Republicans now control both houses of Congress as they gained at least 7 seats and control of the Senate and tightened their grasp on the House.

While most experts predicted a Republican power swing, few models had such drastic gains for the party. In every competitive race, excluding New Hampshire, the Democratic senatorial candidate lost leading to big gains for Republicans.

Fresno City Council president Steve Brandau, who was elected with strong Tea Party support in 2012, said that the Republican win gives the party a bigger opportunity to block the Obama administration’s agenda.

“It’s fantastic. It’s the best news I’ve heard in a long time,” Brandau said. “I think we can look forward to blocking a lot more of Obama’s stuff, which is going to be fantastic for the country.”

California State Assemblyman Henry T. Perea (D-Fresno) said he was disappointed in the Democrats’ Senate losses.

“There are a lot of big issues that need to be settled like immigration reform, and I’m not sure that the Republican party is addressing it in a meaningful way,” he said.

Though he added, “Having said that, I have heard some very encouraging remarks from folks like Mitch McConnell. We don’t always have to be at odds.”

The Kentucky election, which pitted Republican Senate Majority Leader-elect Mitch McConnell against Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, was the first to be called in favor of Republicans. The race, seen as being one of the best chances for Democrats to deal a major blow to Republicans, saw McConnell breeze past Grimes.

Later, Republicans gained seats by taking out Democratic incumbents in West Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Colorado, South Dakota, Iowa, Virginia, with Alaska’s competitive Senate race still being too early to call as of midnight.

In Louisiana, the Senate race will go to a January run-off between the top two candidates, as none of the three people running was able to garner a majority of the vote — a race Republicans are expected to win.

Democrats were successful in staving off at least one Republican takeover in the battleground state of New Hampshire, where former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown was unsuccessful in his bid against incumbent Democrat Jeanne Shaheen.

However, Virginia, which many saw as a relatively secure state for Democrats, went down to the wire with Mark Warner (D) barely eking out an apparent victory against Ed Gillespie (R). The margin is so low, in fact, that the results may not be officially called for a few days until all provisional ballots are counted or a recount is held.

Fresno City Councilman Clint Olivier was cautiously optimistic about the big Republican gains.

“Last time my party had control of Congress, they left a lot to be desired,” he said. “I am optimistic that this time will be different.”