US MID-TERM ELECTION LATEST RESULTS 2014
| Senate (/100) | 52 | - | 45 |
| House (/435) | 246 | - | 180 |
REPUBLICANS made several gains last night to take control of the Senate, meaning that they hold majorities in both Houses of Congress for the first time since 2006.
The Grand Old Party picked up senators in West Virginia, Arkansas, South Dakota, Montana, Colorado, North Carolina, and Iowa from the Democrats.
Counting in Virginia and Alaska has yet to be completed while Louisiana faces a run-off poll in December after no candidate achieved 50% of the vote.
Eventually, though, all of those states could replace their Democrat incumbents with a Republican, and so further increase the Senate majority to 55-45.
In the House, too, the Republicans enjoyed a good night, extending the majority which they gained in the last midterm elections in 2010.
And so it really was a rather miserable night for President Barack Obama and the Democrats.
Since his re-election in 2012, Mr Obama's personal poll rating has gone through the floor - despite an improved economic outlook with better growth and lower unemployment.
Indeed, so poor have been the ratings for Mr Obama that Democrat candidates all across America were distancing themselves from his time in charge during the campaign.
Kentucky Senate challenger Alison Grimes refused even to confirm in an interview if she had voted in 2008 and 2012 for the incumbent President.
Not that her coyness ultimately did her any good. Seen as a cowardly act, Ms Grimes went onto lose to Mitch McConnell in the first big result of the night.
Mr McConnell, who has spent the last eight years as the Republicans' minority leader in the Senate, will now become its majority leader when it reconvenes in January.
Back to last night and pick-ups in West Virginia and Arkansas quickly followed the success in Kentucky.
And, once Georgia senator David Perdue won without a run-off and Pat Roberts beat independent Greg Orman in Kansas, the GOP was left with many different pathways for a swift victory.
A gain in North Carolina tipped the Republicans' over the edge and, with another in Iowa not long behind, this crushing victory came before the polls in Alaska had even closed.
So what now for Congress? Well, there are two main theories.
The first is that the political gridlock in Washington, which went as far as a government shutdown for two weeks in 2013, will be exacerbated with Republican majorities in both Houses and a Democrat President.
Thankfully, the other possibility is more palatable and takes into account the context of these elections.
Republicans are well aware that this election cycle was always going to be pretty good for them.
Opposition parties almost always do well in the midterms and, along with an unpopular President, the GOP had the further added bonus of knocking out several incumbent Democrat senators in so-called red states.
In 2016, the ground is less fertile. Turnout, which traditionally favours the Democrats, will undoubtedly increase because, in two years, the big prize is also on offer: the keys to the White House.
By then, the Republicans will hope to have shown they can govern in Congress by finding some common ground with Mr Obama so to pass some bills.
Mr Obama retains an executive veto but he will want to use this sparingly if he wishes to build up any sort of relationship with his adversaries to get anything done in his last two years in power.
For there can be no doubt about it: this was the beginning of the end for the Obama presidency.
STATE-BY-STATE RESULTS
| State | House | Senate | Governor |
| ALABAMA | RRRRRRD | RR | R |
| ALASKA | R | RD | R |
| ARIZONA | RRRRRDDDD | RR | R |
| ARKANSAS | RRRR | RR | R |
| CALIFORNIA | RRRRRRRRRR RRRRRDDDD DDDDDDDDD DDDDDDDDD DDDDDDDDD DDDDDDD | DD | D |
| COLORADO | RRRRDDD | RD | D |
| CONNECTICUT | DDDDD | DD | D |
| DELAWARE | D | DD | D |
| FLORIDA | RRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRDD DDDDDDDD | RD | R |
| GEORGIA | RRRRRRRRR RDDDD | RR | R |
| HAWAII | RD | DD | D |
| IDAHO | RR | RR | R |
| ILLINOIS | RRRRRRRRD DDDDDDDDD | RD | D |
| INDIANA | RRRRRRRDD | RD | R |
| IOWA | RRRD | RR | R |
| KANSAS | RRRR | RR | R |
| KENTUCKY | RRRRRD | RR | D |
| LOUISIANA | RRRRRD | RV | R |
| MAINE | DD | RI | R |
| MARYLAND | RDDDDDDD | DD | D |
| MASSACHUSETTS | RRRRRRRRR DDDDDDDDD | DD | D |
| MICHIGAN | DDDDD | DD | R |
| MINNESOTA | RRRDDDDD | DD | D |
| MISSISSIPPI | RRRD | RR | R |
| MISSOURI | RRRRRRDD | RD | D |
| MONTANA | R | RD | D |
| NEBRASKA | RRR | RR | R |
| NEVADA | RRRD | RD | R |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE | RD | RD | D |
| NEW JERSEY | RRRRRRDDD DDD | DD | R |
| NEW MEXICO | RDD | DD | R |
| NEW YORK | RRRRRRRRR DDDDDDDDD DDDDDDDDD | DD | D |
| NORTH CAROLINA | RRRRRRRRR DDDD | RR | R |
| NORTH DAKOTA | R | RD | R |
| OHIO | RRRRRRRRRR RRDDDD | RD | R |
| OKLAHOMA | RRRRR | RR | R |
| OREGON | RDDDD | DD | D |
| PENNSYLVANIA | RRRRRRRRRR RRRDDDDD | RD | D |
| RHODE ISLAND | DD | DD | D |
| SOUTH CAROLINA | RRRRRRD | RR | R |
| SOUTH DAKOTA | R | RR | R |
| TENNESSEE | RRRRRRRDD | RR | R |
| TEXAS | RRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRR RRRRRDDDD DDDDDDD | RR | R |
| UTAH | RRRR | RR | R |
| VERMONT | D | DI | D |
| VIRGINIA | RRRRRRRRD DD | DD | D |
| WASHINGTON | RRRRDDDDD D | DD | D |
| WEST VIRGINIA | RRR | RD | D |
| WISCONSIN | RRRRRDDD | RD | R |
| WYOMING | R | RR | R |
COMPETITIVE SEATS
House (bold=gain)
AZ-01 AZ-02, CA-07, CA-26, CA-52 FL-02 FL-26 GA-12 IL-10 IL-12 IA-03 ME-02, MN-08, NE-02 NH-01 NY-11 WV-03
Likely/Lean Dem (23) AZ-09, CA-03, CA-31 CA-36 CT-05 HI-01 IL-08 IL-11 IL-17 IA-01 IA-02 MA-06 MN-01 MN-07 NV-04 NH-02 NY-01 NY-04 NY-18 NY-24 TX-23 WA-01
Likely/Lean Rep (22) AR-02 AR-04 CA-21 CO-06 IL-13 IA-04 KS-02 KS-03 MI-01 MI-11 MT-AL NV-03 NJ-03 NY-19 NY-21 NC-07 ND-AL PA-06 UT-04 VA-10 WV-02 WI-06
Senate
Rep hold: Kentucky, South Carolina (x2), Maine, Tennessee, Mississippi, Oklahoma (x2), Alabama, Texas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas
Rep gain: West Virginia, Arkansas, South Dakota, Montana, Colorado, North Carolina, Iowa
Dem hold: Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware, New Hampshire, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Hawaii, Oregon, New Mexico
Still to declare: Alaska, Virginia
Run-off: Louisiana
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