(AP) -
Democrats strengthened their hold on the
Senate but failed Tuesday to recapture the majority in the House of
Representatives they lost two years ago. President Barack Obama, in his
freshly authorized second term, will face the same divided Congress in
2013 that has bedeviled efforts to enact his major legislation.
"Now that the election is
over, it's time to put politics aside and work together to find
solutions," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who may have
a slightly bigger working majority - but not as big as the
filibuster-proof one Obama enjoyed his first two years in the White
House.
House Speaker John Boehner,
R-Ohio, who also gets to keep his job, offered to work with any willing
partner, Republican or Democrat, to get things done. "The American
people want solutions - and tonight, they've responded by renewing our
majority," he told a gathering of Republicans.
But Boehner also said that
by keeping Republicans in control of the House, voters made clear there
is no mandate for raising taxes. Obama has proposed imposing higher
taxes on households earning over $250,000 a year.
The first post-election
test of wills could start next week when Congress returns from its
election recess to deal with unfinished business - including a looming
"fiscal cliff" of $400 billion in higher taxes and $100 billion in
automatic cuts in military and domestic spending to take effect in
January if Congress doesn't head them off. Economists warn that the
combination could plunge the nation back into a recession.
Because of extreme
election-year partisanship, a resolution of the matter had been put off
until a post-election lame-duck session.
Reid said Wednesday the
urgent attention must be given to the fiscal issues when Congress comes
back to work. He said he's "not for kicking the can down the road" and
that any solution should include higher taxes on "the richest of the
rich."
In terms of the general
partisanship and political divide on Capitol Hill, Senate Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the voters did not endorse the
"failures or excesses of the president's first term," but rather have
given him more time to finish the job.
"To the extent he wants to
move to the political center, which is where the work gets done in a
divided government, we'll be there to meet him halfway," McConnell said.
Sen.-elect Tim Kaine of
Virginia said Wednesday he believes Democrats and Republicans will come
together to avoid the "fiscal cliff."
Kaine, who defeated
Republican George Allen, said in an appearance on NBC's "Today" show
that voters sent a message to Washington that they want "cooperative
government." But he also said the election results show that the public
doesn't want "all the levers in one party's hands" on Capitol Hill.
Newly elected Massachusetts
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she will go to Washington believing there is
a "lot of room for compromise" on what to do about the deficit and the
impending fiscal crisis.
Warren, a leading consumer
advocate, told NBC that Congress can find a middle ground on the
nation's financial problems that would bring down the deficit by cutting
spending while raising revenues.
Speaking on "CBS This
Morning," she said that those who voted for her opponent, Sen. Scott
Brown, sent a message that people want lawmakers to work together and "I
heard that loud and clear."
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the
top Democrat on the House Budget Committee said that Obama is looking
forward to working with congressional Republicans. But he also said thee
GOP has to get the message voters delivered: Ask wealthier folks to pay
more to help cut the deficit.
"It's also important to
realize that it was a decisive election," Van Hollen said on CNN
Wednesday. "And one of the big issues in this election was whether or
not we should take the balanced approach to reducing the deficit the
president has talked about; a combination of cuts but also revenue
(increases). It's very clear from the exit polling that a majority of
Americans recognize that we need to share responsibility for reducing
the deficit. That means asking higher income earners to contribute more
to reducing the deficit."
In the new Senate,
Democrats would hold a 55-45 advantage if two independent senators chose
to organize with the Democratic caucus. They picked up another seat
Wednesday when Republican Rick Berg in North Dakota conceded his loss to
Democrat Heidi Heitkamp.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.,
won his bid for re-election, and he has aligned himself with the Senate
Democrats in the past. In Maine, independent former Gov. Angus King was
elected to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Olympia Snowe. But King declined
to say Wednesday whether he would line up with Democrats in the Senate.
Democrats picked up
Republican-held seats in Indiana and Massachusetts while Republicans
snatched a lone Democratic seat in Nebraska. And in Montana, Democratic
incumbent Sen. Jon Tester held on to beat GOP challenger Denny Rehberg.
In another Democratic
pickup Tuesday, Rep. Joe Donnelly won the Indiana Senate seat held for
six terms by Republican Sen. Richard Lugar. Lugar lost earlier this year
in a GOP primary to tea party-backed state Treasurer Richard Mourdock.
The race had been rocked by the Republican candidate's controversial
comments that pregnancy resulting from rape is "something God intended."
And Sen. Claire McCaskill,
D-Mo., fought back a challenge from Republican Rep. Todd Akin, who
severely damaged his candidacy in August when he said women who are
victims of "legitimate rape" would not get pregnant.
The Virginia seat that Kaine won opened up when Sen. Jim Webb, a Democrat, decided not to run for re-election.
And former World Wrestling
Entertainment executive Linda McMahon lost her bid for a Connecticut
Senate seat to Democrat Chris Murphy despite spending $42 million of her
own wealth. It was the second time in two years she has lost a Senate
race. The seat had been long held by Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent
who caucused with Democrats and was the Democratic vice presidential
candidate in 2000.
In Wisconsin, Rep. Tammy Baldwin defeated former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson.
With all but a handful of
the 435 House races called by The Associated Press, Republicans had won
233 seats, were assured another from a December runoff between two
Louisiana Republicans, and were leading in one other race in Arizona.
That gave them more than the 218 needed for a majority.
Democrats had won 192 seats
and were leading in 8 others, ensuring them of modest gains. The GOP
controls the current House by 240-190. There are two GOP and three
Democratic vacancies.
While GOP Rep. Paul Ryan lost the vice presidency, he did win another term to his Wisconsin House seat.
Former GOP presidential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota was narrowly re-elected.
By early Wednesday,
Democrats had defeated 12 GOP House incumbents - 10 of them members of
the huge tea party-backed freshman class of 2010. Republican losers
included four incumbents from Illinois, two each from New Hampshire and
New York, and one apiece from Florida, Maryland, Minnesota and Texas.
But Republicans picked up
nine previously Democratic seats. Their candidates defeated one
Democratic incumbent apiece in Kentucky, New York, North Carolina and
Pennsylvania; they picked up one open seat each in Arkansas, California,
Indiana, North Carolina and Oklahoma currently held by Democrats who
retired or ran for another office.
Four incumbent Democrats
from California were defeated by challengers from their own party,
including 80-year old liberal Rep. Pete Stark from the East Bay area
near San Francisco. Also beaten was Rep. Howard Berman, another liberal,
who lost a bitter and expensive Los Angeles-area battle against fellow
Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman.
Two other Democrats lost
showdowns against fellow incumbents. Republican Jim Renacci defeated
Democrat Betty Sutton in Ohio and Tom Latham beat Democrat Leonard
Boswell in a battle between two long-term veterans.
In remarks to Democrats,
Pelosi said her party would be "fighting for reigniting the American
dream, building ladders of opportunity for people who want to work hard
and play by the rules and take responsibility."
In a somber statement, Sen.
John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial
Committee, said Republicans "have a period of reflection and
recalibration ahead." He added that, "While some will want to blame one
wing of the party over the other, the reality is candidates from all
corners of our GOP lost tonight."
