Last House Race Finally Decided

While all eyes were on Florida, the composition of the House of Representatives actually remained up in the air until after the historic presidential race was finally settled.

Democrat Dianne Byrum didn’t concede defeat to Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan's 8th District congressional race until December 15 – two days after Al Gore offered his concession to the new president-elect, George W. Bush.

Byrum, a state senator, had asked for a recount after the Board of State Canvassers certified that Rogers had won the election by 160 votes out of 300,000 cast.

The recount narrowed Rogers' lead to 88 votes, according to unofficial totals. But Byrum, convinced she could not make up the margin with recounts still to come in two counties, held a news conference to say she was conceding defeat.

The contest for the mid-Michigan seat was one of the most closely watched in the country this year, as Democrats and Republicans struggled for control of the U.S. House. Rogers' victory gives Republicans a 221-211 edge, with two independents and one vacancy created by the recent death of Rep. Julian Dixon that's likely to be filled by a Democrat.

The Senate, meanwhile, is split 50-50, but the GOP will retain control because of the tie-breaking vote belonging to Vice President-elect Dick Cheney.

On Election Night, Republicans rejoiced at having held the House in the face of a withering assault by Democrats.

"House Democrats have lost their once-in-a-generation chance to win back control of the House," taunted Rep. Tom Davis, chairman of the House Republican campaign committee.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert struck a gentler note, expressing the hope that bipartisanship might flourish in the new Congress.

All 435 House seats were on the ballot, but the two sides focused their attention on 40 or so highly competitive races. The Democrats needed a net gain of seven seats to regain control of the House from the Republicans.

Republicans gained seats in Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York, but surrendered one in Oklahoma. On a night extremely kind to incumbents, three Republican lawmakers easily turned aside well-financed Democratic challengers in Kentucky.

In Washington State's 5th District, GOP incumbent George Nethercutt won a fourth term against Democrat Tom Keefe, despite abandoning the term-limit pledge that propelled him to Congress in a historic upset over House Speaker Tom Foley in 1994.

One incumbent House member was defeated - first-term Democratic Rep. Rush Holt in New Jersey, who lost his seat by fewer than 1,000 votes out of 280,000 cast.

Former University of Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne easily held an open seat for the Republicans with 82 percent of the vote - a route not unlike some that his teams administered on the gridiron.

In Oklahoma, Democrat Brad Carson claimed an open seat that Republicans had won in their 1994 Congressional landslide. The incumbent, Rep. Tom Coburn, retired fter adhering to a self-imposed limit of three terms.

Republicans also took away a seat in Pennsylvania, where a veteran Democrat opted for an ultimately unsuccessful bid for a Senate seat; and another in New York, claiming the seat held by Rep. Michael Forbes, a Republican-turned Democrat. In Virginia, the GOP also won a seat vacated by veteran Democrat Owen Pickett.

In Florida, the GOP narrowly held onto a seat vacated by a veteran Republican lawmaker who unsuccessfully sought a Senate seat.

In Silicon Valley's 15th district, Democrat Mike Honda defeated Republican Jim Cunneen, 55 percent to 42 percent, in the contest for the seat vacated by Republican Rep. Tom Campbell's run for the U.S. Senate.

Rep. Richard Gephardt, a Missouri Democrat, said he would seek another term as the Democratic Party's leader if the rank and file are "willing to have me."

After two years of frosty relations with the Republican leadership, Gephardt placed a call to Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, part of an effort to "see if we can get things on a better, more collaborative plane here."

"That's my goal and I'm going to see if we can get that done," he said.

According to national exit poll data, one in ten voters in this election split their tickets - voting for one party's candidate for the House and the other party's candidate for president. The rest of the voters chose the same party in both contests. Bush supporters were just as likely to split their votes as Gore supporters.

Exit polls also indicate that 66 percent of voters in House races believe the country is headed in the right direction, while a majority report that their family's financial situation is better today than it was four years ago. Not surprisingly then, 56 percent say the country should stay on course and only 41 percent believe it is time for a change.

In keeping with recent trends, voting in House races showed a distinct gender gap - with women favoring Democratic candidates and men favoring Republican candidates, but not enough to have significantly benefited the candidates from either party.