CongressRepublicans retained control of both the House and Senate in Tuesday's elections, extending their decade-long domination of Capitol Hill. They swept up victories across the south and unseated Senate minority leader Mr Tom Daschle of South Dakota.
Republicans increased their control of the Senate, securing at least 53 seats in the 100-member Senate by picking up seats formerly held by Democrats in the Carolinas, Georgia and Louisiana, and seizing Mr Daschle's post. And they could increase their majority further if they were to win some of the contests still undecided yesterday.
Democratic Party officials had conceded all along that they faced an uphill climb in their quest for a Senate majority because the most competitive contests were being fought in states considered to be Republican strongholds. "We've had a tough climb," said Senator Jon Corzine, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "I'm disappointed we're probably not going to take it back."
Although the attention focused on a handful of closely fought Senate races, most incumbents coasted to victory.
In the House, Republicans were hoping to expand their 22-seat advantage, building on the defeat of four incumbents in Texas as a result of redrawn congressional districts that favoured Republican candidates. A key question was whether the gains in Texas would offset losses in other parts of the country.
For President Bush, a Republican victory in Congress will make it easier for him to advance his second-term agenda of more tax cuts and a social security overhaul.
This election looks likely to throw up a slightly more diverse Senate. It will include Democratic Senator Barack Obama, who was elected by a wide margin in Illinois, making him the only black in the Senate and the first since the 1998 defeat of Carol Moseley Braun, who was also an Illinois Democrat.
the Democratic State Attorney General, Mr Ken Salazar, won the open Senate seat in Colorado, becoming the only Latino in the Senate and the first since Senator Joseph M. Montoya who retired in 1977.
The new Senate may be more conservative - and not just because there will be several Republicans replacing Democrats. Two of the newly elected GOP senators - Mr Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Mr Jim DeMint of South Carolina - are vocal representatives of the party's more conservative wing.
And in Louisiana, a Republican was elected senator for the first time in the state's history. Representative David Vitter won the seat of retiring Democratic senator Mr John B. Breaux.
The balloting for Congress was the culmination of a long, exceptionally nasty and expensive campaign. It featured relentless mud-slinging in many places, including Democratic commercials that questioned the mental health of the Republican senator, Mr Jim Bunning of Kentucky, and Republican TV ads accusing Senator Patty Murray of Washington of being soft on terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.
The candidates and political parties spent more than $445 million on the contest for the Senate, which was up from about $326 million in 2002, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission data by the nonpartisan Centre for Responsive Politics.
Heading into the election, Republicans controlled the Senate by a scant 51-vote majority; there were 48 Democrats and one independent, who usually voted with the Democrats.
That meant Democrats needed a net gain of two seats to win a majority - or one if Mr Kerry was elected, because his vice-president would break any 50-50 tie in the Senate.
But Democrats were seeking that small gain on a playing field that was tilted strongly against them. Of the 34 seats on the ballot this year, 19 were held by Democrats and 15 were held by Republicans.
The nine most competitive races were in states that favoured Mr Bush in 2000, including many in the south, where five Democratic retirements gave the GOP a golden opportunity to take away seats.
Democrats hoped to stay within striking distance by fielding strong candidates in the Southern states such as North Carolina, South Carolina - where they ultimately lost - and Florida.
Republicans had a surprisingly hard time holding on to states they usually dominate, such as Oklahoma, Alaska and Colorado. But winning control of the Senate would have required the Democrats to win almost all of those competitive races.
Democrats were encouraged by early returns showing that Mr Bunning was in danger of losing to the Democrat, Mr Daniel Mongiardo, a state senator who had accused the incumbent of being out of touch and unfit for office. But by night's end, the incumbent had pulled ahead to a narrow victory.
In the House, Democrats had an even steeper hill to climb. Republicans went into the election with 227 House seats; Democrats had 205, together with the support of one independent who usually voted with them; two seats were vacant.
That meant Democrats needed a net gain of 12 seats to get a majority. The road was uphill because there were fewer than two dozen truly competitive seats. The vast majority of House members were expected to be easily re-elected.
But a handful of incumbents were shown the exit. Among the four Texas Democrats defeated on the new political map championed by the House majority leader, Mr Tom DeLay, were two very powerful senior members: Representative Martin Frost, a longtime member of his party's leadership and the senior member of the delegation, and Representative Charles Stenholm, a leading conservative Democrat who like Mr Frost was pitted against a Republican incumbent.