David Vitter, joined by his wife Wendy and son Jack, answers a question after winning the election on Wednesday, November 3, 2004. (Photo: Bill Haber/AP Wide World)

November 3—The presidential election seized the lion's share of our attention on Tuesday, but Americans cast ballots for Senators, Congressmen, and a number of state proposals on Election Night, too.

The Senate

Before the election, Republicans held 51 seats and a slim majority in the U.S. Senate. Democrats and a Democrat-leaning independent filled the remaining 49 seats.

Now, Republicans have a bigger majority. They picked up another three seats and knocked off the most powerful Democrat, South Dakota's Tom Daschle. In nearly every tight Senate race, the GOP won the day. Even Louisiana, which hasn't elected a Republican to the Senate in well over a century, picked Republican David Vitter for a seat.

The wider majority may help Republicans drum up support for their bills and proposals. But they're well short of the 60 seats they would need to all but ignore their opposition.

The only close election won by a Democrat was in Colorado, where Ken Salazar defeated Pete Coors. They also picked up a seat in Illinois, where Barack Obama, a powerful and eloquent speaker for whom many Democrats have high hopes, beat Alan Keyes by a very wide margin.

House and Gubernatorial Races

Republicans also gained strength in the other half of Congress, the House of Representatives. With three races still undecided, Republicans will have 231 of the 435 seats—a comfortable majority. It's a pickup of four seats.

Half of the seats in the House were up for election. U.S. Representatives serve four-year terms, compared to six-year terms for Senators.

Republicans kept a bigger share of the nation's Governors, too. Of the 11 gubernatorial races, each party won five, with the race still too close to call in Washington. Republicans hold 28 governorships; the Democrats 21.