Nixon Wins Landslide Victory; Democrats Hold Senate, House

But in an election marked by the record ticket-splitting, the outstanding characteristic was the durability of House incumbents. Of the first 286 House races decided, only seven saw the defeat of incumbents seeking re-election and only 12 marked a clear shift of party control of the district.

There was some swapping of seats among the governors -- who have increasingly become a target of voters' wrath in recent years.

Democrats took over Republican-held governorships in Delaware and Vermont, while Republican Christopher (Kit) Bond, 33, became the first GOP executive in Missouri since 1940. Several other major races -- including those in Illinois, North Carolina, Texas and Washington -- where still undecided.

In the most-publicized gubernatorial battle, Gov. Arch A. Moore Jr. (R) of West Virginia derailed the political ambitions of Secretary of State John D. Rockefeller IV (D) with a close but clear victory.

Whatever the spotty character of the Nixon coattails, the muscle of his personal victory was impressive.

The Nixon coattails helped the Republicans pick up Senate seats in Virginia, North Carolina and New Mexico, but those gains were more than offset by Republican losses in Kentucky, Iowa, Maine and South Dakota.

Analyses from NBC and CBS computers indicated that Cleveland went to the President by 50,000 votes and that Mr. Nixon was splitting even with McGovern in such other traditional Democratic strongholds as Chicago and Philadelphia.

The network analyses showed Mr. Nixon won a majority of the votes from Catholics, blue-collar workers, union members and Italo-Americans, all of whom had been Democratic in 1968. About three-quarters of the 1968 Wallace supporters backed the President.

The network polling also indicated that first-time voters -- a main target for McGovern -- split their votes about evenly and that the President scored gains among both Jews and blacks, though they remained predominately Democratic.

Former Secretary of the Treasury John B. Connally, who headed the Democrats for Nixon organization, said the outcome "reflects the great confidence of the American people in the President . . . Senator McGovern . . really misjudged the American people. He is outside the mainstream of his party."

On the other hand, Democratic vice president candidate Sargent Shriver told party workers at the Washington Hilton, "You are the vanguard of the future."

Voting reports through the day were as mixed as the weather -- fair through much of the country but rainy in parts of the Midwest. Officials reported heavy turnouts in some cities, below average in others.