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Claiming a mandate for his conservative agenda, President Bush announced at a post-election press conference that he intends to push for changes to the Social Security and tax code systems in his second term.

Bush declined to name specifics except to say that Social Security, which he has said he wants to privatize, "will require some additional legwork." On taxes, however, he talked about considering a national sales tax–one of the most regressive forms of taxation and one that will hit middle- and low-income Americans hardest.

Bush won the election with 59,096,571 popular votes and 279 electoral votes to 55,532,981 popular votes and 252 electoral votes for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (Mass.).

In Senate races, Republicans gained four seats for a majority of 55 seats to the Democrats' 44 seats. In the 108th Congress, the GOP held 51 seats and Democrats held 48.

With the outcome of two races still undecided at Graphic Communicator press time, Republicans won 231 seats and Democrats won 201 in the House of Representatives. In the previous 108th Congress, Republicans held 229 seats and Democrats held 205 seats.

In a letter to working families, AFL-CIO Pres. John J. Sweeney said:"Contrary to the claims being made, this election was breathtakingly close. It did not give Pres. George W. Bush a 'mandate' to continue policies that have cost us good jobs, affordable health care, and retirement security."

"Bush's re-election does nothing to change our need for policies that create and keep good jobs here rather than shipping them away, strengthen retirement security instead of privatizing Social Security, and expand health coverage and lower costs rather than making drug and insurance companies even wealthier," Sweeney said.

Election analysts claimed Bush's victory over Kerry was a vote on "moral" issues, as well as Bush's and Vice President Cheney's major emphasis on the fear of terrorism.

However, Sweeney noted that, over the decades, "the union movement stands for the fundamental moral values that make America strong: quality education for our children, affordable health care for every person–not just some, an end to poverty, secure pensions, and wages that enable families to sustain the middle-class life that has fueled this nation's prosperity and strength. Union members and other working family activists don't just vote our moral values–we live them. We fight for them, day in, day out. Our commitment to economic and social justice propels us and everything we do."

The Committee for the Study of the American Electorate estimated that 120.2 million people voted on Nov. 2–15 million more than turned out in 2000 and the highest turnout in 36 years.

According to independent surveys and exit polls, union members turned out in force to support the Democratic ticket of Kerry and Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.). The AFL-CIO reported that 65 percent of union members voted for Kerry. An even larger margin–68 percent–voted for Kerry in the so-called battleground states such as Ohio where the two candidates were in tight races for a large number of electoral votes. According to the polls, union households accounted for one of four voters, totaling 27 million union household voters.

In addition, union members helped get people to the polls, handed out campaign literature, and worked phone banks to get out the vote on Nov. 2.

Sweeney said that, while "deeply disappointed that the presidential candidate we supported did not win . . . we all should be extremely proud of and energized by the work we did together."

"Fifty-five million Americans voted for good jobs, health care, retirement security, workers' freedom to join unions, real homeland security, and more," Sweeney said. "We made our voices heard, and they cannot be ignored."

GCIU Vice Pres. Lawrence Martinez, who directs legislative activities for the General Board, thanked the "thousands of GCIU members who donated their time, their talents, and their money to help candidates who support working family issues."

"This is a setback, for sure," Martinez said. "But unions and their members have never before shrunk from a challenge, and we won't back down this time, either. We will continue to fight for all of the issues that are important to our members and workers across this great nation."

One of the upsets in the Senate was the defeat of Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) by former Republican Rep. John Thune. Other new Republican senators include Johnny Isakson, who succeeds retiring Democrat Zell Miller in Georgia; Mel R. Martinez, who succeeds retiring Democrat Bob Graham in Florida; David Vitter, who succeeds Democrat John Breaux in Louisiana; Tom Coburn, who succeeds the retiring Don Nickles in Oklahoma; Richard Burr, who won the seat vacated by Edwards in North Carolina; and Jim DeMint, who success Democrat Ernest F. Hollings in South Carolina.

New Democrats in the Senate include Ken Salazar, who succeeds Republican Ben Campbell in Colorado, and Barack Obama, who succeeds Republican Peter Fitzgerald in Illinois.

The Republican gain in the House was attributed in part to the GOP's very partisan redistricting plan in Texas, where the party picked up six seats. Democrats losing races in their newly drawn districts included veterans Martin Frost and Charles Stenholm.

Two House races in Louisiana will be determined in a December runoff election.

In gubernatorial races, Democrats held onto seats in Delaware, North Carolina, and West Virginia and took New Hampshire and Montana from the GOP. Republicans held onto seats in Vermont, North Dakota, and Utah and took Indiana and Missouri from Democrats. The governor's race in Washington was still too close to call at Graphic Communicator press time.

The Washington Post reported that Democrats and Republicans have reached "near parity" in state legislatures. With some 5,800 seats involved in the election, Democrats appeared to control 19 states and Republicans 20. Ten states were divided. Nebraska's unicameral legislature calls itself nonpartisan.

Democrats took both chambers in Colorado, the Vermont House, and the senates in Oregon and Washington. Republicans took the Tennessee Senate and houses in Georgia, Indiana, and Oklahoma.

Of ballot initiatives around the nation, one of the most closely watched was Proposition 72 in California. Voters rejected 51 percent to 49 percent the state law signed by former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis that would have required employers to pay for part of employees' health insurance.