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41 (and maybe one more?)
Posted by Bigfoot on December 3rd, 2008
That’s the number of Senate seats which will be held by Republicans when the next Congress is seated in January. Incumbent Saxby Chambliss (R) has won the runoff against Jim Martin (D). As reported by the Washington Post:
With 97 percent of precincts reporting, Chambliss held 58 percent of the vote to Jim Martin’s 42 percent.
Senator Chambliss’ margin in the runoff was significantly higher than on November 4th.
Chambliss defeated Martin on Election Day, too, but his 49.8 percent of the vote then fell just short of the 50 percent needed under state law to avoid a runoff. Martin won 47 percent, while Libertarian Allen Buckley took 3 percent.
One main reason was a much lower turnout among black voters.
Martin appeared to suffer from a lower turnout among African Americans. Fewer than a quarter of people who cast ballots early in the runoff were black, compared with more than a third in the November vote. Black voters overwhelmingly favored Obama and Martin.
With this victory giving Republicans their 41st Senate seat, thus denying the Democrats a filibuster-proof majority, the effort to oust Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn) has become much less meaningful. Coleman won on Election Day, but by a margin so narrow as to require a recount, during which uncounted ballots have suddenly turned up. The composition of the incoming Senate, unless more votes suddenly appear and favor challenger Al Franken (D), will be 56 Democrats, 42 Republicans, and 2 independents who causus with the Democrats.
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:45 pm
This is just a little buffer that keeps the Democrats from necessarily ramrodding legislation through. But I will caution that the Dems only have to sway TWO RINOs to come over to the dark side and vote with them, a feat that will be too much too easy I’m afraid…
December 3rd, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Duncan, that is all too true. Two women from Maine come to mind.
December 5th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
We have lots of RINOS still in office. We need to fire them.