The Democrats have secured the Senate after a narrow victory in Virginia by Jim Webb over Republican George Allen. Allen was the sixth Republican incumbent senator defeated in Tuesday’s elections. This is the first time Democrats have had control of Capitol Hill since 1994, completing their landslide victory. Webb’s victory ended Republican hopes of a 50-50 split, with Vice President Cheney having tie-breaking authority.

The Associated Press count had Webb attaining 1,172,538 votes, and Allen 1,165,302 - a 7,236 vote difference in favor of Webb. An adviser to Allen, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Allen was disinclined to request a recount if the final vote spread was similar to that of election night. This result puts the Democrats 33 ahead in the house and 2 ahead in the Senate. Democratic Senator Harry Reid is now set to become Senate majority leader.

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