Bush gains ground in Congress
Tuesday’s midterm elections gave President George W. Bush a Republican-dominated House and Senate.
This marks one of only a handful of occasions in the nation’s history when a president has had partisan control of Congress after having completed two years in office. It is only the second time in almost 70 years that the president’s party didn’t lose seats in a midterm ballot. It is also the first time since Theodore Roosevelt that a president has won seats in both the House and Senate. Bush visited 15 states in the last week to show support for various candidates around the country.
Though the elections were not all decided by the end of Tuesday night, the Republicans obtained the necessary seats in the Senate to have a majority.
Louisiana’s Senate candidates will have a run-off in December because no one candidate received 50 percent of the popular vote. The two candidates with the most popular votes will face each other in a state-wide election on Dec. 7.
Minnesota’s Senate race had to be decided by hand-counting ballots. Because of Sen. Paul Wellstone’s death nearly a week ago, new ballots had to be arranged just for the Senate election.
Former vice president Walter Mondale replaced Wellstone on the ballot as the Democratic candidate. While thanking supporters of his short campaign, Mondale tributed the late senator and his wife Sheila for “being the best examples for decency.”
In Vermont’s gubernatorial race, no candidate received the 50 percent plus one that is necessary to win. Vermont law requires the state legislature vote to decide who will be the governor if no candidate has more than 50 percent of the popular vote.
The Democrats gained four governorships, while the Republicans lost two.
Bob Ehrlich beat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend for the governorship of Maryland. It was the first time since 1966 that a Republican candidate became governor.
CNN analyst William Schnider said he was surprised at the control gained by the Republicans.
“Presidents aren’t supposed to have coattails in midterm elections. In fact, they are supposed to have negative coattails,” he said.
Arizona and Nevada had a proposition and a question on their ballots to legalize the use of marijuana in certain circumstances. Both issues failed.
CNBC’s Chris Matthews commented about how it was possible for Bush to retain control of Congress.
“When nobody cares, Republicans vote,” he said.
He said he believed that was the reason the Democrats did not gain control. He said they didn’t care enough.
U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert said he disagreed with Matthews’ reasoning.
“We had some great candidates,” Hastert said.
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush became the first Republican governor to be re-elected in the state’s history. He defeated former Attorney General Janet Reno in the primary elections. After having been announced as the winner, he thanked his brother (the president) for all of his support during the campaign.
A new record was set for women on Tuesday, as well. Five women now serve as governors in the U.S. Four women lost their bids to become governors.
-jonryan@cc.usu.edu