Holdover U.S. Senators

Same deal on potential running mates, Presidents, and Presidential appointees...

AL- Richard Shelby- R
AK- Lisa Murkowski- R
AZ- John McCain- R
AZ- Jon Kyl- R
AR- Blanche Lincoln- D
CA- Dianne Feinstein- D
CA- Barbara Boxer- D
CO- Ken Salazar- D
CT- Chris Dodd- D
CT- Joe Lieberman I (D)
DE- Tom Carper- D
FL- Bill Nelson- D
FL- Mel Martinez- R
GA- Johnny Isakson- R
HI- Daniel Inouye- D
HI- Daniel Akaka- D
ID- Michael Crapo- R
IL- Barack Obama- D
IN- Richard Lugar- R
IN- Evan Bayh- D
IA- Charles Grassley- R
KS- Sam Brownback- R
KY- Jim Bunning- R
LA- David Vitter- R
ME- Olympia Snowe- R
MD- Barbara Mikulski- D
MD- Ben Cardin- D
MA- Ted Kennedy- D
MI- Debbie Stabenow- D
MN- Amy Klobuchar- D
MO- Christopher Bond- R
MO- Claire McCaskill- D
MT- Jon Tester- D
NE- Ben Nelson- D
NV- Harry Reid- D
NV- John Ensign- R
NH- Judd Gregg- R
NJ- Bob Menendez- D
NM- Jeff Bingaman- D
NY- Charles Schumer- D
NY- Hillary Clinton- D
NC- Richard Burr- R
ND- Kent Conrad- D
ND- Byron Dorgan- D
OH- George Voinovich- R
OH- Sherrod Brown- D
OK- Tom Coburn- R
OR- Ron Wyden- D
PA- Arlen Specter- R
PA- Bob Casey- D
RI- Sheldon Whitehouse- D
SC- Jim DeMint- R
SD- John Thune- R
TN- Bob Corker- R
TX- Kay Bailey Hutchison- R
UT- Orrin Hatch- R
UT- Robert Bennett- R
VT- Pat Leahy- D
VT- Bernie Sanders- I (D)
VA- Jim Webb- D
WA- Patty Murray- D
WA- Maria Cantwell- D
WV- Robert Byrd- D
WI- Herb Kohl- D
WI- Russ Feingold- D

39 Democrats
26 Republicans

Now, an important note. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, the Democrat Party's 2000 Vice Presidential nominee was reelected in 2006 as an Independent but has continued to caucus with the Democrats and has in fact been (along with all other members of that party caucus) the deciding factor for the Democrats holding the Senate majority the last two years.

As of next year, I would bet very heavily that the Senate seat he now holds will be one that has someone conferencing with the Republicans instead. Since Lieberman supports the Presidential campaign of Republican John McCain, there is said to be a move afoot to throw him out of the party caucus and strip him of his committee chairmanship in the next conference. Many Democrats feel especially keen to do this, since the party is expected to gain Senate seats this year and thus his vote would not be needed. So, if the Democrats formally kick Lieberman out, whether he would formally join the GOP or simply align with them as an Independent would lead to a turnover in that seat.

However, if John McCain is elected President, I really expect that Lieberman will leave the Senate to accept an appointment to some post, such as Secretary of State. If that happens, Connecticut's GOP Governor would name an appointment who would take over the seat, and that would almost certainly be a Republican.

But since none of this has yet to formally occur (one way or another), I have no choice but to keep the Lieberman seat as one that will be a holdover Democrat one in 2009. For those who plan to follow this feature and will be keeping an eye on the running balance of power tally, it might not be the worst idea to automatically subtract one from the Democrats in your mind.