WASHINGTON – Republicans struggled to keep control of the Senate on Tuesday night, losing seats in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island but hoping for victories in Virginia, Tennessee, Montana and Missouri to salvage their majority.
Democrats relished their wins but needed to pick up at least three more seats to gain the majority, requiring them to win nearly all of the closely contested races.
Republicans hoped that the worst outcome would be an evenly divided Senate, allowing Vice President Dick Cheney to break tie votes. With such a narrow margin, Senate Republicans could face difficult battles with the first Democratic-controlled House in a dozen years.
In every section of the country, Democrats attacked Republican incumbents for their links to President Bush, whose handling of the Iraq war proved deeply unpopular with millions of voters. The war, coupled with Republican scandals, proved lethal to at least three GOP senators, including the party’s third-ranking senator, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.
A sharp-tongued conservative and Bush loyalist, Santorum fell to Democrat Robert Casey Jr., the Pennsylvania treasurer and son of a popular ex-governor. Another two-term Republican – Mike DeWine of Ohio – was wounded by events largely beyond his control, namely a string of scandals involving Ohio Republicans. Democratic Rep. Sherrod Brown, who touted his vote against the Iraq invasion, successfully hammered DeWine on his ties to the administration.
In heavily Democratic Rhode Island, Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee stressed his independence from Bush and attacked the record of Democratic nominee Sheldon Whitehouse, a former state attorney general. But even his family’s famous name could not save Chafee this time.
Republican hopes of grabbing Democratic seats in Maryland and New Jersey stumbled as spirited and well-funded campaigns appeared to fall short in states that traditionally are not friendly GOP turf. Three-term Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, who lost the Democratic nomination to antiwar candidate Ned Lamont in August, was elected as an independent. He will caucus with the Democrats.
Democrats needed six new seats to take over the Senate, where the GOP’s 55 to 45 advantage was built largely on victories in the South two years ago. This year, many of the toughest contests were in the Northeast and in heartland areas such as Missouri.
The Democratic strategy of criticizing Bush’s war strategy – without necessarily offering an alternative – appeared to be effective, according to nationwide surveys of voters exiting polling places. Clear majorities of respondents said the Iraq war was important or extremely important to them, and most of them backed Democratic candidates.
Some Republicans caused their own problems. GOP Sen. George Allen of Virginia injured himself by publicly taunting a Democratic campaign worker who is an East Indian-American and by awkwardly handling news of his Jewish ancestry. Democrat James Webb, a former Reagan administration official, was locked in a tight battle with Allen late Tuesday night.
Missouri’s Senate race had been close for weeks, with Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill attacking first-term Sen. James Talent’s ties to Bush. McCaskill, the state auditor, campaigned feverishly in Missouri’s rural areas and small towns, where Democrats have faltered in past elections. Democrats also hoped McCaskill would benefit from a referendum on protecting stem cell research in the state, which Talent opposed.
In Montana, scandals and gaffes hurt Republican Sen. Conrad Burns last summer, and he spent the fall trying to catch Democrat Jon Tester. Burns accepted contributions from – and aided the clients of – Abramoff, the disgraced lobbyist. He also publicly criticized out-of-state firefighters who had come to Montana’s aid. Tester, president of the state Senate, said the three-term incumbent was out of touch with his constituents.
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