Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - The Michigan Daily - 7A ND THE NATION SWON NEW HAMPSHIRE Senate Democrats took both of this state's House seats from Republican incumbents. Both seats were considered safe for the GOP in the campaign's final stretch. Then polls began to show 2nd District Rep. Charlie Bass's position weakening. He lost to attorney Paul Hodes. In a surprise upset, social worker and activist Carol Shea-Porter defeated Republican Rep. Jeb Bradley in New Hampshire'so1st District. servative Republican Sen. Rick' e-election to this seat by a - margin. Instead, they chose sey, a moderate Democrat. it victory i Brown Aike epublicans frustration ollar t for n Party go when half. NEW YORK 26th District Rep. Tom Reynolds, chair of the Republican congressional campaign committee, survived a scare in this Western New York district anchored by Buffalo. He defeated Democratic businessman Jack Davis. 61 RHODE ISLAND Senate One of the Senate's most moderate Republicans, Sen. Lincoln Chafee, lost his race for re- election yesterday to former state Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse by 6 percentage points. Chafee had struggled to hold on in this Democratic stronghold. In John Kerry's 2004 attempt to unseat President Bush, Rhode Island gave him his highest margin. CONNECTICUT Senate Sen. Joe Lieberman hung on to win one of the wildest races of this year's election with 50 percent of the vote. Lieberman changed his party registration to independent after he lost the Democratic primary to anti-war activist and political newcomer Ned Lamont this summer. 2nd District As of 2:30 this morning, Democrat Joseph Courtney led Republican incumbent Rep. Rob Simmons by 239 votes with 97 percent of precincts reporting. Simmons, a former CIA agent, had tried to parlay his national security credentials into a victory in this democratic district, but his prospects looked grim. 4th District One of the Democrats' biggest targets, Republican Rep. Chris Shays, defeated Westport First Selectwoman Diane Farrell for the second time. Shays hangs on to his seat in a Democratic district made up mostly of wealthy New York City suburbs. 5th District Democratic State Sen. Chris Murphy defeated 12- term veteran Rep. Nancy Johnson in a district that split its presidential vote almost evenly in 2004. A: .. 41 FLORIDA 16th District Democratic businessman Tim Mahoney narrowly won this race against state Rep. Joe Negron. But Mahoney had substantial help. Negron's name wasn't on the ballot - that of disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley was. Foley resigned after sexually explicit e-mails between him and underage pages surfaced. His resignation came too late for Republicans in this district to replace his name with Negron's on the ballot. 22nd District Voters in this Ft. Lauderdale district threw out Republican Rep. Clay Shaw, one of the most senior members of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. They elected State Sen. Ron Klein to replace him. VIRGINIA Senate One oftthe down to th Democrati victory ove Allen refus of less thar recount, b of Canvass this race'sc the Senate NORTH CAROLINA 1 District Real-estate speculator and former professional football player Heath Shuler defeated eight- term incumbent Rep. Charles Taylor to win a seat in North Carolina's 11th District. Throughout the campaign, Shuler and Taylor traded insults. Taylor tried to paint Shuler as a liberal, while Shuler called Taylor dishonest. Polls leading up to the election favored Shuler by margins between 2 and 11 percent, but Shuler pulled out an 8-percent victory. nation's closest Senate races was e wire in Virginia early this morning. c challenger James Webb declared r Republican Sen. George Allen, but ed to concede. Webb led with a margin n 1 percent. Allen will likely request a ut cannot do so until the state's Board ers convenes on Nov. 27. That means outcome, which could decide control of , may not be certain for another month. , , 1l 49 'y govern? aily News Editor U.S. SENATE (results as of 4 A.M.) gy and engi- on. Leading n. Ted Ken- posed bills e tax shel- increasethe rom $4,050 uts in work- ins loans. the new blue take on any :ially those cial conser- aymarriage hipan said. ing to touch ig that they bounter-cur- ht happen it would be ts to cobble n their own to put forth tty wide- he war," he said. There's a very vocal faction that maintains the United States never should have gone to war, a set that agreed with the war ini- tially but now wants to cut losses and a group that still sees a pos- sible victory at the end of the tun- nel. But Republicans still hold con- siderable sway on the Hill. The Senate, even if the Democrats take the majority, will be narrowly divided, and Bush could still block any legislation that might get through Congress. But the impor- tant distinction between the 109"' Congress and the 110th is that this class can force Bush to veto an unfriendly bill, Shipan said. Up until now, Bush has only vetoed one piece of legislation: a bill to give more federal funds to stem cell research in September. The wildcard issue in the new Congress will be immigration. Bush, at dramatic odds with his party over his proposed guest-worker program, could find some favor in House Democrats. But new immigration bills defi- nitely won't involve guest work- ers, Shipan said, and Democrats will "bend over backwards" to prevent passing something that could be tagged as amnesty. Still, the odd couple of a Pelosi House and a Bush White House might join forces to pass a bill that would institute various penalties or pay- ments of back taxes in exchange for a road toward American citi- zenship. Much, including the final bal- ance of the Senate, is yet to be determined. But Democrats have made inroads on Republican power, and if analysts predictions prove true, they could get a chance to have things their way for the first time in many of our politi- cal memories. " " " " O " some m 0 5, D- Bomb threat in Madison A bomb threat at a high school in Madi- son, Wisc. forced election officials there to close and relocate one polling place yesterday morning. Democrat Independent Too Close (caucus of Dems) to call DEMOCRATS CELEBRATE "I just think democracy is great." .' ic -SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-N.Y.), a likely presiden- B tial contender in 2008, declaring victory in her re- election campaign last night. Republican The one indispensable erson for this Democrat- victory was George W. ush." -Democratic pundit PAUL BEGALA on CNN last night. i A * A A