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U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) is surrounded by family members as she speaks to supporters during an election night party November 6, 2012 in St. Louis, Missouri. McCaskill defeated Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) for the Missouri U.S. senate seat.

The presidential race always gets top billing, but a third of the Senate and all members of the House were up for re-election yesterday, too. Lawmakers will be heading back to work with many of the same faces, and likely much of the same divisiveness.

Republicans maintained control of the house, but in the Senate, two key losses by Tea Party-backed candidates allowed Democrats to keep their majority.

We're joined now by David Grant, congressional correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor.