Republicans have lock on House

WASHINGTON — Republicans are poised to renew their grip on the House on Tuesday, and Democrats' faint hopes of a Senate takeover hinge on close races in a string of Southern and Western states that favor President Bush.

In the marquee congressional campaign of the year, Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle is in a close, costly struggle for a new term in South Dakota.

Texas, where a Republican redistricting plan placed five Democratic congressmen in political jeopardy, will have an outsize influence in determining which party gains seats in the House.

In all, 34 Senate races mark the ballot, as well as all 435 House seats. Democrats must gain two seats to capture a 51-vote majority in the Senate that convenes in January. They need to pick up 12 in the House.

Overall, according to an Associated Press analysis and interviews with political strategists, the number of competitive races is relatively small — nine in the Senate, 30 or fewer in the House — after a campaign that cost the candidates, their parties and outside groups uncounted millions of dollars.

In competitive races in several states, Republicans reached for Bush's coattails and sought to tie their opponents to Kerry.

"Against tax cuts, a liberal record, a negative campaign. No wonder he supports John Kerry," said challenger Louis Gohmert's ad against four-term Democratic Rep. Max Sandlin in the president's home state of Texas.

But presidential politics aid Democrats elsewhere. In Connecticut, for example, GOP Reps. Chris Shays and Rob Simmons are struggling for new terms in a state that is safe for Kerry.

In a late-campaign bid for gains, Democratic House candidates and the party's campaign committee aired commercials in Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, North Carolina, Texas and Washington attacking Republicans for supporting a national sales tax in place of the current income tax system. "A new sales tax on milk, gas, new homes and a car, even a haircut" on top of the state levy, says one commercial, aimed at Republican Cathy McMorris in Washington.

In a few races, unscripted moments and unguarded moment have hurt, Republicans most prominently.