Community | November 03, 2010 | 4 comments

Obama in trouble after big losses in US mid-term elections

As expected the Republicans have seized the House of Representatives in the US mid-term elections, dealing a severe blow to President Obama's ability to pass new legislation.

The Republicans have won at least 60 seats from the Democrats in the lower house, and now have the majority of the House which means that the first ever woman Speaker, the Democrat's Nancy Pelosi, will been ousted in favour of the Republicans' first choice John Boehner.

The president phoned John Boehner last night to say he hoped to "find common ground" with him.

Speaking after his own re-election, Boehner vowed to cut spending and reduce the size of government. He said voters had sent Obama a message to "change course".

Adding to the misery for Obama, a Republican captured the president's old Senate seat in Illinois.

In the Senate Obama's Democrats narrowly retained control despite losing six seats, including some to candidates backed by the Tea Party.

The results of last night's election will make it extremely difficult for the president to pass new laws in the lower house, and while there will be much talk of compromise and reaching deals, many Tea Party supporters' main aim is to block and undo Obama's agenda.

Up for election were all 435 seats in the House (the lower chamber of Congress), 37 of the 100 seats in the Senate, governorships of 37 of the 50 states and all but four state legislatures. Final election projections suggest that the Republicans had obtained a net gain of 60 seats in the House, more than in the tumultuous 1994 mid-terms.

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