Politics | 11/05/2008 9:30 am

Women Pick Up Senate Seat, Elizabeth Dole is Defeated; NC Elects its First Female Governor

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

Women picked up one more Senate seat in this year’s elections, as the Democrats gained five seats in that chamber, and also made historic gains in the house.

The result of four key Senate races are still out, so it’s unclear whether Democrats would reach their goal of capturing 60 seats there.

As for female victories, in New Hampshire, former Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen defeated Republican incumbent John Sununu in a rematch of their 2002 contest, to bring the total number of women in the Senate to 17.

In North Carolina, incumbent Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole was upset by state Sen. Kay Hagan, a former Presbyterian Sunday School teacher who, in the waning days of the election, was attacked by Dole for taking “godless money” and was linked to an atheist group. Hagan sued.

"What we were able to accomplish in a little more than a year is a testament to how hungry people are for change," Hagan told a victory rally in Greensboro.

Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, the only serious GOP target, won her re-election over Republican state treasurer John Kennedy. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine easily won re-election as well.

Democrats will lose Obama and Sen. Joe Biden, D-DE. Democratic governors in Illinois and Delaware are sure to appoint Democrats to replace them.

House Races

In the House, Democrats took over 13 seats – including the last remaining Republican seat in New England, held by Rep. Chris Shays, R-CT, for 22 years.

"The American people have called for a new direction. They have called for change in America," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA.

Democrats unseated 12 Republican incumbents and captured nine open GOP seats, capitalizing on the 29 Republican departures. Republicans beat four Democratic incumbents.

With fewer than a dozen races undecided, AP reports, Democrats won 251 and were leading for another five. Republicans had won 171 and were leading in six. If those trends held, Democrats could have a net gain of 20 seats. And Republicans were on track for their smallest numbers since 1994.

In terms of women in the House:

-Kathy Dahlkemper, a 50-year-old mother of five, toppled GOP Rep. Phil English in a swing district of rural communities and old industrial steel towns in Pennsylvania’s northwest corner.

-Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-MN, was able to fend off a challenge by El Tinklenberg in the race for the 6th District. Bachmann appeared unbeatable until her fateful appearance on MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” during which she said Obama and his associates may have “anti-American views.” Money flooded her opponent’s coffers after that. As she declared victory, there was a sign onstage that read: "Nice try Chris Matthews.”

-In a heavily military district around Hampton Roads, VA, Rep. Thelma Drake, R-VA, lost to Democrat Glenn Nye, who had been a foreign service officer in Aghanistan and Iraq.

-In Florida, GOP Rep. Tom Feeney was beaten by former state Rep. Suzanne Kosmas.

-Democratic businesswoman Betsy Markey in Colorado unseated conservative GOP Rep. Marilyn Musgrave.

-In the Las Vegas suburbs, veteran state legislator Dina Titus beat Republican incumbent Rep. Jon Porter.

-In Illinois, the state Senate majority leader, Democrat Debbie Halvorson, won a seat formerly held by retiring GOP Rep. Jerry Weller.

-In Kansas Democratic Rep. Nancy Boyda lost her Topeka-based seat to Lynn Jenkins, the GOP state treasurer.

-New Hampshire’s Democratic Rep. Carol Shea-Porter won easy re-election.

-Former five-term Republican Rep. Anne Northup couldn’t mount a comeback in Louisville, KY, against incumbent Rep. John Yarmuth, a Democrat.

18 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Thank goodness we got Dole out of office. Now we have new blood for Washington. I’m looking for only great things for Kay. Along with everyone else, Hagan will roll up her sleeves and work for a greater America. Dole just hit way below the belt. I hope that Hagan get somewhere with the law suit she filed against Dole. It may make politicans think twice about slinging mud at each other and spreading lies.

By Joan Brown on 11/05/2008 9:38 am

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Most people around me are extremely glad Dole took a stomach punch (not my words, MSNBC’s) and is OUT. She absolutely went to the bottom of the barrel to dig up the mess she used last about Kay Hagan and the Godless Group. How could Dole have been so desperate as to use that? Anyway, I am just glad Dole got her come-uppance and that her ads will be off the air. I am also glad Kay Hagan is suing Dole about those ads.

By Murphy Mac on 11/05/2008 9:38 am

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Agreed we have to get away from such extreme campaigning! I’m glad Kay Hagan is suing…we need to sent a message loud and clear that this just can’t be tolerated any longer in any context.

By Tee Zee on 11/05/2008 9:47 am

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I used to admire Elizabeth Dole. But she, like John McCain, went to the bottom of the barrel in dirt and filth in an attempt to win. People are tired of that crap, no pun intended.

By Rita T on 11/05/2008 10:06 am

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A great day for women… so glad Dole got beaten, amazed that Bachman is still there. A few more changes I would like to see - Nancy Pelosi is a terrible Speaker, she showed no leadership during the all the war votes, I would like anyone BUT her. I also would love the see Hillary a Majority Leader.

By EKA - on 11/05/2008 11:10 am

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From N C: Goodbye Mrs. Dole , entering Hagan, a new stage, The campaign was horrible and I hope Hagan wins in court. This was hitting below the belt. Could someone who calls themselves “a good Christian” approve of such ads? Did Dole think people would actually vote for her after this slander? Well some did …..lucky for N C not enough of them.

By Jeannot Kensinger on 11/05/2008 11:40 am

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Some how that term “a good Christian” gets used at the oddest times - the serial killer, the child molester, the politician, the person who is trying to get you to believe something you know is untrue.

By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 11/05/2008 5:36 pm

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much as i, you, everyone does—-it’s as Christ said, ‘they know not what they do’. but why? i recently was contacted by The Major Physic’s forum moderator—-after ‘firing’ them—-as one more elite—-i have faithfully looked for the source of ‘Earthly-Disorder’, from aging to war, politics, madness, disease, etc., etc.—-in my 20’s i, as poets do, intuited gravity as the culprit—-yet no one, no billions$$$ have proven gravity (G) exists—- meanwhile ‘positive-entropy’ has been known for over a century—-‘the tendency of closed systems to disorder’—-termed ‘S’—-‘negative entropy’ ‘-S’ was proposed long ago, and shown in the lab a few years back. -S is the tendency to order—-and only abounds in areas of ‘low-mass’—-far from such as a planet—- if you ‘wiki’ gravity, then go to ‘anomalies’ there is the answer—-‘G’ is a myth, as the aether—-if one simply considers S as The Property of Mass, not G, you have both the explanation of how mass may warp (disorder) the space/time matrix—-but see it would extend to ‘living-systems’, as well—-people-problems solved—-i submitted 2 simple equations 1st, S=dm, d as distance, m as mass—-AND -S=d/m—-well, this really pissed ‘em off—-yet it is, has been, provable for so long—-AND Dr. E’s ‘general-relativity’ an ancient concept, BTW, is showing as many holes as Newton’s thinking—-and has NO Bearing on explaining ‘living-system-probs’—-my 1/2 century work does—- and today, out-of-the-blue, the moderator of the net’s main physic’s forum invited me back! i present, not only an explanation for General Relativity’s increasingly seen ‘errors-of reasoning’, more importantly a link beyond pure physics, AND ‘life-science’—-and why, ‘they know not what they do’. my work seems finished Sandbee—-and i’m very, very tired—-i feel you know what i mean—-in the mean time? ‘I’ll pick up my guitar and play, just like yesterday, and pray, ‘we don’t get fooled again’.—-

By gulliver fourmyle on 11/06/2008 3:03 am

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Your posts fascinate me Gul. I have to read them several times. Wish I had more education in some of your areas, because they are so much more interesting than the accounting that I did for so long. When I got into Customs work that was better. While I don’t understand all of the how, & why I sure get the “Who”.

By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 11/06/2008 10:48 am

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accounting? ughh!!!!!!!!—-‘this is your brain—-this is your brain on ‘accounting’—-as for having to read ‘stuff-of substance’ several times? same here—-my favorite ‘Who’ gig will always be ‘Woodstock’—-they all were pigged-out’ on watermellons The Dead had filled w/LSD-25—- Pete says it was their worst performance—BS—-their best—-judge for yourself—- as for explaining this Earthly mess—-done-deal. as S is The Property of mass, not mythical G—-jump six-times further on the moon? live 6X longer—-even better, ‘inter-galactic’ space if Full of both eternal energy, and -S—-there, far from any major mass, you could stick your arm in a jet’s turbine, and simply pull it back, unharmed—-live forever, be happy as hell—-sound like ‘Heaven’? yep—-but ‘assembly-required’—- hence sci-fi’s durability—-Life made us able to both ‘get-there’, build Heaven, in our distant future—-only then is Life truly immortal—-and a Never-Ending ‘Noah’s Ark’ deal—-and i suspect it’s been done—-so why or you, i here? probably as we were born in such Heaven, and owe a debt to those, back-here, at its ‘begin’—-as ‘The Ends Justify the Means, If and Only If the Ends Become the Means.’ simple ‘Cosmogony’ (not Cosmology), big difference—- i feel that’s where an invitation back to The physics-forum came from—-lit major ‘Generalist’ were not their cup of tea—-but, as you note—-i take a while to sink-in—- what’s possibly keeping me alive? i ‘discovered’ what may best be termed ‘The Vague Forces’—-they only appear where Life precedes—- that is a bit left to explain—-

By gulliver fourmyle on 11/06/2008 4:32 pm

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True, accounting does bore but it supports young mother with 3 and ex doesn’t pay support. You explanations are starting to make more sense to me, ke ep telling me things, I like to keep thinking. I wonder at times what was in my left temporal lobe - it is the part of my brain that disappeared. Hopefully I wasn’t using it anyhow. Are you rsvp’ing invitation?

By Sandbee (FB) 54 on 11/07/2008 6:54 am

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i’ve known a few CPA’s that loved it—-go figure—-when crazy mom, under the influence of amphetamines, and the original 10X more powerful than now birth-control pills, divorced crazy pop—-he just vanished—-as w/you, no child support—-and yep, even a lit major ‘Generalist/Naturalist’ may ‘whup’ the physics elite—-if they are ‘True Scientist’, ie: looking for truth vs. their next grant—-as Ms. Savant noted in ‘Parade’, credential are paper, not intelligence’—-one of those odd coincidences seeing that, as i’ve seen perhaps 2 Sundy papers in years—- now, as to my ‘accidental’ Parkinsons’, via drs’s error, (trusting and ‘kick-backs’ from Big Pharma)—or your probs—- the data on how lab mice, whose dopamine-system’ (perhaps the most important) was surgically removed, survived when given MDMA, yet the non MDMA all died, shows how ‘plastic’ the nervous system truly is, and No-Way understood—-and it gets more interesting, as Parkinsons was not only reduced to zip, MDMA was No longer required—-a Real cure! MDMA, other than cyanide or opiates something i never tried, in youth, is a stalwart Euro ‘couple’s therapy’ tool, Real LSD25 remains a staple of talk-drs.—-i can’t keep track of critical sites i’ve told others of, never use links, basic security, but if you’ve yet to google Duke U’s ‘Amphetamines and Parkinsons’? please, do so—-there you will find the facts—- since ‘drs’s error i have lasted 8 years viewing Life as the fate worse than death—-what kept me going? 25% fear, 75% Not leaving 9 children w/ a ‘suicide’ memory—-they all love me, do not trust ‘mom’—-why not leave this swamp, go back? last time i did? my ex carefully arranged my murder—-was saved by pure miracle—-she’s an infamous, ‘coyote’, tax evader, user of children as drug mules (2nd son got caught)—-but San Diego’s Hispanic’s view her as a goddess. i’d have ten-seconds to live—-capiche? keep reading my ‘physics-meets-life science’ posts—-meanwhile i await Life to finish her—-i’m no killer—-perhaps an error?

By gulliver fourmyle on 11/07/2008 7:28 pm

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I am glad Dole lost. I live in NC and those commericals were nasty. Hagan ran a clean campaign and I think people overall were upset about the nasty campaign ads by Dole. That was the discussion in the office daily. So congrats Hagan

By Ky McQueen on 11/05/2008 1:58 pm

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Elizabeth Dole - Karma’s a you-know-what, ain’t it? The fact that NC told her what’s what by voting her hateful, immature ass out of office just tickles me to death. Way to go, NC!

By Kryssi K on 11/05/2008 4:43 pm