The Northeast proved particularly difficult for Republicans. New Hampshire voters defeated both of their GOP incumbents. Only a few weeks ago, Reps. Charles Bass and Jeb Bradley appeared headed for reelection, but their races changed almost overnight. Bass was defeated by lawyer Paul Hodes, while Bradley lost to Carol Shea-Porter, a county chairman. She won a second straight upset last night after riding opposition to the war to a surprise primary victory.

In gubernatorial races, Democrats gained seven states and now control a majority nationwide. Big prizes included New York, where Attorney General Eliot L. Spitzer won handily against weak opposition, and Ohio, where Rep. Ted Strickland swamped Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell. In Massachusetts, Clinton administration assistant attorney general Deval Patrick defeated Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, who was attempting to succeed Gov. Mitt Romney (R).

Republicans had controlled all three states for more than a decade.

Democrats picked up a Southern seat when Arkansas Attorney General Mike Beebe defeated Asa Hutchinson for the post of retiring Gov. Mike Huckabee (R). They also added to their impressive strength among governors in the Rocky Mountains when Denver prosecutor Bill Ritter defeated Rep. Bob Beauprez in Colorado.

The gubernatorial contest in Minnesota remained undecided early this morning.

A national exit poll of voters in House races, conducted by Edison/Mitofsky for the National Election Pool, showed Democrats carrying independent voters, who emerged this fall as a critically important constituency in the midterm elections, by a wide margin. Meanwhile, about 90 percent of Republicans and Democrats were supporting candidates from their own parties, but independents were siding decisively with Democrats.

The divides that have defined the nation's politics over the past two years shaped yesterday's vote, but those hostile to the Bush administration, unhappy with Congress or pessimistic about the direction of the country far outnumbered those who approve of the performance of Bush and Congress or who think the country is heading in the right direction.

Four in five voters who approve of Bush's performance were supporting Republicans in House races, while an equal number of those who disapprove of his performance were supporting Democrats. But those who disapprove of the way the president has handled his job outnumber those who approve by about three to two.

Voters cited a series of issues that were extremely important in determining their candidate preferences, according to the national exit poll. They were not asked the most important issue affecting their votes.

About four in 10 voters called corruption and scandals in government an important issue and said they were voting heavily for Democratic candidates in the House. Forty percent said that the issue of terrorism was extremely important in their vote and that they were narrowly supporting Republican House candidates.

About four in 10 also cited the economy and said they were backing Democratic House candidates by a wide margin. Iraq, which has dominated much of the fall debate, was another issue that about four in 10 called extremely important in their votes, and they were also heavily backing Democrats.

Immigration reform was an issue that Republicans counted on to help their candidates. The three in 10 who called immigration reform extremely important in determining their votes split in favor of GOP House candidates, but not by as much as Republicans may have hoped. The strongest support for Republican House candidates was from those who cited values issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.