WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 —
Democrats gained control of the Senate on Thursday, giving them a majority in both houses of Congress for the first time since 1994 and increased influence over President Bush’s policies at home and abroad, starting with the war in Iraq.
The Democrats picked up the seat they needed to capture the Senate when the Republican incumbent in Virginia,
George Allen, conceded to
Jim Webb, his Democratic challenger, completing a broad realignment of power in Washington. Including two independents who align themselves with the Democrats, Democrats will have a 51-to-49 advantage in the new Senate.
Within moments of Mr. Allen’s announcement, Democrats rallied outside the Capitol to celebrate their victory, cheering and chanting, while their leaders began planning how to proceed after a dozen years in which their only taste of power in Congress was when they controlled the Senate for a period in 2001 and 2002.
“The election’s over,” said Senator
Harry Reid of Nevada, who will be the new majority leader. “It’s time for a change.”
Mr. Bush continued adapting to the new political climate by having lunch with Representative
Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, who stands on the cusp of becoming the first woman to serve as speaker of the House. He invited Mr. Reid to join him at breakfast at the White House on Friday.
But even as he was extending courtesies to his new partners, Mr. Bush was demanding action on several contentious measures before the Republican-led Congress disbands next month. The president renominated
John R. Bolton to the post as
United Nations ambassador and asked Congress to complete work on a bill authorizing domestic surveillance by the
National Security Agency, both lightning-rod matters for Democrats.
As Washington was digesting the changed balance of power, there was a sign that the 2008 contest for the presidency had already begun. Tom Vilsack, the Democratic governor of Iowa, announced he was running for president, the first high-profile entrant in an expected parade of presidential hopefuls who will enter the race in coming months.
On the other side of the partisan ledger, the chairman of the
Republican National Committee, Ken Mehlman, a close associate of Mr. Bush’s political strategist,
Karl Rove, said he would step aside.
In Virginia, the margin separating the two Senate candidates was roughly 9,000 votes, or less than one-half of 1 percent of more than 2.3 million votes cast. Under Virginia law, Mr. Allen was entitled to request a recount at state expense, but it was clear from a preliminary review of the ballots that Mr. Allen had little hope of reversing the verdict through recounts or lawsuits.
Senior Republican officials, including a lawyer deeply involved in the 2000 Florida recount battle, counseled Mr. Allen on Wednesday to withdraw rather than fight what would ultimately be a futile battle. After deliberating a day, Mr. Allen decided not to fight.
Mr. Allen said Thursday that he did not want to subject the people of Virginia or the nation to a recount fight that could have lasted until Christmas.
“I do not wish to cause more rancor by protracted litigation that would not, in my opinion, alter the results,” Mr. Allen said, speaking on an unseasonably warm mid-autumn day in Alexandria, Va., to a crowd of staffers and supporters, some in tears. “I see no good purpose being served by continuously and needlessly expending money and causing any more personal animosity.”
He congratulated Mr. Webb on his narrow victory and made note of the favorable environment for Democrats this year. “They had the prevailing winds,” Mr. Allen said.
Mr. Webb, a novelist, Marine combat veteran and former secretary of the Navy, claimed victory 90 minutes later at a rally in Arlington.
He brandished the sand-colored combat boots he wore throughout the campaign in tribute to his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq.
“Hoo-ah,” shouted several marines in the audience as Mr. Webb started speaking, using the military cheer to show their support.
Mr. Webb, occasionally glancing at a three-by-five card of notes, said Mr. Allen and Senator
John W. Warner,
a Republican and Virginia’s senior senator, had called to congratulate him, but he then spoke bitterly of the campaign, calling on Mr. Bush to denounce slice-and-dice political tactics.
“This was a brutal campaign and in many ways an unnecessarily brutal campaign,” Mr. Webb said, “and I think it’s hurting the country.”
Mr. Webb also said that when he took his seat in the Senate he would continue to agitate for a rapid end to American military involvement in Iraq, even if it put him at odds with fellow Democrats seeking a more gradual withdrawal.
“I am walking into the Senate with the independence to represent the people who have no voice in the corridors of power and I intend to do that,” he said.
Senate Democrats celebrated their triumph at a rally on Capitol Hill on Thursday afternoon.
Senator Reid and his two top lieutenants, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the Democratic whip, and
Charles E. Schumer of New York, who ran the Senate campaign committee, appeared with flag-waving staff members.
While Mr. Reid called for bipartisanship and more openness in government, the war in Iraq was the central issue on his mind.
“We believe this country has spoken loudly and clearly,” Mr. Reid said.
When Mr. Schumer spoke, his words were punctuated by shouts of “Chuck, Chuck, Chuck.”
Also on Thursday, Senator Conrad Burns, Republican of Montana, conceded to Jon Tester, the Democratic State Senate president and an organic farmer, formally bringing to a close a race that members of both parties had declared over a day earlier.
Mr. Burns’s phone call caught Mr. Tester on his way to the barbershop to have his distinctive flattop haircut trimmed, according to The Associated Press.
The call was “very cordial, very professional,” Mr. Tester said.
Mr. Burns, a three-term senator, said in a news release, “We fought the good fight and we came up just a bit short. We’ve had a good 18 years, and I am proud of my record.”
The new Senate will have 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans and two independents,
Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernard Sanders of Vermont.
Mr. Lieberman and Mr. Sanders will caucus with the Democrats, giving the party effective control, with the right to name committee chairmen and dictate parliamentary rules.
Mr. Bush, who has practiced a muscular brand of partisan combat in the past six years, adopted a more conciliatory tone after his meeting with Ms. Pelosi and the Democratic House whip, Steny Hoyer of Maryland.
“The elections are now behind us, and the congresswoman’s party won,” Mr. Bush said as he and Vice President
Dick Cheney met with the two Democrats. “But the challenges still remain and therefore, we’re going to work together to address those challenges in a constructive way.”
Ms. Pelosi said, “We’ve made history. Now we have to make progress.”
The president met with his cabinet in the morning and said he had instructed them to provide briefings for Democratic leaders in Congress and new members.
Mr. Bush, knowing that he has only a few weeks left with Republicans in control on Capitol Hill, urged quick action on budget bills, energy legislation and a bill to admit Vietnam to the
World Trade Organization. He is to visit Vietnam this month.
But he will face considerable difficulty with other priorities he expressed on Thursday. Mr. Bush said he wanted the Senate to act before the end of the year on his nomination of
Robert M. Gates to replace
Donald H. Rumsfeld as secretary of defense and of Mr. Bolton, who is serving under a recess appointment, as the permanent representative to the United Nations.
Democrats have balked at the Bolton nomination and are not expected to change their views, although it was not clear that they would have the votes to derail his confirmation while Republicans hold the Senate.
One Republican who was defeated this week, Senator
Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, said Thursday he would vote against confirming Mr. Bolton.
Republican recrimination over the Tuesday election wipeout continued another day, with conservatives criticizing Mr. Bush for dumping Mr. Rumsfeld the day after the election and not before, when it might have won some independent votes.
“I was very disappointed,” said
Newt Gingrich, the former Republican speaker of the House.
“If the president had replaced Rumsfeld two weeks ago, the Republicans would still control the Senate and they would probably have 10 more House members. For the president to have suggested for the last two weeks that there would be no change and then change the day after the election is very disheartening.”
Wayne Semprini, chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, where two Republican members of Congress lost seats to antiwar Democrats, also said he was unhappy.
“I would have rather seen it announced a month or two months ago,” Mr. Semprini said. “It might have made a difference.”
Holli Chmela, David D. Kirkpatrick and Rachel L. Swarns contributed reporting.
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