OKLAHOMA CITY -- The e-mail on state Sen. John Sparks' Blackberry was short, just four words:

"Sorry guys, I lost."

The message came from Tulsa; from state Sen. Nancy Riley, who had just been defeated in her bid for re-election. Riley, a Democrat, had switched parties two years ago, preventing the GOP from taking over the state Senate in 2006. For the past two years, the anger from Riley's former colleagues boiled.

On Tuesday, Nov. 4, it caught up with her.

Riley was hammered by her opponent, Dan Newberry, who captured 10,000 more votes to take the seat back for the GOP and give Riley a new title: former senator.

It wouldn't be the only loss Democrats would have.

About 60 miles west of Tulsa, in Stillwater, James Halligan, the former president of Oklahoma State University, outpaced his opponent, Stillwater attorney Bob Murphy Jr., (again by about 10,000 votes) to turn a previous Democratic seat to the GOP side.

Halligan's Senate District 21 seat had been held by a long line of Democrats -- including, outgoing Senate Pro Tempore Mike Morgan, former state Sen. Bernice Shedrick and Robert Murphy Sr.

In an ironic twist -- which could only be written in Oklahoma -- Shedrick defeated Murphy's father, Bob Murphy Sr., for the seat in 1978.

With two additional seats now in the Republican column, control of the state Senate -- for the first time in history -- shifted to the GOP.

And many political observers believe that shift will bring major changes in the way the Senate operates -- and in state policy.

"I expect the Senate leadership will have many different priorities from the previous administrations," said deputy state treasurer, Tim Allen. "The new leadership has been vocal about that."

Allen said he wouldn't be surprised to see more legislation on "social issues."

"Sure I expect more legislation of the social type," he said. "And we'll probably see something on tort reform."

A former member of the Senate staff himself, Allen said he also expected to see some changes in the way the Senate functions but believed lawmakers also will pay close attention to the state's -- and the nation's -- economy.