By arthur Weinreb
Wednesday, November 8, 2006
The Democrats picked up 26 House seats in the mid-term elections, well above the 15 they needed to hold the majority of seats for the first time in 12 years.
The Republicans now hold 49 seats in the Senate compared to the Democrats' 47, with two senators having been elected as independents. Two Senate seats, in Montana and Virginia, are too close to call and remain undecided this morning. There is speculation that the race in Virginia may not be decided until the end of the month.
In both unresolved Senate races, the Democrats currently hold the lead. In Montana, Democratic challenger John Tester leads the Republican incumbent Conrad Burns by approximately 5,000 votes. In Virginia, less than 8,000 votes separate Democratic candidate Jim Webb from incumbent Republican senator, George allen. If the Democrats' leads hold in these two races the party will have captured the six seats that they need to hold power in the United States Senate.
The number of independent members of the Senate doubled to two. Outgoing Vermont independent Jim Jeffords was replaced by socialist Bernie Sanders who has been an independent member of the House of Representatives since 1991. and in Connecticut Joe Lieberman, who lost the Democratic primary because of his support of the Iraq war, ran as an independent and easily defeated Democrat Ned Lamont by 10 points. The popularity of Lieberman in the highly liberal state saw the Republican candidate, alan Schlesinger, receive only 10 per cent of the vote.
High profile Republicans who went down to defeat included Mike DeWine (OH), Rick Santorum (Pa) and Lincoln Chafee (RI). In another closely watched race, Democrat Claire McCaskill defeated Republican Jim Talent in Missouri.
The Democrats also won 20 of the 36 gubernatorial races that were held throughout the country. The majority of governors (28) are now Democrats for the first time since 1994.
| Party | Current | Holdover | Seats Won | New |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republicans | 55 | 40 | 9 | 49 |
| Democrats | 44 | 27 | 20 | 47 |
| Independents | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| TBD | -- | -- | 2 | 2 |
| Party | Current | New |
|---|---|---|
| Republicans | 233 | 201 |
| Democrats | 201 | 234 |
| Independents | 1 | 0 |
| Party | States won |
|---|---|
| Republicans | 16 |
| Democrats | 20 |
| Independents | 0 |
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