Democrats expand House majority with broad gains

Ousting 22-year veteran Rep. Chris Shays in Connecticut gave Democrats every House seat from New England. Their victory in an open seat on New York‘s Staten Island gave them control of all of New York City‘s delegation in Washington for the first time in 35 years.

"The American people have called for a new direction. They have called for change in America," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Exit polls showed voters troubled by the battered economy and deeply dissatisfied with President Bush.

With two dozen races undecided, Democrats had won 246 and were leading for another 10. Republicans had won 162 and were also leading in 15. If those trends held, Democrats could have a net gain of 20 seats. And Republicans were on track for their smallest numbers since 1994, the year a Republican Revolution retook the House for the first time in 40 years.

It was the first time in more than 75 years that Democrats were on track for big House gains in back-to-back elections. They picked up 30 seats in 2006.

Republicans were licking their wounds and cheered themselves mostly by the prospect that Democrats — now holding the White House and bigger House and Senate margins — might overreach and position the GOP for gains in 2010.

Still, in the first hint of what promises to be a GOP shakeup, Rep. Adam Putnam of Florida, the No. 3 Republican, told colleagues in a letter released near midnight that he was "reluctantly" stepping down from his post.

In Connecticut, Democrat Jim Himes, a Greenwich businessman, defeated Shays despite the Republican‘s highly publicized late criticism of McCain‘s presidential campaign.

New Jersey Democratic state Sen. John Adler won election to succeed retiring Rep. Jim Saxton, R-N.J., in the state‘s Pine Barrens region.

Democrat Gerald Connolly, a former chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, was elected to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Thomas M. Davis III in a northern Virginia district that‘s trending more Democratic because of an influx of new voters. And in a far more conservative district further south, Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr.,R-Va., was in a too-cloe-to-call race for survival against Democrat Tom Perriello.

In Florida, GOP Rep. Tom Feeney — under fire for ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff — was the first incumbent to fall, losing to former state Rep. Suzanne Kosmas. To the east, Rep. Ric Keller, R-Fla., lost to Democratic attorney Alan Grayson, in an increasingly Hispanic district in Orlando.

Democrats also made inroads in the West, where Democratic businesswoman Betsy Markey in Colorado unseated conservative GOP Rep. Marilyn Musgrave. In addition to the two New Mexico seats, Democrats captured one in Arizona, left open by retiring GOP Rep. Rick Renzi, who‘s awaiting trial on corruption charges.

In suburban Detroit, Democrat Gary Peters, a former state lottery commissioner and senator, ousted Republican Rep. Joe Knollenberg. The speaker of the Illinois Senate, Democrat Debbie Halvorson, won a seat formerly held by retiring GOP Rep. Jerry Weller in the swing exurbs and rural areas south of Chicago.

The news wasn‘t all good for Democrats, who lost three first-termers in the South, and Kansas Rep. Nancy Boyda, whose Topeka-based seat went to Lynn Jenkins, the GOP state treasurer.

Republican attorney Tom Rooney defeated Rep. Tim Mahoney of Florida, who had admitted to two extramarital affairs just weeks before Election Day. Republican Bill Cassidy dealt a bruising defeat to Rep. Don Cazayoux, D-La., elected in a special election six months ago. And in Texas, Republican Pete Olson, a former chief of staff to Sen. John Cornyn, beat Democratic Rep. Nick Lampson.

But other freshman Democrats once considered vulnerable cruised to easy re-election.

First-term Democratic Reps. John Yarmuth of Kentucky, Indiana‘s Joe Donnelly and Brad Ellsworth, and New Hampshire‘s Rep. Carol Shea-Porter won easy re-election. They were part of a crop of freshman Democrats in conservative-leaning districts who began compiling campaign war chests and moderate voting records almost from the moment they were elected two years ago, leaving only a few of them endangered on Tuesday.

Former five-term Republican Rep. Anne Northup was unable to mount a comeback in Louisville, Ky., against Yarmuth despite GOP presidential nominee John McCain‘s decisive victory in the state.

Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Pa., who chairs a subcommittee with the most influence on the Pentagon‘s spending, who had a scare after calling his district south of Pittsburgh "racist," won easy re-election.

Democratic candidates raised $436 million, compared with Republicans‘ $328 million, according to federal data compiled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee poured $76 million into competitive races and the National Republican Congressional Committee spent $24 million.

In Louisiana, indicted Democratic Rep. William Jefferson was cruising to victory in a Democratic primary.



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