WASHINGTON, USA (AP) – Resurgent Democrats defeated a Senate ally of President George W Bush, as early returns in yesterday’s election gave them hope for winning control of Congress in elections shaped by an unpopular war in Iraq and scandal at home.

If Democrats win control, Bush faces the prospect of stalemate in the final two years of his presidency, with Democrats likely to investigate his administration and block his conservative political agenda.

Sen Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, the No 3 Republican in the Senate and one of its most conservative members, lost his seat after two terms to Bob Casey Jr, the state treasurer. Democrats need to pick up six seats now held by Republicans to take control of the Senate.

Democrats also held on to a Senate seat they were in danger of losing, with Sen Robert Menendez winning re-election in New Jersey.

They also took a step toward winning control of the House of Representatives with Democrat Brad Ellsworth defeating Rep John Hostettler in Indiana. All 435 House seats were on the ballots, and Democrats needed a gain of 15 to win control.

Democrats also elected governors in Ohio and Massachusetts for the first time in more than a decade.

Just two years after Bush was re-elected by a comfortable margin, Democrats made his low popularity the focus of their campaigns in the wake of the never-ending bloodshed in Iraq, his administration’s bungled response to Hurricane Katrina and scandals that have forced the resignations of powerful Republican lawmakers. Some Republicans tried to distance themselves from Bush and did not want him to campaign for them.