Democrats Seek to Solidify Control of Congress

Congressional Democrats, banking on heavy voter turnout and the coattails of the party's presidential ticket, looked to tighten their control of the House and Senate today as voters cast ballots across the nation.

Republicans appeared resigned to some losses, but hoped to win enough close races to deny the Democrats a 60-seat majority in the Senate, the threshold needed to overcome filibusters that the minority can use to block legislation.

As voters trooped to the polls, lining up before dawn in some states, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, predicted that his party would gain "a whole lot of seats" but probably not a filibuster-proof majority. His Republican counterpart, Sen. John Ensign (Nev.), said Democrats were "poised to pick up some seats." Of the Senate's 100 seats, 35 were at stake today.

Democrats were buoyed by pre-election polls showing that Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and his running mate, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), held solid leads among likely voters nationwide, as well as in key battleground states that the Republican ticket of Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin must win to have any hope of staging an upset.

In the 2006 midterm elections, the Democrats ended a long run of Republican domination by winning a clear majority in the House and a razor-thin edge in the Senate. They gained 30 House seats two years ago and picked up six Senate seats.

The Senate currently consists of 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans and two independents who have caucused with the Democrats. But one of them, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, alienated many of his former Democratic colleagues by supporting McCain's presidential campaign.