Dems All But Certain To Hold Senate After California, West Virginia, Connecticut, And Delaware Wins
Nov 2, 2010 2 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
Democrats won a key Senate seat in West Virginia as they looked to hold on the upper chamber of Congress.
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin (D) was declared the winner in his state. He overcame Republican John Raese, who at one point had held a lead in polls.
With Manchin’s win as well as victories for Democrats in Delaware and Connecticut, it will be difficult for Republicans to run the table of competitive races and win the 10 seats they need to take the Senate, which had long been seen as a difficult goal.
Like many Democrats across the country, Manchin ran as far as possible from President Obama to highlight his independence, even filming an advertisement where he put a rifle shot through a copy of the cap-and-trade bill.
Democrat Chris Coons was projected to win Vice President Joe Biden’s old Senate seat in Delaware over Tea Party-favorite Christine O’Donnell.
O’Donnell’s upset of Rep. Mike Castle (R) in Delaware’s primary dimmed GOP hopes of winning the Senate. Castle was a clear favorite against Coons, but O’Donnell entered the general election as a heavy underdog.
The major networks called Democratic Attorney General Richard Blumenthal the winner in Connecticut over Republican Linda McMahon. Blumenthal held on to retiring Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D) seat.
Republicans got off to a good start Tuesday after picking up a seat in Indiana and watching Tea Party-favorite Rand Paul win Kentucky.
Former Sen. Dan Coats beat Democratic Rep. Brad Ellsworth in Indiana to win the seat now held by Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh. Republicans also took out Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D), who saw her popularity fall during the debate over healthcare reform. Rep. John Boozman (R), who led in polls throughout the race, defeated Lincoln.
Republicans also held on to seats in Ohio and Florida, where the GOP’s Marco Rubio looks to be in for a huge win over Gov. Charlie Crist, who left the Republican Party to run for the Senate as an independent.
In Ohio, Republicans held a seat when Rob Portman was declared the winner over Democrat Lee Fisher, the state’s lieutenant governor.
For Republicans to win the Senate, they’ll have to take Senate seats in Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado, Pennsylvania, California, Washington and Nevada.
Republicans expected to win Indiana as well as North Dakota, where Gov. John Hoeven (R) won the seat being vacated by the retiring Sen. Byron Dorgan (D). They also had long expected to win Arkansas.
Another promising race for Republicans is Wisconsin, where Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold has polled behind Republican businessman Ron Johnson for weeks.
Democrats expected to win Delaware and Connecticut despite a serious campaign stumble by Blumenthal, who had suggested he’d served in Vietnam even though his military services was all stateside. Blumenthal still hung on Democratic-leaning Connecticut to defeat McMahon, a former executive with World Wrestling Entertainment whose industry might have hurt her.
The cycle began with Democrats hoping to win Senate seats in several Republican strongholds, but it became clear relatively early that Democrats would be on defense.
The best chance for Democrats to win back a seat may be Alaska, where GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s write-in candidacy against Republican Joe Miller could split the Republican vote, helping Democrat Scott McAdams to an unlikely win. The result from that race might not be known for days, and some are already expecting re-counts and legal challenges.
Paul and Portman represent different ends of the Republican Party in some ways.
While Paul had support from grassroots Republicans and defeated an establishment candidate, Democrats thought Portman, a former congressman, could be vulnerable because of his ties to the GOP establishment, specifically the Bush administration.
But Portman, who will succeed retiring Sen. George Voinovich (R), led throughout the race.
