Nowhere in the US were the Democratic victories sweeter than in the rough and tumble of California, where an astounding total of $250 million was spent by candidates seeking to capture the top offices, as well as win several ballot propositions.
If indeed the politics of "inclusion, hope and economic growth" swept the country, as the Rev Jesse Jackson put it, it was in California that the Democrats scored gains that will be especially important in the next presidential election.
The governor's race in California was won by the lieutenant-governor, Mr Gray Davis, a career politician and perennial candidate once thought to be too bland and boring for state-wide victory.
Mr Davis, whose mother nicknamed him "Gray", is a man known for taking cautious political positions, and closely monitoring popular sentiment before doing so.
A Vietnam veteran, he first came to public view in 1975 as chief-of-staff to the then governor, Mr Jerry Brown.
If Mr Brown retained a freewheeling image, Mr Davis served as his opposite. Restrained and stiff in public, he was a bachelor into his 40s. Now 55, he carefully positioned himself in this race as the moderate, contrasting his positions on abortion and access to health care with those of his conservative opponent, the Attorney-General, Mr Dan Lungren.
The governor's race in California, the most populous state, is often an important influence on the presidential election.
That the Democratic Party recaptured the governorship after 16 years of Republican Party dominance is expected to help the next Democratic candidate for president. The Vice-President, Mr Al Gore, has been a frequent visitor to the state, raising money and gathering support.
The other key race in California was the re-election campaign of Senator Barbara Boxer. One of two US senators from California, Ms Boxer is an unabashed liberal in a time of centrist politics in the US. Related to President Clinton by marriage, she was reluctant to criticise him for his conduct with Ms Monica Lewinsky.
By contrast, the other senator from the state, Ms Dianne Feinstein, was one of the first to criticise Mr Clinton. Ms Feinstein and Ms Boxer, both Democrats, are good friends and allies, but Ms Feinstein has always appealed to more moderate voters.
Although an incumbent, Ms Boxer was thought to be in serious trouble, as many polls showed her losing in the last few weeks. Making the looming defeat more painful was the relative obscurity of her opponent, the state treasurer, Mr Matt Fong.
Little known and telegenically challenged, Mr Fong nonetheless mounted a serious challenge. In a shock to Ms Boxer's supporters, he garnered support from several important newspapers in the state, including the Los Angeles Times.
One California political consultant complained that Ms Boxer had failed to tend to her core Democratic constituencies during her first term. Environmentalists, trade unions and the black community were all among the core Democratic constituencies slow to return to her.
But the last-minute revelation that Mr Fong had once contributed $50,000 to a right-wing group headed by the Rev Lou Sheldon, a vociferous opponent of gay and women's rights, galvanised support for Ms Boxer, and she won.
In California as well as in most other states, a 10 to 20 per cent gender gap also favoured Democrats. Almost across the board, more women supported the Democrats.
Mr Robert Novak, a Republican conservative commentator, said on Tuesday night that the gender gap was a serious matter that the Republican Party needed to confront.
Ms Eleanor Smeal, head of The Feminist Majority, spent election night analysing the gender gap in races across the US. She said the women's vote was a major factor in New York, where a Democrat, Mr Charles Schumer, defeated the incumbent, Mr Al d'Amato.
The shooting two weeks ago of Dr Bernard Slepian, a physician who performed abortions, was also important, Ms Smeal said.
"The killing of a doctor for performing legal abortions made women very angry. The fact that Al d'Amato opposed the right to choice became an issue."
Ms Hillary Clinton campaigned hard for Mr Schumer, spending days walking the streets of Brooklyn on his behalf.