GOP Appears to Defeat Daschle in South Dakota
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WASHINGTON – The Republicans were on track last night to retain control of the House of Representatives and to expand their razor-thin majority in the Senate. They also appeared poised to grab a prize they have sought for years – the political head of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.
The Republicans looked set to increase their numbers in the Senate to 53 or 54 from 51, winning contests in Democratic-held North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Louisiana.
State Senator Barack Obama, a rising political star, provided some consolation for the Democrats, winning as expected the election in Illinois to replace GOP incumbent Peter Fitzgerald. Mr. Obama will be the only black among 100 senators when Congress convenes in January.
Republicans went into the election holding an advantage of 51 to 48 in the Senate, with one Democratic-leaning independent. In the House, the GOP held 227 seats and the Democrats 205, with one Democratic-leaning independent and two vacancies in Republican held seats.
The battle in South Dakota between Mr. Daschle and Republican John Thune was being waged furiously right up until polling stations in the western part of the state closed with the rivals working the phones and urging their supporters to get out the vote.
Republicans couldn’t disguise their glee last night at the prospect of unseating Mr. Daschle but the Senate Minority Leader is used to close fights and Democrats insisted that he would survive.
However, two senior Democratic senators, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Harry Reid of Nevada, were preparing for a Daschle defeat by quietly contacting colleagues to seek their support in an election to replace him as party leader in the Senate in the event of Mr. Daschle being unseated.
Mr. Daschle has long been seen as one of the Democrats most effective senators and infuriated the Bush White House with his skill at blocking the administration, from obstructing judicial nominations to derailing legislative proposals.
Senate Majority Leader Frist last night was quick to acknowledge the abilities of Mr. Daschle, saying he is a “very effective leader for the Democrats.” The White House made the three-term Mr. Daschle its prime target in the Senate and provided Mr. Thune with significant help.
The last time a Senate leader was unseated was in 1952, when Barry Goldwater of Arizona turned Senate Majority Leader Ernest McFarland out of office.
Even without Mr. Daschle, though, the Democrats would still be in a strong position to impede the Republicans in the new Senate. Without controlling 60 Senate seats the GOP will be unable to overcome filibusters.
That point was emphasized last night by the new Democratic Senator from Illinois, Mr. Obama. Despite his freshman status, Mr. Obama urged Senate Republicans to understand they had to deal with the Democrats. “They will be short of 60 votes and they must listen to the other side,” he said.
Aside from the South Dakota race, two other contests were still being closely watched last night. In Florida, former Bush administration housing secretary Mel Martinez took an early lead over Betty Castor in a race to replace the retiring Democratic incumbent Bob Graham, one of eight open Senate races nationwide.
Senator Specter won re-election in Pennsylvania with barely 50% of the vote in a multi-candidate field. Democrats had targeted him.
Rep. Johnny Isakson claimed Georgia for the Republicans, and Rep. Jim DeMint took South Carolina. Rep. Richard Burr soon followed suit in North Carolina. In each case, Democratic retirements induced ambitious lawmakers to give up safe House seats to risk a run for the Senate.
With 99% of the precincts reporting, Mr. Martinez, who was handpicked for the contest by the White House, had 3,496,771 votes, or 49%, and Ms. Castor had 3,425,429 votes, or 48%.The Florida race became ugly almost from start with both candidates running aggressively negative campaigns, even by the roughhouse standards of the Sunshine State’s politics.
Republican strategists were quietly confident that Mr. Martinez would pull off a win. The GOP was also hopeful of securing a Senate seat in Louisiana.
In the House, Republicans snatched an open Democratic seat in Kentucky in the evening with Senator Bunning defeating a celebrity candidate, the father of actor George Clooney. They also prevailed in the Louisville area of Kentucky, where four-term veteran Rep. Anne Northup overcame a determined Democratic attempt to oust her.
All but about three dozen House seats were considered locked up well in advance of yesterday’s balloting. Democrats needed to win two-thirds of the competitive contests to take a 218-seat majority and the early GOP wins in Kentucky quickly undermined Democratic hopes to taking back control.
The GOP remained confident going into Election Day that the Democrats’ bid to retake the House would be foiled by the power of incumbency and a controversial redistricting in Texas engineered by Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
The Republican victory in the House marks the first time they have held the chamber for a dozen consecutive years since the early 1930s.
But the Republicans didn’t have it all their own way in the House races. Connecticut’s moderate Republican Rep. Christopher Shays appeared as if he might lose his seat to Westport First Selectman Diane Farrell.
But the Republicans seemed likely to pick up several gains, possibly as many as a half dozen.
Last night, Mr. Dodd was making conciliatory noises. Speaking to supporters celebrating his easy reelection, he said he wanted to bridge the gap between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.
“People deserve a lot better than they’ve been getting out of the Congress,” he added.