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Your support makes all the difference.George Bush's Republicans have been given a major vote of confidence in the US mid-term elections.
The president's party is set to increase its majority in the House of Representatives. And a string of victories mean the Republicans take control of the Senate from the Democrats.
Notable wins in state governor polls included one for Mr Bush's brother Jeb, who won a second term in Florida.
It is only the third time in a century that the president's party has gained House seats in a mid-term election — after Presidents Franklin Roosevelt in 1934 and Bill Clinton in 1998.
Republicans appeared helped by George Bush's popularity, his energetic campaigning and by the relatively low number of competitive races.
"We had a precise message we were able to take to our districts around the country," said Rep. Tom Davis, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Democrats had needed a net gain of seven seats to reclaim the control they lost in 1994, but they failed in several high-profile challenges to Republicans and lost some of their own incumbents as well.
In a closely watched Kentucky contest, three-term Republican Rep. Anne Northup defeated Democrat Jack Conway. Republican Jeb Bradley defeated Democrat Martha Fuller Clark for an open New Hampshire seat that had been Republican.
Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito won a second term in West Virginia, defeating Democratic challenger Jim Humphreys, a wealthy lawyer, in what was one of the most expensive congressional race in the country, with $9 million raised and spent.
Republicans won three of four races that featured incumbents running against other incumbents — the result of a redistricting to reflect population changes.
Democrats became less and less optimistic of making gains as the evening wore on and it even appeared likely that Republicans would gain a few seats. "Everyone here is accepting the fact that the House will stay Republican," said Robert Weiner, a former Clinton administration official who spoke with reporters at the Democratic National Committee headquarters.
Meanwhile, in a victory that was not a suprise, Katherine Harris, former Florida secretary of state and a Republican heroine for her role in the 2000 presidential election, coasted to election for a House seat in Florida representing the Sarasota area. President George W. Bush called Harris and Northup to congratulate them and other winning Republicans.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Minority Leader Dick Gephardt coasted to easy re-election.
Republicans were counting on Bush's popularity to help them keep the House, and he campaigned hard for House candidates in the closing days. Democrats had hoped history would repeat itself and inflict midterm losses on the president's party.
While the president's party traditionally loses seats in mid-term elections, Democrats had to buck another national trend after picking up seats in three previous congressional elections — in 1996, 1998 and 2000. No party has gained seats in four successive elections since the 1930s.
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