Despite the lack of repetitious
TV ads and nail-biting
attack lines, the 2008 election
is not quite over yet.
Yes, we have decided on a
president. But three key
Senate races remain to be
decided.
The Democrats have
wrapped up a sizable majority
(57), but would undoubtedly
like to gain the three
more seats it would take to
reach the magic number of 60.
Once one party has 60 seats in
the Senate, the minority party
is unable to filibuster, leaving
the majority party to control
the Senate.
In Minnesota, Democratic
candidate Al Franken trails
Republican Sen. Norm
Coleman by 206 votes. This is
far less than the half of 1 percentage
point necessary to
trigger a statewide recount.
Alaska is a state that was in
the news a lot this election
season, with their governor
on the GOP presidential ticket
and their longtime GOP
Senator being convicted of a
felony. Ted Stevens, who has
been a member of the Senate
almost since Alaska became a
state, was found guilty a
week before the election of
failing to properly report
gifts, a felony. Despite this,
Alaskan voters showed their
support for Stevens, as he
trails Democratic candidate
Mark Begich by just 814
votes.
Finally, in Georgia, incumbent
GOP Sen. Saxby
Chambliss defeated former
State Rep. Jim Martin 49.9
percent to 47 percent.
However, thanks to the magic
of Georgia election law, if any
candidate doesn’t have more
than 50 percent of the vote,
there is a mandatory runoff
election between the top two
candidates no more than one
month later.
Franken, a former comedian,
wasn’t given much of a
chance when he announced
his candidacy for the Senate
seat from Minnesota in
February 2007. However, he
showed that he was more
than just a funnyman as he
defeated University of St.
Thomas professor Jack
Nelson-Pallmeyer for the
nomination.
Coleman, who
was first elected
in 2002 after his
opponent Paul
Wellstone died in
a plane crash,
was hampered by
his conservative
social stances in a
blue state.
President George
W. Bush’s unpopularity
and
President-elect
Barack Obama’s
large victory in
the state didn’t
help either. All of
these factors
translated into a
close race. In the
end, Coleman
came out with 1,211,565
votes. Franken sat just a couple
hundred back at 1,211,359
votes. With both candidates
finishing with just about 41.9
percent of the vote, a mandatory
statewide recount will be
necessary to decide the winner.
The recount will begin on
Nov. 19 and will be carried
out at 120 locations across the
state.
In Alaska, most pundits
counted Stevens out when it
was announced that he was
convicted of a felony.
Nobody thought a criminal
could win reelection just a
week after being found
guilty. But there’s a reason
that this state has sent
Stevens to Washington every
year since 1968. Despite
mounting odds, Stevens has
limited Begich’s lead to just
814 votes with 90,000 early
and absentee votes remaining
to be counted. Begich, the former
Democratic Mayor of
Anchorage, ran a good campaign
and has to be shocked
he’s even in this position
against Stevens.
Should the longtime
Senator win reelection, he
would almost immediately be
expelled from the Senate for
his crimes. A special election
would then be held to replace
him. Many experts are
already proclaiming Palin as
the frontrunner for the seat
should Stevens top Begich.
Going from losing VP nominee
to U.S. Senator is a great
way for Palin to boost her credentials
for a potential 2012
presidential run.
Finally, the most interesting
race is going on in Georgia,
where incumbent Chambliss
got more votes, but didn’t
win the election because he
didn’t receive a majority of
the votes. He and Martin will
be the only two candidates on
a special election ballot taking
place on Dec. 2. This is a
huge election because it could
mean the difference between
the Democrats getting 60
seats in the Senate or not.
Chambliss already has
plans for Sen. John McCain
and Gov. Mike Huckabee to
visit the state in support of
him prior to the election.
Martin has offered an invite
to Obama, but he has yet to
confirm an arrangement to
visit.
It’s unlikely that Martin will
be able to upend Chambliss,
given that Obama’s place on
the presidential ticket
brought out a tremendous
number of Democratic-voting
African-Americans to the
polls. They will be less likely
to vote without Obama on the
ballot. There are only three
races yet to be decided and
they could decide whether or
not the Democrats have the
60 seat supermajority they
were hoping for. With these
three tilts the sun sets on the
most expensive election in
U.S. history.
This was a year of underdogs
and a mandate on
change. Will the final three
races to be decided go with
this mantra, or will the late
breakers buck the trend?
Washington is awaiting the
answers.