Democrats win big in US elections

Washington, Nov 8 (UNI) A raging revulsion against the Iraq war swept the opposition Democrat Party to victory in the 435-member House of Representatives and brought it close to the winning control of the 100-member senate, ending the 12-year dominance of President George W Bush's Republican Party in the Congress.

The majority in the Senate, however, depends on the outcome of two states - Montana and Virginia - where narrow margins, have raised the prospects of a recount and delays in the formal announcement of results. Both of these have narrow Democratic leads.

A victory in these two seats will give Democrats a clear majority (51) in the 100-member Senate and if they lose one of them then they will have 50 members equal to that of the Republican strength and Vice President Dick Cheney who presides over the Senate will have tie-breaking votes.

The latest position in the 435-member House of Representatives is -Democratic Party-227 and Republican Party-195. Thirteen results are yet to come. The Democratic Party has gained 28 seats to pile up a total 227 as against 218 required to carve out a majority.

Leader of the Democratic Party in the current House Nancy Pelosi, in a statement, said, ''Today the American people voted for change and they voted for Democrats to take our country in a new direction, and that is exactly what we intend to do.'' Ms Pelosi will now become the Speaker of the House of Representative to become the first woman in the US history to get this Congressional position. She will hold the office for two years.

She offered to cooperate with the government.

''Let us work together to find a solution to the war in Iraq,'' she said. ''The campaign is over. Democrats are ready to lead,'' she said.

Mr Bush congratulated Nancy Pelosi for her party's victory and invited her to lunch. They had a good conversation, ''a White House spokesman said. Washington, Democratic Party's gubernatorial candidates also did well. There were contests for governor in 36 states, with Republicans holding 22 and Democrats 14. At the end of the day, Democrats held on to all their seats and took six away from Republicans - New York, Ohio, Maryland, Massachusetts, Arkansas and Colorado.

However, Actor-turned politician, Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, was elected to a second term as governor. ''What a fantastic evening. You know, I love doing sequels. I love doing sequels,'' former Hollywood star said.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said, ''The President is still in charge of foreign policy and the military, but that Democrats will work to change administration policy.'' Republican Senator John McCain, who is one of the aspirants of the Republican presidential ticket in 2008 presidential election, said, ''Americans are frustrated with the war in Iraq, but he predicted that most members of Congress would not support an immediate withdrawal.'' Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman said, ''His party needs to forge coalitions with congressional Democrats.'' American voters selected 36 state governors, 435 members of the House of Representatives, and 33 members of the Senate in yesterday's elections.

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