For the Republican Party, Tuesday, Nov. 4 was a good night.

In the latest of what has become a string of reactionary elections, the GOP finally attained the goal they’ve been looking for since the election of President Barack Obama in 2008: control of the United States Senate.

Picking up eight seats — in West Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Iowa, South Dakota, Colorado, Montana and Alaska — Republicans cruised to an easy national victory, finishing a turbulent midterm season with a solid 53 seats in the upper house.

Meanwhile, Massachusetts voters chose Republican businessman Charlie Baker over Democrat Attorney General Martha Coakley for the state’s Governorship. The senate race for the seat currently held by Ed Markey, who replaced former Sen. Ted Kennedy after the latter’s passing, led to an easy win for Markey, while other state and federal offices remained overwhelmingly blue.

Wheaton College resides in the Massachusetts 4th congressional district, which also went democratic as incumbent Rep. Jospeh P. Kennedy III, D-Mass., running unopposed, kept his seat.