The mood Tuesday night among local Republicans was pure disappointment.

“It hasn’t been a real good night for Republicans,” said Story County Treasurer-elect David Jamison, one of the few GOP candidates who came out on top.

Jamison beat his opponent, Kay Johnson, but Democrats were the party of choice Tuesday.

Iowa Governor-elect Tom Vilsack led the way with a come-from-behind victory over Jim Ross Lightfoot, and U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell won a second term in the House by beating state Sen. Larry McKibben.

In local contests, Democrats Dennis Parmenter and Johnie Hammond won Statehouse seats from Republicans Gentry Collins and Norm Luiken, and Stephen Holmes triumphed over Richard Vander Mey in the Story County attorney’s race.

“I like what happened tonight a lot,” Hammond said.

For the first time in her 16 years in the Legislature, Hammond will be serving with a Democratic governor, and she was jubilant about the change

“It will be just wonderful for me to work with Tom Vilsack,” she said. “Believe me, Tom Vilsack will be a wonderful governor.”

“To me, it is shocking — the margin of victory in the governor’s race and in a lot of the races around the state,” said Democratic supporter Bryan Burkhardt, Iowa State Government of the Student Body president.

Returns across Iowa indicated a high turnout, according to those celebrating at the headquarters of the Story County Democratic Party, 120 Hayward Ave.

“That helps the Democrats because, generally, Democrats don’t vote in off-years,” said party volunteer Tom Blair, a student at Des Moines Area Community College.

“This is just an exciting night for Story County,” said Jane Halliburton, who was re-elected to the county Board of Supervisors.

“I’m very anxious to start my fourth term,” she said. “I think that voters have shown new energy that will carry the state into the new millennium.”

Across the nation, Democrats did better than expected, despite some pre-election forecasts that President Bill Clinton’s troubles would hurt the party.

“I’ve heard that Democratic Senate members won in New York and Indiana, and I’m very happy about that,” said Nathan Bryant, chairman of Ames Precinct 4-3.

One very unhappy candidate was ISU alumnus Gentry Collins, who ran for the open Iowa House District 62 seat.

“Well, it’s over,” he said softly, as he accepted hugs and handshakes from well-wishers. “We knew this race would be tough.”

Collins noted that his opponent, Dennis Parmenter, will continue 24 years of Democratic dominance in the district.

“The voters weren’t ready to look at a fresh perspective,” he said. “We knew all year long it was a Democratic district, and it was an uphill fight.”

As the victorious Jamison walked by, he stopped to encourage a despondent Collins.

“Don’t put up with any crap from anybody about what you did or didn’t do,” he said. “You ran a good race.”

One Republican who did win was U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, who picked up a convincing victory over David Osterberg.

Chad Barth, the manager of Grassley’s campaign on the ISU campus, said he was “really excited” about Grassley’s re-election.

“He works really hard for Iowa, and it really shows with these vote totals,” Barth said.

Gary Titus, who lost a five-way race for the two county supervisor seats, summed up the night in one terse sentence.

“It’s obvious that the mood of the voters slanted toward the Democrats,” he said.

Reporters April Goodwin, Andy Tofilon and Carrie Tett contributed to this story.