It has been a good election day all round for the Republicans who have strengthened their grip on Congress’s two chambers. Network projections showed Republicans would hold at least 54 of the 100 Senate seats – three more than they now have – and a slim majority of the 435-member House of Representatives.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said it looked likely Republicans would win a total of 55 seats in the Senate and add at least three seats in the House, where it currently has 227 seats. However, Republicans will not have the 60 Senators that are needed to end Democratic procedural hurdles on particularly contentious policy issues. In a further blow to the Democrats, Tom Daschle became the first Senate leader in a half century to be voted out of office. The 109th Congress is set to convene on Jan. 3.

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