Democrats Score Upsets in Key Races

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Resurgent Democrats toppled Republican senators in Pennsylvania and Ohio and gained ground in the House Tuesday, challenging for control of Congress in midterm elections shaped by an unpopular war in Iraq and scandal at home.

Aided by public dissatisfaction with President Bush, Democrats also elected governors in New York, Ohio and Massachusetts for the first time in more than a decade.

"Let's give a big cheer to the American people," said House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi -- in line to become speaker if her party won the House -- as the returns rolled in.

In a remarkable comeback, Sen. Joe Lieberman won a new term in Connecticut -- dispatching Ned Lamont and winning when it counted most against the man who prevailed in a summertime primary. Lieberman ran as an independent, but will side with the Democrats when he returns to Washington.

Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania became the first Republican senator to fall to the Democrats, losing his seat after two conservative terms to Bob Casey Jr., the state treasurer.

In Ohio, Sen. Mike DeWine lost to Rep. Sherrod Brown, a liberal seven-term lawmaker.

In the battle for control of the House, Rep. John Hostettler, R-Ind., and Anne Northup of Kentucky both lost to their Democratic challengers.

Hostettler, Santorum and DeWine all won their seats in the Republican landslide of 1994, the year the GOP won control of the House they were in danger of surrendering in this election.

All 435 House seats were on the ballot along with 33 Senate races, elections that Democrats sought to make a referendum on the president's handling of the war, the economy and more.

Democrats piled up early gains among the 36 statehouse races on the ballot.

In Ohio, Rep. Ted Strickland defeated Republican Ken Blackwell with ease to become the state's first Democratic governor in 16 years. Deval Patrick triumphed over Republican Kerry Healey in Massachusetts, and will become the state's first black chief executive. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer won the New York governor's race in a landslide.

Surveys of voters at their polling places nationwide suggested Democrats were winning the support of independents by a margin of almost 2-to-1, and middle-class voters were leaving Republicans behind.

About six in 10 voters said they disapproved of the way President Bush is handling his job, and roughly the same percentage opposed the war in Iraq. They were more inclined to vote for Democratic candidates than for Republicans.

In even larger numbers, about three-quarters of voters said scandals mattered to them in deciding how to vote, and they, too, were more likely to side with Democrats. The surveys were taken by The Associated Press and the networks.

History worked against the GOP, too. Since World War II, the party in control of the White House has lost an average 31 House seats and six Senate seats in the second midterm election of a president's tenure in office.

Voters in Vermont made Rep. Bernie Sanders, an independent, the winner in a Senate race, succeeding retiring Sen. James Jeffords. Brooklyn-born with an accent to match, Sanders is an avowed Socialist who will side with Democrats when he is sworn into office in January.

Democrat Amy Klobuchar, a county prosecutor, won the Minnesota Senate race to replace retiring Sen. Mark Dayton, a fellow Democrat.

Casey, a conservative challenger who opposes abortion rights, ran well ahead of Santorum, a member of the Senate GOP leadership in search of a third term.

Next door in Ohio, Democratic Rep. Sherrod Brown was defeating Sen. Mike DeWine by a double-digit margin.

And in Virginia, Republican Sen. George Allen and Democratic challenger Jim Webb were locked in a seesaw battle, neither man able to break clear of the other as the vote count mounted.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)