 Despite the state's general Republican and conservative leanings, Democrats have found success in various statewide elections, most notably in those involving South Dakota's congressional representatives in Washington.Two of the three members of the state's congressional delegation at the time were Democrats, and until his electoral defeat in 2004 Senator Tom Daschle was the Senate minority leader (and briefly its majority leader during Democratic control of the Senate in 2001-02).Opposition to the Iraq War in this isolationist state did allow Kerry to improve upon Al Gore’s performance in 2000 by two percentage points.