GOP increases control in Senate
Top Democratic Daschle loses South Dakota seat
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(CNN) -- Republican challenger John Thune beat Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, adding a South Dakota Senate seat to GOP gains in Georgia, Florida, Louisiana and the Carolinas.
Thune declared victory shortly after 4 a.m. Wednesday.
"Today the voters of South Dakota spoke and I am enormously grateful that they have given me the opportunity to serve as their next U.S. senator," the congressman said. (South Dakota results)
Daschle is the first Senate leader in 52 years to lose a re-election bid.
CNN projected Republican Rep. David Vitter as the winner outright of Louisiana's open Senate seat, becoming the first GOP senator from Louisiana since Reconstruction.
Under Louisiana's unique open primary system, all candidates, regardless of party, run against each other, with the top two vote-getters facing off in a runoff if no one wins a majority.
In Florida, meanwhile, Democrat Betty Castor, a former state school superintendent, conceded to former Bush administration Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Mel Martinez in a narrow race that had been classified as too close to call.
Castor, noting she trailed Martinez by about 76,000 votes, said, "Even if every vote is counted, we think it would be very difficult to make up the difference."
She said about 300,000 absentee votes have yet to be counted, and "my campaign essentially will step back and watch this process, monitor it, and be as positive as we can. ... There is that possibility that things could change."
Castor said she called Martinez about 10:30 a.m. to congratulate him. He is the first Cuban-American elected to the Senate.
Republicans have a net gain of at least three Senate seats. The race in Alaska remained too close to call, although the GOP candidate is leading.
If that trend holds, the new line-up in the Senate would be 55 Republicans, 44 Democrats and one independent. Check the balance of power)
The only bright spots for Democrats came in battles for open Republican seats in Illinois, where state Sen. Barack Obama, a rising Democratic star, won by a huge margin over Republican Alan Keyes, and in Colorado, where CNN has projected Democratic Attorney General Ken Salazar will defeat Republican beer magnate Pete Coors.
Tuesday was a good night for Republicans in the South, a region that has been trending Republican and where five sitting Democratic senators decided to retire this year.
In Georgia, Republican Rep. Johnny Isakson defeated Democratic Rep. Denise Majette for the seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Zell Miller, a maverick who became one of the Senate's biggest supports of President Bush.
In South Carolina, Republican Rep. Jim DeMint defeated his Democratic opponent, State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum. He will replace retiring Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, a Democrat who is bringing his 38-year Senate career to a close. (South Carolina results)
In North Carolina, Republican Rep. Richard Burr defeated former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, who was making his second bid in two years for a Senate seat from the Tar Heel State.
Burr will replace Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. John Edwards, who gave up his seat earlier this year to make a White House bid.
In Alaska, with 98 percent of the vote counted, Lisa Murkowski had 49 percent to 45 percent for former Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles, with the rest spread among minor candidates. But no call has been made in the race.
Nepotism was an issue in the Alaska campaign. Murkowski was appointed to the Senate post last year by her father, Gov. Frank Murkowski, who resigned from the Senate when he was elected governor.
The controversy made the race close, despite the fact that the heavily Republican state hasn't had a Democratic senator in 24 years.
In Oklahoma, former U.S. Rep. Tom Coburn defeated Democratic Rep. Brad Carson for the seat left open by the retirement of Senate Majority Whip Don Nickles.
In Kentucky, Republican Sen. Jim Bunning won a close race over Democrat state Sen. Dan Mongiardo, with 51 percent of the vote in a race once considered safe for the GOP.
Republicans had become concerned -- and Democrats excited -- about Bunning's seat in the later stages of the campaign, after his erratic behavior prompted the state's largest newspaper, the Louisville Courier-Journal, to question his mental fitness. After trailing badly in early returns, Bunning came from behind to win his second term.
Democrat incumbent Blanche Lincoln was CNN's projected winner in Arkansas' Senate contest.
Republicans are projected to keep their Senate seats in Kansas and Arizona, with Sens. Sam Brownback and John McCain holding on to their posts.
CNN also projected that Republican incumbent senators in Alabama, Missouri, Utah, Iowa, Idaho, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire will hold onto their seats.
Democrats are projected to successfully defend their posts in Connecticut, Maryland, Vermont and Indiana.
Democrats had to hold onto 19 seats, and then pick up two more to gain control of the Senate. CNN projects that in Vermont, incumbent Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, will keep his job.
Leahy was expected to defeat Republican Jack McMullen.
And CNN projected that in Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh will maintain his seat. (Check the balance of power)
Projected CNN winners in New York , Wisconsin, North Dakota, Nevada, California, Washington, Oregon and Hawaii are the incumbent Democratic senators.
CNN projected that Ohio's Republican incumbent Sen. George V. Voinovichwill win. His victory would represent defeat for former state senator and U.S. representative, Democrat Eric D. Fingerhut.
Copyright 2004 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
