Early numbers look pretty bleak for the Democrats.Washington (CNN) -- A midterm election that cost more than any other in history headed to completion Tuesday with voters overwhelmingly concerned about the economy expected to give Republicans major gains in Congress and governors' offices.
Early returns showed Republican running strongly, with Rand Paul projected by CNN to win his Senate race in Kentucky and another conservative, Dan Coats, projected to win the Senate race in Indiana.
Paul, the son of Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, had the backing of the conservative Tea Party movement.
His projected victory to claim the seat held by retiring Republican Sen. Jim Bunning showed the impact of the movement that emerged in 2009 in opposition to expanded government and the growing federal deficit.
More on the Senate races
Coats will take over the seat held by retiring Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh, giving Republicans their first pick-up of the night.
Heated campaigning continued to the last minute on Tuesday, with President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton exhorting Democrats and independents to hold off a Republican surge while GOP candidates promised to change how Washington operates.
Minute-by-minute results on CNN's Live Election Blog
While Democrats continued to offer upbeat assessments of their party's chances Tuesday, multiple senior Democratic sources said privately that they expected to lose their House majority just four years after taking control of the chamber.
One thing was giving Democrats hope during the day: Reports from key districts about high turnout and a big influx of volunteers to help get out the Democratic vote.
Still, the question that many House Democratic sources were asking was not whether they would lose the House, but by how many seats.
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The long and bitter campaign season drew more than $3.5 billion in spending, making it the most expensive nonpresidential vote ever, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group.
With about 100 of the 435 House seats at stake considered "in play," or competitive, an anti-Democratic mood is predicted to result in big Republican gains.
On the Senate side, where 37 of the 100 seats are being contested, the majority will be decided by key races in Nevada, Washington and a few other states where Democratic incumbents face strong challenges.
Republicans need to win an additional 39 seats to claim the House majority and 10 Senate seats to overtake Democrats there.
If a Republican landslide occurs, it could surpass previous major shifts in congressional voting, such as the GOP's 56-seat gain in House seats in 1946.
In addition, the rise of the conservative Tea Party movement has added a new element to the election cycle, roiling Republican races by boosting little-known and inexperienced candidates to victory over mainstream figures in GOP primaries across the country.
No matter how many of the so-called Tea Party candidates win against Democratic opponents Tuesday, the impact of the movement is expected to shift the Republican agenda to the right.
Exit polling showed voter dissatisfaction with both parties, as each received a 53 percent unfavorable rating.
The economy was rated the most important issue by 62 percent of voters, far eclipsing health care reform (19 percent), immigration (8 percent) and the war in Afghanistan (7 percent), according to the exit polling.
Most voters, 88 percent, rated economic conditions as not good or poor, and 86 percents said they were very worried or somewhat worried about the economy, the exit polling showed.
Obama's approval rating was 45 percent, while 54 percent disapproved of his presidency so far, the exit polling revealed. Those figures were similar to the ratings for his two predecessors -- George W. Bush and Clinton -- who both saw their parties lose control of the House in the first mid-term election after they took office.
In a signal that Democratic campaign messaging was reaching voters, the exit polling showed 35 percent of voters blamed the nation's economic woes on Wall Street bankers, while 29 percent blamed Bush and 24 percent blamed Obama.
Voters across the country offered a variety of reasons for their choices Tuesday.
In Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, restaurant manager and internet entrepreneur Stephen Smith, 40, went to the polls hoping "that the entrenched incumbents get booted out of office," he said.
Melissa Bacon, 24, of Sacramento, California, cast her ballot partly for the thrill of the experience, she said.
"You don't get to vote every day. It's sort of its own holiday. You research the issues, vote and then wait to see if your position was the majority. It's as exciting to me as the World Series last night," she said on the heels of the San Francisco Giants' victory.
Nadya Alvarez of Parrish, Florida, went to the polls with her son to teach him about the importance of voting.
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"My youngest is almost 2 years old, and I showed him the ballot, and he wanted to help fill in the circles," said Parrish, 28.
"It is good to teach them from an early age to be involved in the welfare of our country and that we all have rights and duties to preserve," she said.
And Susy Kosh, 37, of Dripping Springs, Texas, said she plans to wear her "I voted" sticker all day.
"Politics might not thrill me," she said. "But democracy rocks."
Unemployment -- at a rate of 9.6 percent amid a slow recovery from economic recession -- has been the dominant issue, with Republicans accusing Obama and the Democrats of pushing through expensive policies that have expanded government without solving the problem.
Obama has led Democrats in defending his record, saying that steps such as the economic stimulus bill and auto industry bailout were necessary to prevent a depression, while health care reform and Wall Street reform will lay the foundation for sustainable future growth.
On Tuesday, Obama phoned in to three high-profile radio shows and taped a message for AOL users, saying his "ability to work on behalf of middle-class families is going to be hampered if I do not have people in Congress who want to cooperate."
Clinton worked the phones on behalf of Democrats in Ohio, where first-term Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is fighting to hold on to his seat.
The former president also called in to four Ohio radio stations during a day of campaigning that will take him from New York through West Virginia and Kentucky before he ends up in Florida.
Paul, the Tea Party-backed Senate candidate in Kentucky, voiced the sentiments of many in the grass-roots, anti-establishment movement who seek change in politics as usual.
"What I'm going to work to try to change is the whole government," Paul said on CNN's "American Morning." "I think government's broken from top to bottom."
He insisted that the government needs to balance its budget, loosen regulations on business and cut waste in the defense budget.
Conservative groups and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce funded attack ads that skewered increased spending under Obama and the health care reform bill he championed, while labor unions and traditional Democratic donors warned that a GOP victory would bring back Republican deregulation and policies that caused the recession.
Observers warned that the expected Republican gains offer little chance of compromise or bipartisan approaches on major issues.
Ohio Republican Rep. John Boehner is expected to be the new House speaker if the GOP wins control of the chamber. He already has signaled little appetite to negotiate with the White House or congressional Democrats, saying last week that "this is not a time for compromise."
Boehner and other conservatives say the top priorities must be spending cuts to try to balance the budget and job creation to spur the economy. However, they also advocate extending Bush-era tax cuts for everyone at a cost of $4 trillion over the next decade.
In the Senate, legislative gridlock is likely if Republicans strengthen their current minority of 41 seats. Obama and Democrats accuse Senate Republicans of using obstruction tactics as a political tool, showing the distrust and animosity that already exists.
Democrats are also wary of a recent comment by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who told the National Journal, "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president."
The first test of a new relationship will come in mid-November, when Congress convenes a post-election lame-duck session to try to clear unfinished legislation before the newly elected Congress gathers in January. Among other issues, lawmakers must decide whether and how to extend Bush-era tax cuts.
Voters on Tuesday also will decide governors' races in 37 of the 50 states, with the outcome potentially having an influence on redistricting based on the results of the 2010 census.
Every 10 years, the states redraw House district lines to reflect population shifts. Some states gain more House seats due to population growth, while others lose seats due to declines.
In most cases, state legislatures draw the lines, and governors have the power to approve or veto the maps. Governors also can influence whether any loss or gain of seats in their state involves districts represented by Republicans or Democrats.
The list of states that will gain or lose seats is released in December. However, Election Data Services issued estimates based on preliminary census figures that indicated Texas will gain four seats; Florida will gain two; and Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington will each gain one. The estimates also indicate Ohio and New York will lose two seats, and Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey and Pennsylvania will each lose one.
But we'll have to wait and see what else the night brings.
