KEY POINTS:
HEADLINES
* Democrats sweep Republicans out of power in US House of Representatives and make gains in Senate, riding to victory on wave of public discontent with Iraq war, corruption and President Bush's leadership.
* Democrats head to gains of about 30 seats in the House, according
to network projections of Tuesday's vote, giving them control for the first time since 1994.
* Democrats, who need to pick up six Republican Senate seats for majority, gain at least three seats while three others are still too close to call.
* Win likely to slam brakes on Bush's legislative agenda in his final two years.
* Republicans lead tight races in Tennessee, Missouri and Virginia that are crucial to Democratic hopes of winning Senate.
* Democratic Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, widely believed to be weighing bid for White House, wins re-election to second term in US Senate.
* Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman wins re-election after losing Democratic nomination in August to opponent of Iraq war and running as independent.
* It could be hours before results are known in many crucial races.
* Democrat Deval Patrick, former top US civil rights enforcer, elected governor of Massachusetts, becoming second black ever elected to lead US state.
* Election officials, experts report electronic voting machine malfunctions in Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas, but say many of problems are minor, temporary.
* Elections follow bitter, expensive campaign.
PRESIDENT
President George W Bush will hold a news conference to discuss the outcome of the US congressional elections, White House spokesman Tony Snow announced today.
Snow said the outcome of the elections, in which Democrats were projected to win control of the House of Representatives, was "not what we would've hoped," and that it will be up to the Democrats to help find solutions to problems instead of complaining about them.
"The president has got a very active agenda for the next two years and you're going to need both parties," he said.
CALIFORNIA
Countering a national anti-Republican wave, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger easily won re-election after distancing himself from President George W Bush and taking a moderate stance.
The former Hollywood star, a Republican first elected three years ago in an unprecedented recall vote, was seen defeating his Democrat opponent, State Treasurer Phil Angelides. On a night when Democrats were seen taking control of the US House, Schwarzenegger was leading by 28 points with 7 per cent of the vote counted.
The victory comes after the star of the "Terminator" films scrapped a confrontational style that served him well as a champion bodybuilder and in movies but led to a complete defeat in a special initiative election last year.
Since then, a humbled Schwarzenegger, 59, turned on his considerable charm, no longer taunted Democratic legislators as "girlie men" and backed a series of bipartisan laws, including reducing the state's greenhouse gas emissions.
"I operate with a different mentality than most people do, which is that I am very forceful and inpatient," Schwarzenegger said a year ago. "Here in this capital and in this job as governor ... I think you have to be more patient."
Schwarzenegger also distanced himself from Bush. He did not meet Bush during the president's recent California visits and has criticized the White House on issues such as global warming.
The new approach proved essential in California, where 42 per cent of the 15.8 million registered voters are Democrats, compared to 34 per cent Republicans. It also works at home, where the Austrian-born politician is married to Democrat Maria Shriver, niece of former Democratic President John F. Kennedy.
MINNEAPOLIS
Voters elected a black Democrat as the first Muslim in Congress after a race in which he advocated quick US withdrawal from Iraq and made little mention of his faith.
Keith Ellison, a 43-year-old lawyer and state representative, defeated two rivals, television networks said, to succeed retiring Democrat Martin Sabo in a seat that has been held by Democrats since 1963.
Ellison, who converted to Islam as a 19-year-old college student in his native Detroit, won with the help of Muslims among a coalition of liberal, anti-war voters.
He advocates an immediate US withdrawal from Iraq along with strongly liberal views. While Ellison did not often speak of his faith during the campaign, awareness of his candidacy drew interest from Muslims well beyond the district centred in Minneapolis.
A significant community of Somali immigrants in Minneapolis cast their first votes for him in the crowded September primary. Ellison also was the surprise choice of party regulars.
While Muslim-Americans make up less than 3 per cent of the US population and have largely been a non-factor in terms of political power, get-out-the-vote efforts in several Muslim communities could indicate they may become an emerging force.
PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania Republican Don Sherwood, tarnished by an adultery scandal and allegations that he tried to strangle his young lover, lost his seat to a Democratic challenger, a setback to his party's bid to keep control of the House of Representatives.
Television network Fox and CBSNews.com projected that Democrat Chris Carney, a Navy Reserve officer, defeated four-term Sherwood in his conservative district. Sherwood had no major competition in his last two races but faced both a sex scandal and corruption allegations. He apologised for the affair but denied other allegations.
CONNECTICUT
US Senator Joseph Lieberman won re-election to a fourth term rebounding as an independent after his support for the Iraq war cost him the backing of the Democratic Party.
US television networks ABC and NBC projected that Lieberman beat Ned Lamont, who had won the Democratic nomination over Lieberman in an August primary election, and Republican Alan Schlesinger.
"We are very encouraged but we are not taking anything for granted," said Tammy Sun, press secretary for the Lieberman campaign. "We are waiting for the real results to come in. This race has been volatile from the beginning."
Lieberman is an 18-year veteran of the Senate and was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000 but many Democrats abandoned him in favour of Lamont, who ran on an anti-Iraq-war platform.
Lamont, a wealthy businessman and political outsider, capitalized on growing public discontent over the war in Democratic-leaning Connecticut.
Lieberman, 64, faced vocal opposition from fellow party members for his decision to run on his own. But he said he would remain a Democrat and would muster with party members if re-elected. That pledge could prove critical for a party that is seeking to retake a majority in Congress.
MIAMI
Republican US Representative Katherine Harris lost her long-shot quest for the Senate after a gaffe-prone campaign that saw the former Florida election official shunned by her own party chieftains.
Democratic incumbent Senator Bill Nelson, who was considered vulnerable until Harris became his opponent, easily won re-election to a second six-year term, according to television network projections.
As Florida's top election official during the messy 2000 presidential vote recount, Harris won her party's gratitude and Democrats' enmity for certifying George W Bush the winner over Democrat Al Gore in Florida before the recounts were finished.
Although Harris did not concede early, Nelson was ahead by about 20 percentage points.
"Thank you for the continued privilege of public service," Nelson told supporters in his victory speech in Orlando. "We are so grateful."
Harris was elected two terms in the US House but Republican leaders considered her too polarizing for a Senate run. However, they failed to recruit a strong candidate to oppose Harris and then ran away from her as her campaign took one bizarre turn after another.
Harris was the only Republican candidate running state-wide who showed up when President Bush held a rally in Pensacola on Monday but did not get a seat on the stage with him and his brother, Gov Jeb Bush.
The Washington Post said Harris is writing a tell-all book about her treatment during the campaign.
NEW JERSEY
Democratic US Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey won election keeping an important seat in Democrats' hands as the party seeks to capture the Senate.
US television network NBC and CBSNews.com projected that Menendez beat Republican challenger Thomas Kean Jr., son of a popular former governor, who had sought to capitalize on ethics questions surrounding the incumbent Democrat.
PENNSYLVANIA
Democrat Bob Casey defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania today, capturing an important seat in the party's effort to retake control of the Senate from Republicans.
US television networks CBS and NBC projected that Casey, state treasurer and son of a popular former governor, beat Santorum, the No. 3 Republican in the Senate and one of the Democrats' biggest targets in this year's elections.
- REUTERS
