Democrat win splits US Senate

Cantwell: "Honoured" to have won such a close race

The US Senate will be evenly split for the first time in 120 years, after a recount in the last undecided election gave the Democrats a narrow victory in Washington state.

It means that Mr Bush will be searching for the middle ground in key areas, as few analysts believe that the administration will have a mandate - or the legislative numbers - for sweeping change.

Internet millionaire Maria Cantwell defeated her Republican rival, the incumbent senator Slade Gorton, by a margin of just 2,259 votes out of 2.4 million cast in the race for the state's second seat.

We need to move beyond the partisan bickering that has long dominated our nation's capital

Maria Cantwell

In a victory speech, Ms Cantwell said it was time to move beyond the "partisan bickering that has long dominated our nation's capital".

The Democrat's victory marks her return to politics since she lost her House of Representatives seat in 1994.

Dot.com fortune

Ms Cantwell financed her Senate campaign using $10m of her own personal wealth accumulated during the five years she spent working at the Seattle-based internet company Real Networks.

Disputes over Florida ballots are holding up the presidential election result

Her victory gives Washington state two women senators and the nation 13 women senators overall.

Mr Gorton, 72, began his political career in 1958, the year in which Ms Cantwell was born.

Throughout the campaign, the Democrat had accused him of offering "19th Century solutions to 21st Century problems".

For his part, Mr Gorton had argued that he had been loyal to Washington State, and its voters should remain loyal to him.

Both candidates had pledged that they would defend local software giant Microsoft in the Justice Department's anti-trust case against the company.

As George W Bush won the White House, the casting vote would be held by his vice-president, Dick Cheney.

The Democrats - who made four net gains in the Senate - have already made it clear they would not regard the Republicans as the majority party on this basis.

They have demanded unprecedented power-sharing arrangements, such as ensuring that Democrats and Republicans have an equal number of members on key committees.

Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the Senate Democratic leader, said recently that a 50-50 split would allow the Democrats to force deliberation on any issue they deem important.

The BBC's US affairs correspondent Jonathan Marcus says some experts fear a stalemate, while others believe that a new mood of consensus may emerge - precluding dramatic policy initiatives but at least offering the chance for more constructive dialogue between the parties.