Democrats made substantial political gains nationwide Tuesday, capitalizing on Republican unpopularity to win a majority of seats in the House. They also appeared to have a majority in the Senate as of press time.
Among Republican casualties was U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn., the body's No. 3 Republican and an extreme social conservative labeled the most vulnerable Senate seat by a recent Rasmussen poll.
The Virginia Senate race seems to have been won by Democrat challenger Jim Webb, a Vietnam veteran running against incumbent Republican George Allen, whose approval ratings took a tumble after a videotape surfaced showing a racial slur directed at a Webb staffer.
In another hotly contested race, Independent incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman eked out a victory over Democrat Ned Lamont by a margin of 11 percent after losing the Democratic primary to Lamont in August.
