A Blue Tide

IDAHO

JIM RISCH

Risch defeated four rivals to fill the seat vacated by Senator Larry Craig, who retired after getting ensnarled in a sex scandal. Risch, a Republican and former lieutenant governor, ran on a tax-cut platform but had to defend himself against charges that he had ducked the Vietnam draft.

COLORADO

MARK UDALL

Democrat Udall beat former Congressman Bob Schaffer for a vacant seat. The son of longtime Arizona Congressman Mo Udall, who mentored John McCain, he benefited from his 2002 House vote against the Iraq invasion and from his green cred, which allowed him to tar his opponent as “Big-Oil Bob.”

NEW MEXICO

TOM UDALL

He joins cousin Mark in the Senate after 10 years in the House. Udall replaces Republican budget hawk Pete Domenici, who had held the seat since 1972. The former state attorney general beat Representative Steve Pearce, who labeled himself “very conservative” in an election that wasn’t.

NEBRASKA

MIKE JOHANNS

Republican Johanns, raised on an Iowa dairy farm, was elected Nebraska’s governor in 1998. He resigned to become President Bush’s Secretary of Agriculture in 2005, then resigned that post in 2007 to run for–and win–this Senate seat, vacated by Chuck Hagel.

NORTH CAROLINA

KAY HAGAN

The target of a vicious ad that accused her of accepting funds from “godless Americans,” Hagan surged in the closing days, defeating Republican incumbent Elizabeth Dole to take a seat long held by Jesse Helms. Dole’s real sin was voting with Bush nearly 90% of the time.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

JEANNE SHAHEEN

Shaheen, the first woman elected governor of New Hampshire, in 1996, becomes the first woman elected Senator there. In a rematch of her narrow 2002 loss to John E. Sununu, Shaheen capitalized on Bush’s unpopularity and Sununu’s voting record, as the Granite State went solidly blue.

VIRGINIA

MARK WARNER

Former Virginia governor Warner convinced voters that his record as governor was stronger than that of his opponent and gubernatorial predecessor, Republican Jim Gilmore. Warner replaces Senate veteran John Warner (no relation), 81, who retired after serving for 30 years.

The House. The Democrats widen their margin [This entire article consists of a complex diagram. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]

The States. New leaders, tough questions

[This entire article consists of a complex diagram. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]