Democrats Pick Up Another Senate Seat

CBS News Projects Challenger Jeff Merkley Will Defeat Incumbent Republican Gordon Smith In Oregon

(CBS/AP)  CBS News projects that the Democratic challenger in Oregon's Senate race, Jeff Merkley, has defeated Republican Sen. Gordon Smith.

With 75 percent of precincts reporting, Merkley had a 49 percent to 46 percent advantage, or about 40,000 votes. Previous returns had shown Smith slightly ahead, but that was before votes were counted in the state's most populous county, a liberal stronghold. (Click here for complete Oregon results)

It was one of the last Senate races to be decided. Oregon does its ballots by mail, but a flood of votes Oregonians delivered on Election Day kept election workers tallying ballots for two days.

Merkley is the speaker of the House in Oregon. Smith was a two-term incumbent and the lone Senate Republican on the Pacific Coast.

The victory means Democrats have picked up six seats in the new Senate, for a total of 57 overall when independent Sens. Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders are included. On Tuesday, Democrats also picked up at least 17 seats in the House.

However, there are three more races involving Republican incumbents yet to be decided in Alaska, Minnesota and Georgia. More on those races below:

Minnesota

A slugfest for nearly two years, Minnesota's Senate race headed into a new round as the campaigns girded for an automatic statewide recount to determine whether Republican Sen. Norm Coleman's bare lead over Democratic challenger Al Franken would stand. (Click here for complete Minnesota coverage)

Coleman declared himself the winner of Tuesday's election, but Franken said he would let the recount play out, hoping it would erase the incumbent's 438-vote lead out of nearly 2.9 million ballots. State officials said the recount wouldn't start until mid-November and would probably take weeks.

"Yesterday the voters spoke. We prevailed," Coleman said Wednesday at a news conference. He noted Franken could opt to waive the recount.

"It's up to him whether such a step is worth the tax dollars it will take to conduct," Coleman said, telling reporters he would "step back" if he were in Franken's position. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said the recount would cost 3 cents per ballot, or almost $90,000.

As of Thursday afternoon, Coleman's margin fluctuated but was at 342 votes Wednesday afternoon: Coleman had 1,211,538 votes, while Franken had 1,211,196 votes.

Dean Barkley of the Independence Party was third with 15 percent.

State law provides for automatic recounts in races decided by a half-percentage point or less.

"We won't know for a little while who won the race, but at the end of the day we will know the voice of the electorate is clearly heard," Franken said Wednesday. "This has been a long campaign, but it is going to be a little longer before we have a winner."

Alaska

If Sen. Ted Stevens prevails in his tight re-election bid, he might be able to thank his reputation for bringing home the bacon. (Click here for complete Alaska coverage)

Stevens had appeared to be trailing before Tuesday, but with nearly all precincts reporting, he held a razor-thin lead Wednesday over Democrat Mark Begich, a popular two-term Anchorage mayor.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting Wednesday, Stevens led with 48 percent of the vote, compared with 47 percent for Begich - with less than 3,500 votes separating the two.

Stevens' political future hangs in the balance with the counting of roughly 60,000 absentee ballots, as well as 9,000 early votes and questioned ballots. Those votes won't be counted for days.

Stevens was convicted last week of seven felonies for failing to disclose more than $250,000 in gifts and services from Bill Allen, a former friend and oil services company executive.

He would be the first convicted felon re-elected to the U.S. Senate. But his colleagues also could expel him, putting an end to the longest run by a Republican in the history of the Senate.

Georgia

The last seat of the new Senate will likely be determined by a runoff in Georgia, where Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss apparently came just short of winning enough votes to send him to a second term. (Click here for complete Georgia coverage)

With 99 percent of precincts reporting Wednesday, Chambliss had 49.8 percent of the vote, shy of the 50 percent plus one required under state law to avoid a runoff. The mild-mannered Democrat Jim Martin, a former Georgia legislator and once-reluctant Senate candidate, won 46.8 percent of the vote. Libertarian Allen Buckley pulled 3.4 percent.

Some absentee votes were still being counted late Wednesday. However, if the current results hold, Chambliss would face Martin on Dec. 2.

"We're prepared for a runoff. We have already hit the ground," said Chambliss, who was expected to coast to re-election in reliably GOP Georgia before the nation's economy faltered, fueling a wave of anti-incumbent frustration. Some conservatives were angered that Chambliss backed the $700 billion bailout.

Martin said he had already been in touch with Barack Obama's campaign, but there were no immediate plans for the president-elect to visit Georgia. "The runoff race begins right now," Martin said.

Click here to see the results of all Senate races on Tuesday.

[gocubs58]

Instead of fixing the ecomony Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and Schemer will destroy it, by raising taxs, new socialist programs, and capital gains tax,and CO2 Global Warming Tax, not letting us drill for oil.
Posted by MaryKaye23

-----

Yeah - Bush and Cheney have done such a fantastic job with the economy and Obama is just going to ruin all their good work. Think about it. Things can only get better.

[timothyone-2009]

The democrats won. Now lets see if they can live up to all the promised - health care for everyone - home ownership for everyone - redistribution of the wealth (most of it is gone anyway) and a chicken in every pot. They have two years before the mid-term elections. That''''s not a very long time. Better get going!!!

Posted by bob5ford at 09:11 PM : Nov 06, 2008

Health care for everyone? Like in most of the rest of the industrialized world?

A chicken in every pot? What century are you from? The world has long agreed that food and shelter are every nations'' first responsibility. Only in rich-ruled places like America do you hear people like you complain that their taxes are being used to feed and shelter others. Only the sickest of the worlds'' wealthy would even think to complain when poor children eat. Get some help you sick shlt!

[rudy654-2009]

What really didn''''t fly with the voters here in Oregon was Senator Gordon Smith''''s vote to give big oil companies a 4 billion dollar tax break.

People were struggling here, and your attention was elsewhere. And then ther was your support of the war.........

So long Smith, it''''s been swell.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by LMartinK at 10:45 PM

Gordon Smith got real nasty in his campaign adds and it went back against him, I think. Gordon Smith at first tried to sell himself as a friend to Obama, and then he did a 180 and suddenly Obama was a danger. This guy did himself no favors.

[tawpdawg111]

I just donated 25 dollars at martinforsenate.com. I only wish I had more to give.

[thelastvoter]

Congratulations to the Obama Campaign Team! As a Conservative Republican, I voted for Senator McCain. Your campaign was well organized, focused, and though you had most of the press and media with you, Senator Obama was able to handle himself with class throughout the campaign and the debates. If the Bush Administration and those Republicans in Congress had shown your discipline when it came to government spending and Conservative ideals, including oversight of the Congressional banking and finance committees when they were in charge between 2000 and 2006, this election might have turned out differently. %u201CMy Republicans%u201D, with a number of exceptions, did not deserve to be re-elected, and it was ashamed that the McCain-Palin ticket got caught in the %u201Ccrossfire%u201D, because both McCain and Palin were two decent candidates who could have helped our nation. I hope that the Obama supporters recognize that our nation is nearly %u201Cbankrupt%u201D and therefore, they should not push the president-elect to keep promises that might have to be delayed for some time. Give him time and let him lead at his own pace. Again, Congratulations to all of those Obama supporters that I gave a rough time to on this blog. It was a fun campaign.

[chasf2602]

In Minnesota, Coleman thinks a 450 vote margin out of 2.9 million votes cast does not necessitate a recount... just another example of his poor judgement!!!!

[hypnotoad72]

Most people dislike Franken because he''s a comedian and to have entertainers in office is wrong... then on another day go on to praise non-Democrat actors/entertainers who went into politics.

Odd, that.

[byeneocons]

You''re obviously not black, but you should probably spend less on the internet and maybe get some of your missing teeth replaced.

[lovegetpeace]

Posted by TheMasses10 at 06:23 PM : Nov 06, 2008

Within 4 years, all those 12 millions "...*******/****..." will be U.S. Citizens with Obama or McCain. Soon, the LEGAL Hispanics Majority will take good care of you.

[lovegetpeace]

Posted by TheMasses10 at 06:23 PM : Nov 06, 2008

Within 4 years, all those "...*******/****..." will be U.S. Citizens with Obama or McCain. The LEGAL Hispanics Majority will take good care of you soon.

[lovegetpeace]

The Republican base is getting smaller and smaller because the Anglo-Saxon Whites are disappearing without a fight. If the Republican base wishes to survive, it must change it fundamental principles such as accept Socialism.

[lovegetpeace]

According to all Exit Polls, all the uneducated Whites voted for McCain. All the Educated Whites voted for Obama.

I feel sorry for the Idiots.

[tannerbird]

If Obama does a good job you may never see another white Presedent and this will do the republican base in.

[lovegetpeace]

For the Republicans,

Before the year 2042, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Census Bureau, LEGAL Hispanics will become the Majority race because of High-Negative Birth rate among Anglo-Saxon Whites and High-Positive Birth rate among the LEGAL Hispanics in America.

Because of the Republican Party deportation of our Undocumented brothers and sisters and relatives, we will, with the help of our Black Friends and Neighbors, make the Republican Party disappear without a Fight unless you folks grant their wishes to live the American Dream just like your ancestors or you did when coming to this country.

[pargolfer301]

Monet767: "WHERE THE KKK AT"?

At Democrat Sen. Robert Byrd''s office, he''s the only elected (former) KKK member I know and he''s a Democrat.

[pargolfer301]

If Stevens is forced to step down, Palin should be fair and appoint a Democrat, maybe one of those Democrats registered by ACORN in Ohio%u2026 what was his name, oh yeah, Jive Turkey.

[lovegetpeace]

For the Republicans,

Before 2042, LEGAL Hispanics will become the Majority race because of High-Negative Birth rate among Anglo-Saxon Whites and High-Positive Birth rate among the LEGAL Hispanics in America.

Because the Republican Party been attempting to deport our Undocumented brothers and sisters and relatives, we will soon make the Republican Party disappear without a Fight unless you folks are considerate of their dreams to make it in America just like your ancestors and you did.

[mrbrill]

If there is a special election in Alaska, maybe Bristol will run. I mean, she can see Russia from her house.

I''m an Oregonian and this is great news - I''ve been waiting all my life to see this day. We''ve finally got the "economic royalist" (FDR''s term) influence, not only out of this state, but along the entire "left coast". That''s great!
Now, if the republicans want to keep a convicted felon from Alaska in their midst - that''s fine with me. If they want to keep a secessionist governor from Alaska as a leader of their party - that''s fine with me too. I hope they make a nice little home for themselves out there in the wilderness - they''re gonna be there for a while.

[norcalruss]

Posted by cdfoxtrot5 at 04:37 PM :
"Democrats Pick Up Another Senate Seat". Another reason to tell Joe Looserman to take a hike and to take away his chairmanship of any and all Senate committees. %u2026..

I%u2019ll second the motion to boot Turncoat Joe