By Andrew Gully
Republicans failed to capture the US Senate but cut deeply into the Democratic majority by picking up at least six seats in the upper chamber after bitterly fought mid-term elections
Conservatives could pick up two more spots if a pair of races deemed too close to call early Wednesday go their way.
Losing the Senate would have capped off an already miserable night for the Democrats who were routed in the House of Representatives as President Barack Obama received a stinging electoral rebuke two years into his reform quest.