WASHINGTON — Republicans rode a wave of voter anger and frustration last night to wrest the House from Democratic control in a historic landslide — and deal a body blow to President Obama’s agenda.
With election returns confirming predictions of a rebellious electorate, House Democratic incumbents fell like dominoes across the country — including many who came to power on Obama’s coattails in his historic win just two years ago.
Republicans needed a net gain of 39 seats to regain control of the chamber, a number they easily topped last night.
Reports early this morning indicated it was a record-shattering GOP victory that would surpass the 52 seats gained in the “Newt Gingrich uprising” of 1994. But the GOP came up short of the 10 seats needed to gain control of the Senate, still trimming the Democrats’ majority by picking up at least five seats.
With returns still pouring in this morning, Republicans had seized 66 House seats, according to projections by NBC News. The magic number for control of the chamber is 218.
The results toppled Democrat Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House after four years in the top leadership job. John Boehner (R- Ohio) is likely to succeed her with a solid GOP majority.
Boehner last night called the election “a repudiation of Washington, a repudiation of big government, and a repudiation of politicians who refuse to listen to the American people.”
Among the first to go last night was longtime Indiana Rep. Baron Hill, a Democrat, who lost to Republican Todd Young, a lawyer from Bloomington in the 9th District.
Indiana Republican Larry Bucshon picked up a seat that had been held by Democrat Brad Ellsworth, who lost his Senate bid last night.
A bloodbath among Democratic incumbents followed.
In Virginia — a state that, like Indiana, Obama carried in 2008, Republican Robert Hurt knocked off first-term Rep. Tom Perriello, who backed key elements of Obama’s agenda and got a last-ditch visit by the president in the election’s final days.
“Now is our time to go to work,” Hurt told his supporters. “I’ve given it everything that I’ve got,” said Perriello.
Democratic Reps. Glenn Nye, who voted against Obama’s health plan, and Rick Boucher were also overtaken.
Many of the victims were conservative “blue dogs,” like Florida Democrat Allen Boyd, who got knocked off by Republican funeral director Steve Southerland.
Along with heavy losses among the ranks of the classes of 2006 and 2008 were several longtime Dems who fell, including Missouri Rep. Ike Skelton, the Armed Services Committee Chairman, and John Spratt, the Budget Committee chairman from South Carolina.
An angry electorate was responsible for the purge of incumbents: In exit polls, a stunning 73 percent of voters said they were either angry or dissatisfied with their government.
With only a third of the Senate up for re-election, Republicans had a harder time harnessing the voter rage there.
In Democratic-leaning Pennsylvania, conservative Rep. Pat Toomey, former president of the Club for Growth, barely beat Rep. Joe Sestak.
In a nasty Senate contest in Illinois, Rep. Mark Kirk edged out Alexi Giannoulias, snatching away Obama’s old Senate seat.
The GOP scored its first big win of the night in Kentucky, where Tea Party-backed Rand Paul defeated state Attorney General Jack Conway, after a nasty race in which one notable Conway TV ad accused Paul of worshipping “false idols.”
“We’ve come to take out government back,” Paul told his supporters.
In the night’s marquee race, in Nevada, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, survived a fierce struggle to beat back Tea Party Republican Sharron Angle.
Democrats also scored a needed win when Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal smacked down World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon, overcoming his dishonest statements about his service in Vietnam.
Another key Dem victory came when West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin held off a Republican challenge by running against his national party.
These Democratic wins left the GOP needing to prevail in every other tossup race in order to take Senate control, an unlikely prospect.
In Florida, Republican Marco Rubio cruised to victory in a three-way race over Gov. Charlie Crist, who ran as an independent, and Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek, confirming his place as a DOP rising star.
But Republican Tea Party favorite Christine O’Donnell had no such luck in Delaware’s closely watched race, losing to Chris Coons, keeping Vice President Joe Biden’s old seat in Democratic hands.
In Colorado, appointed Sen. Michael Bennet was in a tough fight against Tea Party-backed Ken Buck in a race that was too close to call from early returns.
Even before the returns came in, Obama had scheduled a news conference at the White House at 1 p.m. today to address the new political landscape.