Senate Seat Showdowns

Connecticut CBS NEWS PROJECTS JOE LIEBERMANWINNER Democrat Ned Lamont vs. Independent Joe Lieberman (Incumbent) vs. Republican Alan Schlesinger CBS News Race Outlook: In one of the most closely watched races in the nation, Greenwich businessman Lamont upset three-term incumbent Sen. Joe Lieberman 52 percent to 48 percent in the Aug. 8 Democratic primary. The key issue for Lamont voters was the war in Iraq, which Lieberman has consistently supported. Polls had, however, shown Lamont with a larger lead, but in the closing days of the campaign Lieberman was able to cut into that advantage. Lieberman, who won the seat easily in 2000 and 1994 and retains a favorable job approval rating, announced that he would remain in the race as an Independent. Rank-and-file Democrats rallied support around Lamont, including Connecticut’s Senior Senator, Chris Dodd. Schlesinger considers himself a taxpayer watchdog and a moderate, fiscal-conservative opposed to the state income tax. He was not given much of a chance in the general election. Schlesinger pledged to spend $500,000 of his personal funds on the campaign. But he was urged by Gov. Jodi Rell and the GOP state chair to drop out of the race after the Hartford Courant reported that he gambled under an assumed name in the 1990s. Schlesinger said they were overreacting.