Dems steamroll executive, legislative branches
Patrick Comer
Sports Editor
Issue date: 11/10/08 Section: Campus News
The 2008 elections will go down as one of the highest points for Democrats in the history of the United States.
On a night where the people of the U.S.
elected their first ever minority president, the GOP lost not only the top executive seats but also suffered losses in the House and Senate.
On Tuesday, Democrats took full advantage of their opportunity to seize a greater foothold in Congress by unseating eight Republican incumbents and capturing another nine open GOP seats.
By midnight, the Democrats were looking at a possibility of a net gain of 20 seats in the House. Combined with the 30 seats they gained in the 2006 elections, the Democrats will have a 256-177 edge in the House.
Not quite enough to give Democrats a filibuster proof majority, but one great enough to push most legislation through to the President-elect Obama.
The first sign of trouble for the GOP on Tuesday was the defeat of Representative Ric Keller (R) of the Orlando District of Florida, who lost to Democratic Attorney Alan Grayson, in an increasingly Hispanic district in Orlando.
Unlike many other representatives that went down on Tuesday, his loss could be solely attributed to "R" by his name on the Ballot.
Also losing on Tuesday was Chris Shays, a 22-year representative from the state of Connecticut. The loss of his seat was very symbolic to the Democratic Party takeover of New England.
While this has been a night of great gains for the Democrats, the strangest news might be coming from the Senate race in Sarah Palin's home state of Alaska.
Ted Stevens (R) has been holding on to very slim lead in the race for his Senate seat while on trial for corruption charges.
Despite tonight's election finality, two seats will be decided in December in special elections because of postponement due to Hurricane Gustav earlier this year.•
On a night where the people of the U.S.
elected their first ever minority president, the GOP lost not only the top executive seats but also suffered losses in the House and Senate.
On Tuesday, Democrats took full advantage of their opportunity to seize a greater foothold in Congress by unseating eight Republican incumbents and capturing another nine open GOP seats.
By midnight, the Democrats were looking at a possibility of a net gain of 20 seats in the House. Combined with the 30 seats they gained in the 2006 elections, the Democrats will have a 256-177 edge in the House.
Not quite enough to give Democrats a filibuster proof majority, but one great enough to push most legislation through to the President-elect Obama.
The first sign of trouble for the GOP on Tuesday was the defeat of Representative Ric Keller (R) of the Orlando District of Florida, who lost to Democratic Attorney Alan Grayson, in an increasingly Hispanic district in Orlando.
Unlike many other representatives that went down on Tuesday, his loss could be solely attributed to "R" by his name on the Ballot.
Also losing on Tuesday was Chris Shays, a 22-year representative from the state of Connecticut. The loss of his seat was very symbolic to the Democratic Party takeover of New England.
While this has been a night of great gains for the Democrats, the strangest news might be coming from the Senate race in Sarah Palin's home state of Alaska.
Ted Stevens (R) has been holding on to very slim lead in the race for his Senate seat while on trial for corruption charges.
Despite tonight's election finality, two seats will be decided in December in special elections because of postponement due to Hurricane Gustav earlier this year.•
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