Why The Senate Is Now Back In G.O.P. Hands

By Mitch Frank

COLORADO Wayne Allard

The veterinarian beat '96 loser Tom Strickland in a bitter rematch. Their nasty tone drove loyal partisans to the polls but kept independents home. It hurt Strickland--Republicans outnumber Democrats in this state

The key to victory Allard wins the southern Denver suburbs and rural areas

MINNESOTA Norm Coleman

After Paul Wellstone's death, Coleman, 53, hit the perfect tone in ads--respectful but looking toward the future. With Mondale, 74, and gubernatorial candidate Roger Moe, 61, on their ticket, the Democrats looked like the past

The key to victory The partisan memorial service for Wellstone turned off independents

MISSOURI Jim Talent

Two years after being appointed to succeed her late husband, Jean Carnahan lost to Talent, who made an issue of who would be more loyal to the President as he continues the war on terrorism. Talent won--by just 1% of the 1,867,432 votes

The key to victory Republicans attacked Carnahan for not voting to make the tax cuts permanent

GEORGIA Saxby Chambliss

In a big upset, Chambliss beat Max Cleland. Republican ads accused the Democrat, a Vietnam vet and triple amputee, of being soft on national security. Chambliss is chairman of a subcommittee on terrorism

The key to victory President Bush visited three times and told voters Chambliss would be his ally

NEW HAMPSHIRE John E. Sununu

Democrat Jeanne Shaheen built a reputation as a moderate during three terms as Governor and outspent Sununu by $1.3 million. But he successfully painted her as a tax-and-spend liberal--dirty words in this state

The key to victory Shaheen was able to attract only 4% of independent voters

TEXAS Republican attorney general John Cornyn defeated Ron Kirk despite the Dallas mayor's moderate record

SOUTH DAKOTA Tom Daschle's fellow Democrat Tim Johnson beat Congressman John Thune by just 528 votes

ARKANSAS Mark Pryor defeated Republican Senator Tim Hutchinson in the Democrats' only pickup of the night

LOUISIANA Mary Landrieu has to defend her seat against Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell in a December runoff

TENNESSEE Former Education Secretary Lamar Alexander won the fight to keep Fred Thompson's seat in the Republican column

SOUTH CAROLINA Republican Representative Lindsey Graham won retiring Strom Thurmond's seat. Will Graham serve 50 years too?

NORTH CAROLINA Despite a shrinking lead just before the vote, Elizabeth Dole held on to beat Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles

NEW JERSEY After two years off, Frank Lautenberg,78, is back on Capitol Hill after stepping in for Bob Torricelli

34 seats up for election

Republicans 51 (Gain of 2) Democrats 47 (Loss of 3)

Dec. 7 runoff 1 Independent 1

REPUBLICANS HOLD THE HOUSE...

HOUSE RESULTS

Republicans 229 (Gain of 6) Democrats 203 (Loss of 8) Independent 1

Races not yet called 2

Just 16 of 435 seats were truly up for grabs this election, and Democrats won only five. Here were some of the key battles:

ALABAMA 3rd District

G.O.P. wins 50.4%-48.2%

Democrat Joe Turnham challenged Republican Mike Rogers to a skeet-shooting contest to prove he wasn't a liberal. It didn't work

NEW YORK 1st District

Democrats win 50.1%-48.6%

Absentee ballots are still being counted, but college provost Tim Bishop won a surprise upset against first-term Republican Felix Grucci

COLORADO 7TH DISTRICT

G.O.P. wins 47.4%-47.2%

Republican Bob Beauprez has claimed victory here, but Democrat Mike Feeley is waiting for provisional ballots to be counted

KENTUCKY 3rd District

G.O.P. wins 51.6%-48.4%

Incumbent Anne Northup got a break and challenger Jack Conway took a hit when his boss, the Governor, was hit with a sex scandal

FLORIDA 5th District

G.O.P. wins 47.9%-46.3%

Half of this redrawn district's voters were new to Democratic Representative Karen Thurman, giving Ginny Brown-Waite an upset

...WHILE DEMOCRATS GAIN GOVERNORS

With G.O.P. incumbents stepping down, Democrats had a shot at gaining up to seven seats. But with Bush fueling turnout, they picked up just three, with two undecided. Georgia got its first Republican Governor since Reconstruction