Republicans failed to capture the US Senate, but cut deeply into the Democratic majority by picking up at least six seats in the upper chamber after bitterly fought mid-term elections.
Conservatives could pick up two more spots if a pair of races deemed too close to call yesterday go their way.
Losing the Senate would have capped off an already miserable night for the Democrats who were routed in the House of Representatives as US President Barack Obama received a stinging electoral rebuke two years into his reform quest.
Obama was spared the humiliation of losing his top senator Harry Reid in Nevada, but Republicans picked up Arkansas, Indiana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and even the president’s old Senate seat in Illinois.
Only 37 seats in the 100-seat chamber were up for grabs as roughly a third of the Senate is elected every two years. Republicans needed to pick up 10 seats and not lose any of their own to cross the crucial 50 threshold.
After wins in Arkansas, Indiana and North Dakota gave Republicans their first three gains, Rand Paul in Kentucky and Marco Rubio in Florida notched up the Tea Party movement’s debut wins.
With former White House budget director Rob Portman winning in the key swing state of Ohio — crucial to Obama’s chances of staying in the White House in 2012 — it was a promising start for the Republicans.
However, that was before Joe Manchin: The vital victory of the gun-toting governor — an unlikely Democrat — over businessman John Raese in West Virginia meant Republicans had to win every seat still in play.
Any remaining hopes the Grand Old Party had of a clean sweep of Congress were dashed when Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer kept her seat in California, fending off a challenge from former Hewlett-Packard boss Carly Fiorina.
Paul in Kentucky handed an early symbolic victory to the Tea Party, defeating his Democratic rival Jack Conway to be crowned the conservative grassroots movement’s first US senator.
Rubio, a Hispanic rising star, captured the second Senate seat for the Tea Party after a three-way race in Florida, defeating Republican governor Charlie Crist, who ran as an independent, and a Democratic rival.
The Tea Party, which has adopted former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin as its main backer, first burst onto the political scene last year amid growing public anger at the souring economy.
It has no formal leaders or organization, but remains a loose-knit collection of movements committed to smaller government and slashing taxes.
While the movement has successfully tapped into a groundswell of discontent, many US voters remain wary of Tea Party activists, such as Delaware’s Christine O’Donnell, whose views are often seen as too extreme.
O’Donnell’s loss to Chris Coons in the race for Vice President Joe Biden’s old seat gave the Democrats their first win of the night. These were quickly followed by victories in Connecticut and New York that steadied the ship.
After Boxer’s decisive California win, all eyes were on Nevada. There, Tea Party darling Angle ran Reid down to the wire.
His win left the Democratic side with 51 seats, including two who are independents, but normally vote with the Democratic caucus — and the Republicans with 46.
Colorado and Washington — both with Democratic incumbents — were too close to call, with each potentially facing recounts.
Incumbent Lisa Murkowski led in the final race in Alaska after losing in the Republican primary to Tea Party poster boy Joe Miller and running as a write-in candidate.
That meant that for votes cast for Murkowski to count, voters had to write her name on the ballot and fill in a space next to her name.
With a reported 88 percent of ballots counted in the remote state, Murkowski led with 40 percent, compared with Miller’s 35 percent and 24 percent for Democrat challenger Scott McAdams.
“We are in the process of making history,” Murkowski told CNN yesterday, stopping short of claiming outright victory.
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