As of press time, Republicans gained 57 seats in the House, the largest single-election increase in 70 years, according to the Associated Press. Democrats also retained at least 50 Senate seats, blocking a Republican takeover in that chamber.
In New Hampshire, Republican Kelly Ayotte defeated Rep. Paul Hodes '72, D-N.H., for New Hampshire's open Senate seat. In the 2nd congressional district, Republican nominee and former Rep. Charlie Bass '74 won the closely contested race with Democratic candidate Ann McLane Kuster '78.
Democratic incumbent Gov. John Lynch defeated Republican nominee John Stephen in the state election for governor to win an unprecedented fourth consecutive term in office.
In the gubernatorial race, nine out of 10 Democrats, about half of the independent voters and less than one-fifth of Republicans supported Lynch, according to the AP's exit poll results.
"In New Hampshire, the key voting block is undeclared voters," government professor Linda Fowler said, adding that independent voters' choices would strongly influence the gubernatorial race.
Women backed Lynch, while men were split between the two candidates, the AP reported.
"The new Democratic coalition wasn't as strong as some people predicted it was," Fowler said, adding that many women defected from the Democratic Party in the two years since the last general election.
Roughly 70 percent of voters who participated in preliminary exit polls conducted by the AP said they felt "dissatisfied" or "angry" about the current federal government, and about 75 percent of respondents supported Ayotte in the election, the AP reported.
Ayotte ran on a platform of lower taxes, reduced spending and smaller government, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Male voters strongly favored Ayotte, who led Hodes among all but the youngest voters, the AP reported. Voters who said they believe that Congress should focus on reducing the national debt also supported Ayotte.
Ayotte soundly defeated Hodes, garnering 60 percent of the vote to Hodes' 37 percent, with 89 percent of precincts reporting in by press time, according to the AP.
Young voters and minorities, who tend to favor Democrats, do not vote in high numbers in off-year elections, according to Fowler. This decreased turnout hurts Democratic candidates across the country, she added.
"The Republicans are not talking about social issues," Fowler said. "They can win on the economy, and they've got enough people who are concerned about the debt and don't like ObamaCare and don't like Obama. They don't need to be stirring up evangelicals to get energy."
Bass reclaimed the 2nd congressional district seat, which he had lost to Hodes in the 2006 midterm election, when both of New Hampshire's House seats went to Democratic candidates, the AP reported. Bass served six terms in Congress before being unseated.
Kuster conceded the race to Bass on Tuesday night, WMUR reported.
Bass led Kuster by three percentage points 49 to 46 percent with 93 percent of precincts reporting, according to the AP.
Like Ayotte, Bass also stressed his fiscally conservative beliefs throughout his campaign, calling Kuster an "activist" for outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and President Barack Obama's agendas, the AP reported.
In the state's 1st congressional district, Frank Guinta, Manchester's Republican mayor, defeated two-term incumbent Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., by a 10 percentage point margin, the AP reported.
Republican John Boehner of Ohio will likely be voted Speaker of the House after the GOP takes control of Congress in January.
Boehner promised his followers that he would cooperate with Obama as long as the president is willing to "change course" and "respect" the wishes of the people, The Wall Street Journal reported.
"But make no mistake, the president will find in our new majority the voice of the American people as they've expressed it tonight standing on principle, checking Washington's power and leading the drive for a smaller, less costly and more accountable government," Boehner said a speech Tuesday night.
Tea Party candidates around the country enjoyed mixed success.
Two closely-followed candidates Sharron Angle, who ran against Senate majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Christine O'Donnell, who opposed Democratic candidate Chris Coons for Connecticut's vacant Senate seat lost their bids. The victories of Senate candidates Rand Paul and Marco Rubio in Kentucky and Florida, respectively, helped legitimized the Tea Party movement, The New York Times reported.
"We've come to take our government back," Paul told supporters. ""They say that the U.S. Senate is the world's most deliberative body. I'm going to ask them to deliberate on this the American people are unhappy with what's going on in Washington."