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The governing bodies in two Gloucester County towns that only recently came under Republican control will revert to Democratic majorities as a result of this year's general election, according to results posted Tuesday night.

Voters in West Deptford and Washington Township narrowly swung Democratic, just a few years after residents in both municipalities handed control to the GOP.

In West Deptford, the three-year Republican domination was halted as Mayor Ray Chintall and Committeeman John Keuler Jr. lost to Democratic challengers Adam Reid and James Mehaffey.

Reid and Mehaffey will join Committeewoman Denice Dicarlo, currently the sole Democrat on the governing body, and two Republicans.

Among the key points of contention between the parties is the town's finances, including a municipal debt of nearly $150 million.

At the polls Tuesday, some voters made note of the high debt burden.

"It's huge," said Kurt Deuter, 51, a registered Republican who voted for another term for Chintall and Keuler.

Michelle Love, 36 and a registered Democrat, said she and her husband had recently bought a house in town and were concerned about taxes. Love said she believed Reid and Mehaffey would work to lower the burden.

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Democrats regain power in two Glouco towns

Democrats on Wednesday morning began sorting through the wreckage of disastrous midterm elections in which losses eclipsed even their worst fears.

The scale of the defeats, taken together, was breathtaking: a Senate majority lost, more than a dozen House seats swept away, and Democrats ousted from governors mansions across the country.

The drubbing is sure to spark a round of soul-searching, as Democrats ponder whether President Obama is to blame or whether something deeper has gone wrong in the party that could threaten its chances of retaining the White House in 2016.

Finger-pointing had begun between Senate Democrats and the White House even before every race has been decided. The blame game is sure to get worse in the coming days.

The presidents approval rating is barely 40 percent, David Krone, chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told Washington Post reporters. What else more is there to say? ...He wasnt going to play well in North Carolina or Iowa or New Hampshire. Im sorry. It doesnt mean that the message was bad, but sometimes the messenger isnt good.

Democratic losses were staggering in the Senate. The hopes of party strategists that ominous final polls might have been overstating the Republican advantage proved hollow.

If anything, the reverse proved true: In Iowa, Republican Joni Ernst defeated Rep. Bruce Braley (D) by almost 9 percentage points; in Colorado, incumbent Sen. Mark Udall (D) went down to Rep. Cory Gardner (R) by about 5 percentage points. Even North Carolina, the battleground state about which Democratic strategists were most confident, fell: Sen. Kay Hagan (D) lost out to the GOPs Thom Tillis there by about 50,000 votes.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheens (D) achievement in holding off former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R) in New Hampshire was the only significant bright spot for the party. In the House, longtime incumbents, such as Reps. John Barrow (D-Ga.) and Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) were swept away by the GOP wave.

Losses in governors races which the White House had touted last week as a better barometer of a successful evening were even more shocking. Republicans prevailed in states that are normally considered solid blue, including Maryland, Massachusetts and Illinois.

According to national exit poll data, most voters said they were frustrated with Washington gridlock and with the performance of both parties, but President Obamas approval ratings were particularly dismal.

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Democrats sift through the debris

Why did so many Democrats lose on Tuesday? Here's the simplest answer: President Obama was a political dead weight for his party.

No Democratic Senate candidate performed more than nine percentage points better than Obamas approval rating in their states exit poll. This outlier over-performance was barely good enough for Sens. Mark Warner to pull off reelection in Virginia and Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire. (No one thought Warner was in any danger in Virginia. No one.) Notably, both of these candidates are personally popular and serve in states that are evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. They also each spent time as governor before being elected to the Senate.

Outperforming Obama by eightpoints was not nearly enough for Mark Pryor in Arkansas, who earned just 39 percent support. Democratic candidates in Iowa and Kentucky outperformed Obamas approval rating by five and sixpoints, only to win 44 and 41 percent support in their respective elections. In Colorado and Georgia, support for Democrats Mark Udall and Michelle Nunn only exceeded Obamas approval rating by twopoints,leaving them at 45 percent.

In the four stateswhere Obama held at least 47 percentapproval Maine, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota Democrats won three of four Senate races. In Maine, popular Republican incumbentSusan Collins won easily in a race Democrats were less focused on.

The anchor of a presidents approval rating is far from new presidential job approval has played a big part in predictive models for midterm elections. Indeed, Real Clear Politics analyst Sean Trende performed this very analysis on 2010 and 2012 Senate contests in January. He wrote:

In the 31 competitive Senate races held in 2010 and 2012, the Democratic candidate has run within five points of the presidents job approval in 23 of them (75 percent). Additionally, no Democratic candidate in a competitive race has run more than 10 points ahead of the presidents job approval (or behind it).

Its possible Obama himself is not the anchor, but his approval is more of an indicator of a states basic partisan instincts. But years of midterm election losses have shown that the president's party, and his popularity, are deeply important indicators of chances in midterm elections. This year, the weight of Obamas standing proved too much for many Democrats.

Republicans won big on Tuesday night as much as by who actually voted as who didn't. Here are the takeaways from the exit poll data. (Pamela Kirkland/The Washington Post)

Scott Clement is a survey research analyst for The Washington Post. Scott specializes in public opinion about politics, election campaigns and public policy.

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The Fix: Exit Polls: Democrats could not escape Obamas unpopularity

Bill Clinton visits UC Davis to stump for Democrats
Former President Bill Clinton made an appearance at the U.C. Davis campus today to campaign for local democrats ahead of Tuesday #39;s mid-term election. Subscri...

By: KCRA News

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Bill Clinton visits UC Davis to stump for Democrats - Video

Judicial Candidate: Hey Democrats! Spend Your Food Stamps, Don #39;t Vote on Election Day
Ron Natinsky is a Dallas Judicial Candidate who hopes Democratic voters are too busy spending food stamps then to vote on election day... This clip from the ...

By: Sam Seder

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Judicial Candidate: Hey Democrats! Spend Your Food Stamps, Don't Vote on Election Day - Video