WASHINGTON – A barrage of negative ads, more than $2 billion in spending and endless campaign stops all come down to this: Americans likely will elect a Congress as divided as the one they’ve been ranting about for two years.

In Tuesday’s voting, Republicans are poised to hold the 435-seat House, with Democrats expected to gain a small handful of seats at best from roughly 60 competitive races but fall well short of the net 25 needed for the majority. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, is poised to wield the gavel again.

Senate Democrats are likely to maintain their narrow advantage as two Republican candidates’ clumsy comments about rape and abortion could cost the GOP Indiana and dampens its prospects of winning Missouri – two major roadblocks in the Republican path to the majority.