Stuart Gorin, Washington File, Nov. 6, 2002

Republicans regained control of the U.S. Senate, retained and added to their lead in the House of Representatives and claimed a majority of state governorships that were at stake November 5, following extensive mid-term election campaigning by President Bush.

Even though the president was not on the ballot this year, he hand-picked candidates to run for open seats in state races, traveled numerous times to dozens of states to encourage voters on their behalf, and raised millions of dollars in campaign funds.

As an added bonus for Bush, the day was also his 25th wedding anniversary. He and his wife Laura spent the evening hosting a dinner for Republican political and congressional leaders and tracking the election results. He also called numerous successful candidates with congratulatory messages.

According to the latest vote figures that are still being tallied – especially the mail-in and absentee ballots – Republicans will hold at least 51 seats in the 100-member Senate, at least 227 in the 435-member House – a pickup of at least five -- and half of the 50 governorships.

The midterm elections broke a historical trend in the United States, since traditionally the party of the president loses seats when he is not running.

Just days before the election, political observers were saying the results of the Senate races were just too close to call. Crediting Bush's involvement for the victories, Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott, who is expected to return to majority leader status, said he believed the election was a referendum on the president's leadership, "and he really showed that he was committed – that he was willing to put his prestige on the line."

Lott's counterpart, current Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, said Bush's action "resonated." Election night was "tough," Daschle added, saying Democratic candidates were trying to speak about the shaky economy in the country, but their remarks were drowned out by what the Republicans were saying about their issues -- the war on terrorism and the prospect of war with Iraq.

Control of the Senate also means control of the committees, so the chairmanships of those important groups will revert to the Republicans, who lost them last year when Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords defected from the party and broke a 50-50 tie.

In the Senate races, there were four open seats vacated by retiring Republicans, and their party retained all four: Jesse Helms' seat in North Carolina was won by former Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole; 99-year-old Strom Thurmond's seat in South Carolina went to Republican Congressman Lindsey Graham; Phil Graham's seat in Texas went to State Attorney General John Cornyn; and Fred Thompson's seat in Tennessee was won by former Governor Lamar Alexander.

Much of the media's interest focused on the race in Minnesota, where Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone was killed in a plane crash eleven days before the election and was replaced on the ballot by former Senator and Vice President Walter Mondale.

Wellstone had been locked in a close battle with Republican former St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman, who edged Mondale in the election by two percentage points. Prior to the election, Minnesota's independent Governor Jesse Ventura appointed independent businessman and attorney Dean Barkley to fill Wellstone's unexpired term. Barkley was sworn into office on November 5 but it was unclear how long he would actually serve.

In addition to picking up the Minnesota seat, Republicans also defeated Democratic incumbents – Georgia's Max Cleland and Missouri's Jean Carnahan. Democrats gained a seat in Arkansas, defeating Republican incumbent Tim Hutchinson, and also held onto an open seat in New Jersey, with former Senator Frank Lautenberg winning the one vacated several weeks before by Democrat Robert Torricelli, who dropped out of the race after his campaign was damaged by allegations he had improperly accepted gifts from a contributor.

Democrats also retained the heavily contested South Dakota seat. Incumbent Senator Tim Johnson defeated his Republican opponent, Congressman John Thune, by only 527 votes out of more than 334,000 cast. Daschle campaigned heavily for Johnson, his counterpart in the state, and Bush did the same for Thune, whom he recruited for the contest. Under state law, Thune has an option to request a recount.

In Louisiana, the winner will not be known until December 7, when there will be a runoff election between the Democratic incumbent, Mary Landrieu, and her closest Republican challenger, State Elections Commissioner Suzanne Terrell. Landrieu received 46 percent of the vote, Terrell 27 percent. Louisiana law requires a runoff between the top two candidates when the leading candidate receives less than 50 percent of the total.

At least seven incumbents in the House of Representatives lost, four of them because of redistricting. In those contests, Republican Nancy Johnson defeated Democrat Jim Maloney in Connecticut, Republican John Shimkus defeated Democrat David Phelps in Illinois, Republican Chip Pickering defeated Democrat Ronnie Shows in Mississippi, and Democrat Tim Holden defeated Republican George Gekas in Pennsylvania.

The other defeated incumbents were Republican Connie Morella in Maryland, Democrat Karen Thurman in Florida and Democrat Bill Luther in Minnesota.

Three congressional races were deemed too close to call.

There were a lot of party changes in gubernatorial races. Democrats gained seats in Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Maine, while losing Alaska, New Hampshire, Hawaii, Georgia, Maryland and South Carolina to the Republicans, who also gained the independently held seat in Minnesota.

Among the better-known victorious gubernatorial incumbents were Florida Republican Jeb Bush, the president's brother; California Democrat Gray Davis and New York Republican George Pataki. Losing incumbents were Democrat Roy Barnes in Georgia, Democrat Jim Hodges in South Carolina and Republican Scott McCallum in Wisconsin.

In Vermont, Republican State Treasurer Jim Douglas finished first but failed to win 50 percent of the vote, and under state rules the legislature will meet to pick the new governor. Douglas' victory is all but guaranteed, however, because the Democratic candidate who came in a close second conceded the race.

Final tallies were still pending in races in Alabama, Arizona and Oregon.

The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.