US elections: Republicans expand House majority

Barack Obama will now face an all-Republican Congress in his final two years as Republicans regained control of the Senate. Picture: AP

Republicans easily won the 218 seats required and were on track to match or surpass the 246 seats they held during President Harry S. Truman’s administration in the late 1940s. Obama will face an all-Republican Congress in his final two years as Republicans regained control of the Senate.

“We are humbled by the responsibility the American people have placed with us, but this is not a time for celebration,” House Speaker John Boehner said in a statement. “It’s time for government to start getting results and implementing solutions to the challenges facing our country, starting with our still-struggling economy.”

Democrats had a few bright spots, but their hopes of keeping losses to a minimum disappeared under the Republican onslaught.

Republicans dispatched the last white Democrats holding House seats from the South, continuing a steady march since Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act and famously said Democrats would lose the region. Republican Evan Jenkins, a Democrat-turned-Republican state senator, will replace Nick Rahall of West Virginia, and Republican businessman Rick Allen prevailed over another Southern Democrat John Barrow of Georgia.

Republicans capitalised on growing dissatisfaction with Obama as voters took out their frustration on the party controlling the White House, even making inroads in Democratic strongholds nationwide. The pervasive malaise nationwide also dragged down Democrats. Aggressive in the midterms, Republicans claimed three Democratic seats in New York and upended two first-term Democrats in Illinois, Obama’s adopted home state.

Overall, Republicans gained 12 seats and counting - the Democrats just one.

In one bright spot for the Democrats, Gwen Graham, daughter of a former senator and governor, Bob Graham, replaced Steve Southerland in a Florida district. Southerland’s all-male fundraiser and quip about Graham attending lingerie parties doomed his re-election bid.

In Nebraska, Republican Lee Terry was trailing in his bid for a ninth term against Democrat Brad Ashford.

Obama’s low approval ratings, around 40 percent, were a drag on Democrats, as was the electorate’s unease with the Islamic State group threat, Ebola outbreak and the stagnating economy. Promising economic signs of a drop in the unemployment rate and cheaper gasoline failed to help the president’s party, which typically loses seats in midterm elections.

Some two dozen Democratic incumbents had been in jeopardy, but just a handful of Republicans faced competitive races. Republican victories in the last such elections in 2010, fuelled by the rise of the ultra-conservative tea party, gave the party the advantage in redrawing congressional districts.

All 435 House seats were on the ballot Tuesday, but the roster of competitive races was less than 10 percent of those. The Republicans came into the election holding 234 seats.

A solid Republican majority means Boehner can afford defections from his increasingly conservative caucus and still get legislation passed while Republicans would hold more committee seats to guide the party agenda.

Boehner raised $102 million to ensure that Republicans would tighten their grip on the House.

Obama suffered an ignominious distinction. The president, whose party lost 63 seats in 2010, saw Democrats lose 12 seats and became the two-term president with the most midterm defeats, edging past Truman’s 74 by one.

National Democrats worked furiously to minimize the losses, out raising Republicans $172 million to $131 million. But they were outspent by GOP-leaning outside groups that targeted vulnerable Democrats.

In some of the more noteworthy contests, Dave Brat, a little-known and underfunded college professor who defeated Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a Republican primary, cruised to victory in a Richmond, Virginia-area district.

Michael Grimm was re-elected from a New York City district even though he faces a 20-count indictment on tax fraud and other charges.

Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, a father of a 1-year-old son at age 87, headed for a Dec. 6 runoff as a distinct long-shot to win a Republican-held seat. Edwards spent eight years in prison on various charges including racketeering and extortion.