Washington – Democrats completed an improbable double-barreled election sweep of Congress on Wednesday, taking control of the Senate with a victory in Virginia as they padded their day-old majority in the House.
Jim Webb’s victory over Sen. George Allen in Virginia assured Democrats of 51 seats when the Senate convenes in January. That marked a gain of six in midterm elections in which the war in Iraq and President Bush were major issues.
Earlier, state Sen. Jon Tester triumphed over Republican U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns in a long, late count in Montana.
With a handful of House races still too close to call, Democrats had gained 28 seats, enough to regain the majority after 12 years of Republican rule and place Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California in line to become the first female speaker in history.
“It was a thumping,” Bush conceded at the White House. “It’s clear the Democrat party had a good night.”
Allen’s campaign did not concede, issuing a statement noting that state officials are conducting a canvass of the votes cast in Tuesday’s balloting. “At the conclusion of those efforts, Sen. George Allen plans to make a statement regarding the outcome,” it said.
The Senate had teetered at 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans for most of Wednesday. The Democratic total includes two independents, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who vote with the party. Webb’s victory ended Republican hopes of eking out a 50-50 split and having Vice President Dick Cheney wield the tie-breaking authority.
The Associated Press contacted election officials in all 134 localities where voting occurred, obtaining updated numbers Wednesday. About half the localities said they had completed their postelection canvassing and nearly all had counted outstanding absentee votes. Most were expected to be finished by Friday.
The new AP count showed Webb with 1,172,538 votes and Allen with 1,165,302, a difference of 7,236. Virginia has had two statewide vote recounts in modern history, but both resulted in vote changes of no more than a few hundred votes.
A Webb spokeswoman said that Virginia’s vote-counting procedure is methodical and accurate unlike, say, Florida’s in 2000 and expressed confidence that Webb’s margin would hold steady or grow.
“The bottom line is the votes have been counted, and Jim Webb has won,” said Kristian Denny Todd, a Webb aide. “It could have gone the other way, but it didn’t. We’re on top, and that’s the way it’s going to stay.”
She said that Virginia election results “rarely, rarely, rarely” change after certification, citing a recount in a Virginia attorney general contest last year in which the margin was fewer than 400 votes. She said that Webb, whom she called senator-elect, is consulting with advisers and planning to take his seat in the Senate in January.
It had been clear for weeks leading up to the election that Democrats were strongly positioned to challenge Republicans for House control.
But Democrats’ outlook had not been as strong in the Senate. They began the year with fewer seats than at any time since Herbert Hoover occupied the White House. Even the party leader, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, mused aloud at one point that it might take a miracle to capture Senate control.
Webb’s win capped a banner election year for Democrats, who benefited from the voters’ desire to issue a searing rebuke of the status quo.
The president, who spoke of spending his political capital after his successful re-election two years ago, acknowledged, “As the head of the Republican Party, I share a large part of the responsibility.”
With power on Capitol Hill tilting, Bush faced the reality of Congress in the opposition’s hands for the final two years of his presidency.
The war in Iraq, scandals in Congress and declining support for Bush and Republicans on Capitol Hill defined the battle for House and Senate control, with the public embracing the Democrats’ call for change to end a decade of one-party rule in Washington.
“This new Democratic majority has heard the voices of the American people,” said Pelosi, adding that Americans have placed their trust in the Democrats. “We will honor that trust. We will not disappoint.”
With the GOP booted from power, lame-duck Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., announced that he will not run for leader of House Republicans when Democrats take control in January.
“Obviously I wish my party had won,” Hastert said in a statement that added he intends to return to the “full-time task” of representing his Illinois constituents.
The New York Times contributed to this report.
