Republicans seized the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives following the general elections Tuesday, extending their their reign in the House to eight years.

At press time, the House had the majority of the seats, leading 223 to 188, with projections saying the Republicans would retain the House. If the Republicans finish the election by gaining House seats, it would be the third time in 100 years. The other times that occurred was in 1934 with Franklin D. Roosevelt, and in 1998 with Bill Clinton, said Kyle Saunders, an NIU political science professor.

Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert, who won the 14th Congressional Representative seat, was in Aurora, Ill., Tuesday night and responded to the dominance of the Republicans in Congress.

“It’s all about hard work I think,” Hastert said. “This is such a great victory for us.”

As of Tuesday night, Saunders predicted that Republicans would gain one seat in the Senate and seven or eight in the House.

Coming into the elections, the Democrats had a one-seat majority, 50-49, in the Senate. Projections said the Republicans would come out on top 52-47, with one seat designated as “other.”

As of the final tallies, the Republicans seized control of the Senate. While the GOP has exactly half of the 100 seats, Vice President Dick Cheney acts as the tie-breaking vote.

The “balance of power,” as many media outlets have called it, may not be decided until Dec. 7, however, Saunders said.

Holding the “balance” until then is the Senate race between Mary Landrieu (D) and Suzanne Haik Terrell (R) in Louisiana.

Saunders explained that in Louisiana, the winner must have more than 50 percent of the vote. If he or she does not, then a run-off election will decide the race. At press time, Landrieu had 46 percent of the vote. The run-off would be held Dec. 7, Saunders said.

“We will not know tonight,” Saunders said Tuesday.

The Democratic Southern states have had a hand in the balance of power, as well. Over the years, the conservative South has tended to vote Republican.

“The more time passes, the more ideologies line up,” Saunders said. “There is no blurring of party lines, but Republicans are conservatives and the South is fundamentally conservative.”

These types of instances are rare, however. Of the possibilities for the balance of power, two of eight will make the Senate and House a unified government, which now appears to be the case.

“It’s very rare that it happens, especially in the last 60 years,” Saunders said.

With such a division, getting things done on the federal level, and consequently the state and local level, became harder.

For example, President Bush has tried to get his judicial appointees squared away, but because the Senate, which approves the appointments, is controlled by Democrats, few people have been selected, Saunders said.

Now that the Republicans have control of the Senate, Bush’s appointments should make it through more easily.

It is rare that the majority becomes the minority during the elections. On average, the party that controls the White House loses 15 to 20 seats because the support usually wears off as the term continues, Saunders said. For instance, in 1994, when Bill Clinton was in office, the Republican party gained 53 seats in the House.

On the state level, the Democrats will control most of the public offices, and therefore, the Illinois Senate and House and Representatives.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.