The former First Lady won by a landslide in the overwhelmingly Democratic state with almost 67 percent of the vote. Her Republican opponent, John Spencer, picked up just over 30 percent.

The focus ahead of Tuesday's vote had been not on whether Clinton would win reelection, but whether she would seek the Democratic Party's nomination for the presidency in two years.

Flanked by husband, former president Bill Clinton, she told screaming supporters in her acceptance speech at a plush New York hotel late Tuesday: "I am prepared to roll up my sleeves and get to work."

"The message couldn't be clearer: that it is time for a new course," she said, speaking as the Democrats won control of the House of Representatives from the Republicans.

"We believe in our country and we're going to take it back, starting tonight."