Following a contentious election Tuesday, in which Republicans voted their moral concerns, the party was able to nearly sweep the majority of House and Senate seats at the national and state levels.
Republicans now have control of the U.S. Senate by a 55-44 margin, with one Democratic-leaning independent.
Senate races breaking favorably for the Republicans helped them not only to retain, but also to expand their control, said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia Center for Politics political analyst.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., lost his seat to GOP Rep. John Thurne by 4,600 votes. Daschle was elected to the Senate in 1986 and served in the House for eight years. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., will still need to rally 60 votes to pass legislation to fend off Democratic filibusters.
Democrats also lost ground in the House when Republicans gained three seats, bringing the total to 231 of the seats. Only 218 seats are needed to control the House.
Sabato said President Bush's coattails were ridden all the way to the GOP-captured House and Senate seats.
It was luck; it was chance
but it worked for the GOP he said. This was an intense straight ticket election. Few people voted across party lines.
The trend continued as votes for Ohio offices were overwhelmingly Republican. Associated Press exit polls reported 25 percent of voters to be independents and equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans turning out to vote.
About half of the voters considered themselves to be moderates, according to the polls. Conservatives voted in larger numbers nationwide than in 2000.
The large number of Ohioans voting for Republicans can be attributed to the importance placed on morals during the campaigns, said Jerry Miller, an Ohio University associate professor of communication studies, specializing in political communication.
Very early on
American values were being appealed to by both candidates
Miller said.
The statewide support for Issue 1 illustrates the role values and moral beliefs played in this election, he said.
Locally, state Rep. Jimmy Stewart, R-Athens, and state Sen. Joy Padgett, R-Coshocton, were re-elected for second terms. U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, also was re-elected.
Athens County, however, was the only county in southeastern Ohio to have a majority vote for Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., which Miller said could be attributed to the large number of student voters, as well as the Democratic history of the county.
I think we may be a little bit surprised (about Bush being elected) in southeast Ohio
because we have a louder voice for the Democratic Party
Miller said.
Athens residents tend to forget that most of Ohio generally votes Republican, because there is a more liberal ideology here, he said.
Though people have similar values, Miller said, the moral concerns on which Republicans and Democrats usually differ were pushed to the forefront of this year's election.
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