Originally published in Synapse - The UCSF student newspaper, Nov. 9, 2006. The GOP lost control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 12 years during midterm elections on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
The Democratic victory in the House, where they picked up at least 29 new seats, ensured that San Francisco's Nancy Pelosi would be the Speaker of the House in the next Congress, the first woman ever to hold that post.
Democrats stood at the brink of victory in the Senate as well. As Synapse went to press, Democrats were leading in close races in Virginia and Montana, and the party claimed victory in both races Wednesday morning. Officials were still tallying some ballots, and recounts in one or both races remain a possibility.
Meanwhile, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger defied a nationwide Democratic tide and was reelected governor of California.
Schwarzenegger won easy re-election, racking up some 60 percent of the vote against Democratic challenger Phil Angelides.
Schwarzenegger's victory bucked a Democratic trend in statehouse races, as the Democrats gained six new governorships. Democrats will control 28 governorships to 22 for the Republicans.
Turning to California propositions, voters rejected Props. 86 and 87, one seeking to tax oil companies to spark production of alternative fuels, the other aiming to expand healthcare funding through a tax hike on cigarettes.
Voters also defeated Proposition 85, which would have required physicians to notify a parent or guardian when an unmarried girl younger than 18 sought an abortion.
In other statewide races, Democrat John Garamendi was elected lieutenant governor and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown was elected state attorney general.
