Republicans Take Control

05 Nov, 2014

Republicans rode a wave of voter discontent to seize control of the U.S. Senate, dealing a punishing blow to President Barack Obama that will limit his legislative agenda and may force him to make a course correction for his last two years in office.

The Republican rout on Tuesday was wide and deep in what was bound to be seen as a sharp rebuke to Obama, who has lurched from crisis to crisis and whose unpopularity made him unwelcome to Democratic candidates in many contested states.

Obama, who watched election returns from the White House and saw little to warm his spirits, scheduled a news conference for 2:50 p.m. EST (1950 GMT) on Wednesday. He invited Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress to the White House on Friday to take stock of the new political landscape.

Republicans also strengthened their grip on the U.S. House of Representatives in what Representative Steve Israel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, on MSNBC calling it “a pretty ugly night” for Democrats. When the new Congress takes over in January, Republicans will be in charge of both chambers for the first time since elections in 2006.

The Republican takeover in the Senate will force Obama to scale back his ambitions to either executive actions that do not require legislative approval, or items that might gain bipartisan support, such as trade agreements and tax reform.

It also will test his ability to compromise with newly empowered political opponents who have been resisting his legislative agenda since he was first elected in 2008. Americans elected him to a second and final four-year term in 2012.

“The president is going to continue to look for partners on Capitol Hill, Democrats or Republicans, who are willing to work with him on policies that benefit middle-class families,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Tuesday.

Obama, a one-term senator before he became president, has often been faulted for not developing closer relations with lawmakers.

He will find one familiar face in a powerful new position. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who won a tough re-election battle against Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, will replace Democrat Harry Reid as Senate majority leader. Reid has been one of Obama’s top political allies and helped steer the president’s signature healthcare law through the Senate in 2010.

In Tuesday’s thrashing, Republicans won in places where Democrats were favored, taking a Senate race in North Carolina, pulled out victories where the going was tough, like a Senate battle in Kansas, and swept a number of governors’ races in states where Democrats were favored, including Obama’s home state of Illinois.

Of eight to 10 Senate seats that were considered toss-ups, Republicans won nearly all of them. They needed six seats to win control of the 100-member Senate, and by early on Wednesday they had seven. Democrats had dominated Republicans in the Senate, 53-45 with two independents, going into the election but Republicans will now outnumber them 52-45 with two independents and Louisiana’s U.S. Senate race yet to be decided.

The winning margin came when Iowa Republican Joni Ernst was declared the winner over Democrat Bruce Braley and Republican Thom Tillis defeated incumbent Democratic Senator Kay Hagan in North Carolina.

The Republican victory had been widely predicted ahead of Tuesday’s voting to elect 36 senators, 36 state governors and all 435 members of the House of Representatives.

Reuters 

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