A Democrat Senate

A Democratic Senate; Jamie Dupree; Atlanta Journal Constitution

It was a longshot for the Republicans to win back the Senate in 2010, and they fell short, mainly because of two controversial Tea Party candidates, as Democrats will stay in charge of that chamber.

 

Unable to win in West Virginia early in the evening, Republicans knew they were likely to remain in the minority, but still they made sizeable gains, which could go up even more depending on results in the Senate races in Colorado and Washington State.


The GOP won Democratic seats in Arkansas, Indiana, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Illinois - Barack Obama's old Senate seat.


But they stalled out in Nevada, as Sharron Angle was unable to defeat Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV). Reid will return for another term as Senate Majority Leader, though he won't have as many troops in his army.


Two seats remained too close to call as the sun rose this morning - one in Colorado, where Republican Ken Buck nursed a narrow lead over Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and another in Washington, where Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) was barely ahead of Republican Dino Rossi.


Also in limbo, the Alaska Senate seat, which looks like it might stay in the hands of Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Murkowski ran as a write-in candidate, and the most votes went to write-in candidates - now officials must figure out if Murkowski has enough votes to win over Tea Party Republican Joe Miller.


So, as of now, the GOP is plus 6 seats in the Senate - and could well win a seventh or eighth. It wasn't the 10 seats that some had talked about, and maybe parat of that could be laid at the choice of candidates - Sharron Angle in Nevada, Christine O'Donnell in Delaware and Linda McMahon in Connecticut. ...

Here are some other articles of interest...

US Senate 6 Dem seats fall to GOP candidates


Tea Party denies GOP Senate majority


Jewish candidates secure major wins in House, Senate


Did the Tea Party Cost Republicans the Senate?


The House/Senate split and the Tea Party paradox


Obama set to hold Senate