Women and Minorities Gain Seats in Congress : Election: Year of changes also year of incumbents as new faces mostly fill spots left by retiring lawmakers.

WASHINGTON —  Women and minorities made historic gains in Senate and House races Tuesday in an election that greatly changed the face of Congress and yet returned a vast majority of incumbents to office.

More than 100 new members will be sworn in when Congress convenes in January. But most of the newcomers were elected to fill seats in which incumbents did not seek reelection. Spurred by the House banking and post office scandals and other factors, incumbents retired from Congress in record numbers this year. Although at least 20 incumbents fell to voters’ wrath on Tuesday, most Senate and House officeholders were reelected.

The diversity was shown by the victory of Carol Moseley Braun in Illinois, the first black woman senator in history and the first black in that chamber since 1979. In addition, the election of Ben Nighthorse Campbell in Colorado meant that the Senate would have its first American Indian member.

Democrats picked up one seat in the Senate from their current 57-43 majority. But Republicans, aided by redistricting and some Democrats’ personal scandals, appeared likely to gain nine seats in the House.

The number of women in the Senate apparently will jump from three to six, while the ranks of blacks and Latinos in the House, who now hold 36 seats combined, was likely to grow to more than 50.

A record 104 women ran for House seats this year and experts predicted that their numbers--28 in the current Congress--would expand by 20 or more.

“This is the first significant breakthrough for women in the history of Congress,” said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority. “We’re cracking the political glass ceiling.”

Rep. Edolphus (Ed) Towns (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, was equally thrilled. “Today’s election marks the largest single increase of African-American members of Congress since Reconstruction,” he said.

Dianne Feinstein defeated Sen. John Seymour in California, and television networks also projected Senate victories for two other Democratic women--Boxer in California and Patty Murray in Washington. Boxer’s race was quite close, however, and her victory was by no means assured.

The nation’s anti-incumbent mood was evident as voters in at least 13 states approved measures to limit the terms of their elected officials in Washington. But when it came to throwing out individual legislators, most voters chose to send a familiar face back to Congress rather than take a chance on a newcomer.

Incumbents lost 17 House races to challengers but won in 291 others. They were leading 34 still-undecided races late Tuesday night and were trailing in two.

Eight-term veteran Rep. Mary Rose Oakar (D-Ohio) was routed by Republican opponent Martin Hoke in a race that centered on her 213 overdrafts at the House bank. And in Massachusetts, Rep. Nicolas Mavroules (D-Mass.) was ousted while under indictment on corruption charges.

But others tainted by scandal held on to their seats, including Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio), the former astronaut who was involved with Charles H. Keating Jr. of the failed Lincoln Savings & Loan, and Rep. Charles Wilson (D-Tex.), whose 88 overdrafts at the House bank put him into political peril.

In the largest exodus in the last half-century, 53 members of the House and seven members of the Senate retired this year. Another 13 House members quit to run for other offices, 19 more were defeated in primaries, 10 incumbents were matched against each other because of redistricting and one lawmaker died in office.

That meant at least 91 new faces in the House next year in addition to the newcomers who toppled incumbents on Tuesday.

But to a surprising degree, both Democratic and Republican senators were able to hang on to their seats despite an electorate that seemed unhappy with incumbents.

In early returns, just three senators were defeated, including Seymour. In North Carolina, Sen. Terry Sanford (D-N.C.) was ousted by a former political ally who switched parties: conservative businessman Lauch Faircloth.

In Wisconsin, a political upstart, state Sen. Russell Feingold, defeated incumbent Republican Sen. Bob Kasten.

The dogfight in New York’s Senate race ended with the narrow reelection of Republican Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato over his challenger, New York Atty. Gen. Robert Abrams, who was weakened by a bitter primary campaign.

Several races remained too close to call as the midnight hour passed.

Although the Senate was basically unchanged, the House was expected to be a far different body next year.

Near midnight, 46 women either won or held large leads in House races while another 41 women either lost or were trailing in their contests.

More dramatically, five Southern states sent their first black representatives to Washington since the Reconstruction Era after the Civil War.

Black Democratic candidates were elected for the first time in Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, primarily because new black-majority districts were created under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Despite the changes, however, the partisan makeup of the new House apparently will not be significantly different from the current 268-166 Democratic majority. Even if the Republicans gained 20 seats in the final analysis, for example, Democrats still would have a commanding majority.

In a hard-fought Senate race in Pennsylvania, GOP Sen. Arlen Specter defeated Democrat Lynn Yeakel, who entered the race because of Specter’s harsh questioning of Anita Faye Hill when she accused then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. And in Missouri, Republican Sen. Christopher S. Bond staved off a challenge from Democrat Geri Rothman-Serot.

Southern Democrats Wyche Fowler Jr. of Georgia and Ernest F. Hollings of South Carolina--both thought to be vulnerable after voting against the use of force in the Persian Gulf--won reelection. Similarly, other Democrats once thought to be threatened easily retained their Senate seats.

In one of the nastier races this year, House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) defeated an aggressive Democratic challenger, Tony Center, who raised questions about Gingrich’s divorce and child support.

Other key House races:

Alabama: Democrat George Wallace Jr., son of the former Alabama governor who ran for President in 1968, lost to Terry Everett, a Republican newcomer to politics, in a district that has been in GOP hands for nearly 30 years.

Florida: Alcee L. Hastings, who was impeached by the House several years ago when he was a federal judge, won a House seat. He is one of three blacks who won House races in Florida.

Montana: Liberal Democrat Pat Williams defeated ultraconservative Ron Marlenee in one of five incumbent matchups this fall.

New York: Rep. Thomas J. Downey (D-N.Y.), a seven-term incumbent, lost his race to Rick A. Lazio, a Republican legislator in Suffolk County, in a major upset.

Texas: Rep. Albert G. Bustamante (D-Tex.) was ousted by GOP challenger Henry Bonilla, partly because of Bustamante’s 30 overdrafts at the House bank.

Times staff writers Michael Ross, Paul Houston, Art Pine, Robert Jackson and Edwin Chen contributed to this story.