Democrats brace for losses in U.S. midterms

Millions of Americans will cast ballots Tuesday in midterm elections expected to shake up the political landscape in Washington, D.C., and across the United States.

Voters will decideon all 435seats in the House of Representativesas well as 37 of the 100Senate seats.Voters in 37 states will also choose their governors.

"Unless the opinion polls are way off the mark and they probably are not the Republicans are headed for a big night, a big election that will see them grabbing at least a share of power on Capitol Hill," CBC's Michael Colton reported.

President Barack Obama sweptto poweron a promise of hope and change, but many Americansare discouraged byhigh unemployment and thestrugglingeconomy.

Disillusioned voters are expected to hand Republicans control of the House of Representatives. If that happens, the current Republican minority leader,John Boehner of Ohio, would likely replace Democrat Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.

"The real uncertainty is on the Senate side, where Republicans need 10 seats to gain control there," Colton said. "Most estimates have them falling a little short of that but there's still an outside chance they could win the Senate as well."

'I see nothing changing for the better.' Fred Peck, Cleveland-area voter

In the middle-class Cleveland suburb of Parma Heights, Ohio, Fred Peck, 48, explained his vote for Republicans and by extension against Obama's agenda by pointing to a 20 per cent increase in his health-care premiums and the declining value of his retirement fund.

"I see nothing changing for the better," said Peck, who works in university campus maintenance.

In Pelham, N.Y., Raymond Garofano, 66, who works in packaging for Revlon, voted a straight Democratic ticket, saying that Obama "is doing an adequate job. Nobody's perfect."

Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele said Republicans are hoping for "a fresh start with the American people."

A big Republican win could derail Obama's agenda in the last two years of his term, potentially leaving Washington in political gridlock unless Obama can find common ground with some of his fiercest critics.

The president was back at theWhite House on Monday aftera weekend of campaigning and urging people to vote.

His wife, Michelle Obama, made stops in Nevada and Pennsylvania to help Democratic senatorial and gubernatorial candidates, including a stop at a Las Vegas high school with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who faces a tough challenge in Nevada from Sharron Angle, a Tea Party favourite.

The Tea Party movement, a loose-knit group of organizations opposed to federal government influence on citizens' lives, sprang to life after Obama took the White House.

Nearly three dozen Tea Party-backed Republicans were in competitive races Tuesday. Democrats hope that the ultraconservative policies of many those candidates will prove too extreme for voters in the general election.

In Alaska,Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski is asking voters to write in her name on the ballot. She was beaten during Republican primaries by a Tea Party candidate,Joe Miller.

Close races for governorinclude Ohio, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Maine.

Billions in campaign spending

These midterm elections featured some astonishing personal spending. Unlikein Canada, U.S. candidates face no limits on how much they can spend on their own campaigns.

In the California governor's race, RepublicanMeg Whitman trailed former Democratic governor Jerry Brown in the latest opinion polls, even though Whitman former CEO of eBay spent $142 million US of her own money trying to get elected.

In Florida, Republican candidate and former hospital chain CEO Rick Scotthas spent $60 million USof his family's money trying to win that state's governorship. He is in a close fight with Democrat Alex Sink.

The Centre for Responsive Politics estimates that$4 billionhas been spent on U.S. election campaigns this year by candidates, political parties and outside special interest groups, far exceeding the $2.85 billionspent during the last midterm election year of 2006.

Voters in several states are also voting on a range of ballot measures, including a California proposalon the legalization ofsmall amounts of marijuana.

The first polls opened on the East Coast at 6 a.m. ET and the last polls in the West will close at midnight ET.