Democrats hoped to sweep Republicans out of power in the United States Congress on Tuesday after a bruising campaign dominated by discontent with the Iraq war and doubts about President George Bush’s leadership.
Democrats are on course to recapture control of the US House of Representatives for the first time since 1994, opinion polls showed, with their chance of taking over the Senate hinging on races for several key states that are too close to call.
A majority for the party in even one chamber of Congress could slam the brakes on Bush’s second-term legislative agenda, hasten his lame-duck status and give Democrats a chance to investigate his most controversial policy decisions, such as the war in Iraq.
Polls opened at 6am Eastern Standard Time (11am GMT) in some areas of the eastern US and will start to close at 6pm EST (11pm GMT), but it could be hours before results are known in many crucial races.
Bush cast his ballot in Crawford, Texas, joking that he had ”pretty much” made up his mind.
After a five-day swing through 10 states to fire up supporters in Republican strongholds, he urged all Americans to vote no matter which side they backed.
”We live in a free society and our government is only as good as the willingness of our people to participate,” Bush said. ”Therefore no matter what your affiliation or if you don’t have a party affiliation, do your duty, cast your ballot and let your voice be heard.”
In Miami, retired air force Lieutenant Colonel Armand Monaco (86) said he cast his vote as much against Bush as for congressional candidates. ”I don’t want anybody in there that might help W,” the World War II veteran said.
All 435 House seats, 33 Senate seats and 36 governorships are at stake and Democrats need to pick up 15 House seats and six Senate seats to seize control of both chambers of Congress.
About 50 contested House races and 10 Senate races are the chief battlegrounds. Independent analysts predict Democrats could gain 20 to 40 House seats, while polls show races for Republican-held Senate seats in Missouri, Virginia, Tennessee, Montana and Rhode Island are too close to call.
Democrats probably need to win four of those five Senate races to take control of the chamber.
Two national opinion polls on Monday showed Democrats still held a double-digit advantage when likely voters were asked which party’s candidate they would support. The new polls contradicted two surveys released on Sunday that showed Republicans closing the gap on Democrats.
History was with Democrats — the party holding the White House traditionally loses seats in a president’s sixth year.
Strong challenges
The battle for the House will be fought largely in the East and Midwest, where scores of Republican incumbents are fighting for their political lives amid what polls show is a strong desire for change.
At least three Republican incumbents face strong challenges in Indiana and Connecticut, while four Republican-held seats in Pennsylvania and five New York seats could fall to Democrats.
In a campaign dominated by Iraq, Bush defended his handling of the war to the end and questioned what Democrats would do differently.
”We have a plan for victory. We’ve got a strategy to win. And part of that is to elect Republicans to the Congress and to the Senate,” Bush told a rally in Bentonville, Arkansas, on the eve of the election.
The president, who has been hampered by low approval ratings and whose legacy could be on the line, said Republicans were coming back and would retain control of Congress on Tuesday.
”I knew we were going to finish strong. I knew that we were going to come roaring into Election Day, because we’ve got the right position on taxes and we’ve got the right position on what it takes to protect you from attack,” he said.
Democrats put leaders such as former president Bill Clinton, former vice-president Al Gore and Illinois Senator Barack Obama on the campaign trail to drum up votes in the final hours.
Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan in Virginia and Mark Egan in New Jersey