Q&A: US mid-term elections 2006

What was at stake in the mid-terms?

At stake was control of Congress, the legislative branch of the US Government. Republicans had controlled both chambers - the House of Representatives and the Senate - since 1994, except for a brief time when Democrats held the Senate after one Senator defected the Republican party.

All 435 House of Representatives seats were at stake, while one-third of the 100 Senate seats were up for re-election.

Within hours of the polls closing, it has become clear that the Democratic Party had taken control of the House of Representatives, the larger of the two houses.

It is still unclear who will control of the Senate, with two key races (Virginia and Montana) too close to call.

The elections are called mid-terms because they come half-way through the four-year term served by the president, though the polls are in fact for Congress - the two houses of the US legislature.

This time, there were also races for 36 of the 50 state governorships, known as gubernatorial elections, and many other races for state office.

What does this mean for politics generally?

The loss of the House of Representatives to the Democratic Party will be a big blow to President George W Bush. It will be harder now for him to get legislation passed.

It also gives the Democrats the chairmanship of every committee - the power to hold hearings and the power to initiate legislation.

Congress levies federal taxes, regulates commerce at home and with foreign countries, and maintains the armed forces.

If the Democrats also take control of the Senate, they could try and reverse policy on key issues such as abortion and stem cell research.

If the Republicans win the Senate, that could result in legislative deadlock, as both houses have to pass a bill before it can become law.

Ultimately, even if the Democrats win both houses of the Congress, the president still has the power to veto legislation passed by Congress. It takes more votes - 60 in the Senate - to overturn a veto than pass legislation.

How will it affect foreign policy?

In theory, the president is still the commander-in-chief whatever the outcome of the election in Congress, and has the major role in setting US foreign policy.

However, a Democratic Congress could create political problems for the President, using its powers of investigation to highlight failures in the conduct of the war.

It could also block key appointments, such as advisors, military officials, and ambassadors.

What has happened to the Senate?

So far the Democrats have captured 4 seats from the Republicans.

But they need to win six seats to take control.

Early on Wednesday morning, Senate control was uncertain.

Virginia Democrat James Webb had an 8,000-vote advantage over Republican Senator George Allen out of more than 2 million cast.

But Virginia was facing a possible recount and possible litigation, which could go on for weeks.

Also still too close to call was the Senate race in Montana, where incumbent Conrad Burns was trailing Democratic challenger Bob Tester after allegations of corruption.

What about the state referendums that took place?

More than 200 state referendums, known as ballot initiatives, were also held on Tuesday.

The big issues were gay marriage, abortion and stem cell research.

Voters in seven states - Virginia, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Tennessee, South Dakota, Colorado and Idaho - rejected gay wedlock by limiting marriage to unions between a man and women.

In South Dakota, voters overturned a near-total ban on abortions passed by the state legislature earlier this year.

And in Missouri Democrats and liberals were claiming another victory after the passage of a state constitutional amendment enshrining the right to conduct embryonic stem cell research, despite the opposition of the Federal government to much of this research.