ft 4 nov 98
Republicans rocked by mid-term setback
The Democratic party scored big successes in the US mid-term elections on Tuesday as voters rejected Republicans in key states from New York to California.
The results appeared to be a blow to Republican attempts to impeach President Bill Clinton for alleged lying under oath and obstruction of justice in the Monica Lewinsky case, as attacks on the President's morals appeared to backfire.
While the Democrats seemed short of winning the 11 seats they needed to win control of the House of Representatives which they lost in the last mid-term election in 1994 they were set to score a net gain of seats.
Were that to happen, it would be the first time since 1934 that the party holding the White House had gained House seats in a mid-term election.
The last time the president's party gained seats in the sixth year of a presidency was in 1822.
"If we break even or even pick up a seat it would be an historical reversal of what usually happens," said House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, re-elected in his St. Louis, Missouri district.
"The American people said tonight they want us to deal with health care, education and social security," not the Lewinsky scandal, he said.
Democratic Party chairman Roy Romer, who is retiring as governor of Colorado, said: "This is a very great night. I never thought we'd do this well in my wildest dreams."
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat - himself re-elected - said: "We were able to break through with our agenda" of education and patients' rights.
A stronger than expected turnout in many states appeared to be the key to the strength of the Democrat vote.
National exit polls indicated that 57 per cent of respondents said the Lewinsky scandal was not a factor in their vote, while 84 per cent said they considered the state of the economy to be 'excellent' or 'good'.
In New York, Senator Alfonse D'Amato lost to Democratic Representative Charles Schumer after a campaign characterised by negative advertising and mutual bitterness.
Across the country in California - the biggest prize of the contests for Governor - Gray Davis won the statehouse for the Democrats for the first time in 16 years, defeating Republican state Attorney General Dan Lungren.
The Governors' races had an added importance this year because after the 2000 census, political districts will be redrawn and Governors have a large say in how the new legislative map will look.
Also in California, Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer won a second term, defeating State Treasurer Matt Fong.
In the South, the Democrats scored a string of notable successes, defeating North Carolina Senator Lauch Faircloth and ousting Republican governors in South Carolina and Alabama.
In South Carolina, 76-year-old Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings won re-election.
Democrats also retained Governorships in Georgia and Maryland.
Democrat Parris Glendening scored a surprisingly easy re-election victory over Republican Ellen Sauerbrey.
In Ohio, retiring Republican Governor George Voinovich won the Senate seat held by astronaut John Glenn, while Indiana's former Governor Evan Bayh won a seat once held by his father, Birch.
Despite their failure to build on their majorities in Congress, there were some upsides for the GOP.
Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House of Representatives, said: "This will be the first time in 70 years that Republicans kept control of the House for a third term."
Democrat Carol Moseley-Braun - the first African-American woman elected to the Senate - was beaten in Illinois.
In Texas, Governor George W. Bush, son of the former Republican president, won re-election on a landslide, an outcome that is likely to fuel his presidential aspirations.
A CNN opinion poll conducted in the aftermath of the election showed Bush leading Democratic Vice-President Al Gore by 51 per cent to 39 per cent if they were to run against each other for the Presidency in 2000.
Bush's brother Jeb was also elected to the Governor's mansion in Florida when he defeated the Democratic Lt. Gov. Buddy MacKay.
"This is a victory for doing things a new way and I'm excited about that. This is a victory of inclusion rather than exclusion," said the younger Bush, a 45-year-old businessman who had lost to former Governor Lawton Chiles in 1994. "This is a victory for fresh ideas, for new ideas as we move into the next century."
Bush's victory puts the Florida governor's mansion and both legislative chambers in Republican hands for the first time in more than 120 years.
It is also the first time brothers have held the governor's offices at the same time since Nelson Rockefeller was governor of New York between 1958 and 1973 and Winthrop Rockefeller was governor of Arkansas from 1967 to 1971.
In the midwest, Republican Governors Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania, John Engler of Michigan, and Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin were re-elected.
Other Governors holding their seats for the GOP included New York's George Pataki, Oklahoma's Frank Keating, Mike Huckabee in Arkansas, Don Sundquist in Tennessee and Bill Graves in Kansas.
Maine independent Angus King was also re-elected.
Other Republican incumbents who won re-election included Senators Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Richard Shelby of Alabama, Charles Grassley of Iowa, Kit Bond of Missouri, John McCain of Arizona, Don Nickles of Oklahoma, Sam Brownback of Kansas, Ben Nighthorse Campbell in Colorado and Robert Bennett in Utah.
For the Democrats, incumbents who were re-elected included Senators Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Bob Graham of Florida, John Breaux of Louisiana, Byron Dorgan in North Dakota, Daniel Inouye of Hawaii and Ron Wyden of Oregon.
Television exit polls projected that former professional wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura, standing as an independent, would win the Governorship. |
