* Democrats score wins in Massachusetts, Indiana, Wisconsin
* Both parties seen digging in fight over taxes, spending
cuts
By David Lawder
WASHINGTON, Nov 6 (Reuters) – Democrats retained control of
the U.S. Senate on Tuesday night, taking over hotly contested
Republican seats in Massachusetts and Indiana while holding on
to most of the states they already had, including Wisconsin and
Virginia, according to projections.
The most significant turnover victory for Republicans came
in Nebraska, where conservative candidate Deb Fischer, endorsed
by former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin,
was the projected winner in a race for the seat of retiring
Democrat Ben Nelson.
Overall, the balance of power appeared poised to remain
unchanged in Congress – likely meaning more partisan gridlock –
as Republicans were projected to remain firmly in control of the
House of Representatives. Television networks also projected
that Democratic President Barack Obama won re-election.
While the Senate did not change hands, it could wind up as a
more polarized body, with fewer moderates in the ranks of both
parties.
That scenario was underscored by two victories in
particular.
Elizabeth Warren, the winner over moderate Scott Brown in
Massachusetts, is an activist Harvard Law School professor
strenuously opposed by Wall Street interests.
In Texas, the seat of a retiring Republican, Kay Bailey
Hutchison, was filled in an easy victory by Ted Cruz, a favorite
of the conservative Tea Party movement.
As Congress pivots from elections to the year-end “fiscal
cliff” of expiring tax cuts and the launch of automatic spending
cuts, the results portend a continued bitter divide.
“That means the same dynamic, that means the same people who
couldn’t figure out how to cut deals for the past three years,”
said Ethan Siegel, an analyst who Washington politics for
institutional investors.
House Speaker John Boehner said voters wanted to continue
Republicans’ agenda, but pledged to work “with any willing
partner.”
“With this vote, the American people also made clear there’s
no mandate for raising tax rates,” Boehner told party activists
in Washington.
With Obama’s projected re-election and the Democratic Party
retaining a m ajority in the Senate, Democrats too are seen as
emboldened to push their plan for tax fairness – cutting budget
deficits by asking wealthy Americans to pay higher tax rates,
while extending lower rates for the middle class.
But there is less than two months before tax cuts enacted
under President George W. Bush expire on Dec. 31, thrusting
higher tax rates on all Americans. Two days later, $109 billion
in across-the-board spending cuts begin to bite. If unchecked by
Congress, the fiscal cliff would suck some $600 billion out of
the U.S. economy next year.
DEMOCRATS TAKE OHIO, FLORIDA AND CONNECTICUT
Obama’s Democrats also beat back Republican challengers in
Ohio, Florida, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
In Maine, independent Angus King won easily in the contest
to replace retiring Republican Olympia Snowe and is widely
expected to side with Democrats on many issues, handing them
another seat.
In Indiana, a state with a large majority of Romney voters,
Democrat Joe Donnelly pulled an upset victory against Republican
and Tea Party favorite Richard Mourdock, whose prospects faded
after he made inflammatory comments that pregnancy after rape
could be “something that God intended.”
Mourdock had defeated longtime Indiana moderate Republican
Richard Lugar in the Republican primary.
A well-financed Democratic campaign in Massachusetts for
Warren proved successful, unseating Republican Scott Brown, who
had succeeded the late liberal champion Edward Kennedy in a
special election in 2010.
