Republicans win control of Senate in voter rebuke to Obama

Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate and bolstered their majority in the House of Representatives as Americans delivered a stinging rebuke to President Barack Obama in elections Nov. 4. Obama now faces the final two years of his presidency contending with a Congress fully controlled by a party that firmly opposes his policies.

While Democrats had braced for a tough election night, their battering was beyond expectations. Republicans picked up seven seats - giving them 52 seats in the 100-member Senate and have the potential to win several more, while Democrats didn't take a single Republican seat. In the House, Republicans were on track to build their majority to record levels.

Democrats not only lost high-profile gubernatorial races in Florida and Wisconsin, where they had strong hopes of toppling Republican incumbents, they also lost in Democratic-leaning Massachusetts, Maryland and Illinois, Obama's adopted home state..

Democrats could not even beat Republican Michael Grimm, a New York congressman indicted on tax fraud and other charges who gained national fame by threatening to throw a reporter off a balcony in Congress.

The vote gives Republicans momentum heading into the 2016 presidential race, which will be the focus of American politics for the next two years. Republicans will be especially encouraged by their victories in battleground states that can sway presidential races, such as Florida, Ohio and Michigan.

Republicans had made Obama's presidency the core issue of their campaigns, even though he wasn't on the ballot. They rallied supporters against a president they see as pushing the government too deeply into American lives. They tapped into a well of discouragement at a time many Americans see the...