) defeated Linda McMahon, Joe Manchin (D-WV) defeated John Raese in West Virginia, Chris Coons (D-DE) defeated Christine O'Donnell, Marco Rubio (R-FL) defeated Charlie Crist and Kendrick Meek, Patty Murray (D-WA) defeated Dino Rossi, John Boozman (R-AR) defeated Blanche Lincoln, and Mark Kirk (R-IL) defeated Alexi Giannoulias.
Governors:
There were 37 gubernatorial races in the country. I'm going to list some of the results of those races. Rick Perry (R-TX) won re-election. Other winners are Nikki Haley (R-SC) who defeated Vincent Sheheen. Robert Bentley (R-AL) defeated Ron Sparks, Sean Parnell (R-AK) defeated Ethan Berkowitz, Jan Brewer (R-AZ) defeated Terry Goddard, Mike Beebe (D-AR) defeated Jim Keet, Jerry Brown (D-CA) defeated Meg Whitman, John Hickenlooper (D-CO) defeated Dan Maes and Tom Tancredo, Dan Malloy (D-CT) defeated Tom Foley, Rick Scott (R-FL) defeated Alex Sink, Nathan Deal (R-GA) defeated Roy Barnes, C.L. "Butch" Otter (R-ID) defeated Keith Allred, Terry Brandstad (R-IA) defeated incumbent Chet Culver, Brian Sandoval (R-NV) defeated Rory Reid, John Lynch (D-NH) defeated John Stephen, Susana Martinez (R-NM) defeated Diane Denish, Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) defeated Carl Paladino, John Kasich (R-OH) defeated incumbent Governor Ted Strickland, and Bill Haslam (R-TN) defeated Mike McWherter. These are just a sample of the 37 gubernatorial races across the country.
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