Text size:

Stevens loses Senate seat; Dems welcome Lieberman

COMBINED NEWS SERVICES

November 19, 2008

Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in Senate history, narrowly lost his re-election bid yesterday, marking the downfall of a Washington political power and Alaska icon who couldn't survive a conviction on federal corruption charges.

His defeat to Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich moves Senate Democrats closer to a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority, which remains possible after Democrats voted yesterday to let Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) keep his committee chairmanship and remain in their caucus even though he campaigned for Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain.

Senate Republicans yesterday postponed action against Stevens, a felon, until all the votes were counted in his re-election bid.

Stevens' ouster on his 85th birthday marks an abrupt realignment in Alaska politics and will alter the power structure in the Senate, where he has served since the days of the Johnson administration while holding seats on some of the most influential committees in Congress.

Yesterday's tally of just more than 24,000 absentee and other ballots gave Begich ',286, or 47.56 percent, to 143,912, or 46.76 percent, for Stevens. A recount is possible.

Lieberman won his Connecticut seat as an independent two years ago after losing the Democratic primary race because of his support for the war in Iraq. During this year's presidential race he appeared frequently with McCain at rallies and criticized Democratic candidate, now president-elect, Barack Obama.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada told reporters after a closed-door session that the party is leaving Lieberman's actions in the presidential campaign in the past.

"We are not looking back; we are looking forward," said Reid, who was re-elected majority leader in the caucus meeting. Lieberman is "part of this caucus" and will remain chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, he said.

Yesterday, Lieberman suggested some of his remarks may have been misunderstood and others were intemperate. "In the heat of the campaign, that happens to all of us and I regret that," he said.

In the Senate, Democrats now hold 58 seats, with undecided races in Minnesota and Georgia remaining.