Last night, there were primary elections held in the United States. Here are the key results for US Senate races:
1. Wisconsin: Tommy Thompson won the Republican U.S. Senate nomination and will face Democratic congresswoman Tammy Baldwin in November.
2. Florida: Rep. Connie Mack won Republican Senate nomination and will face two-term Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson.
3. Connecticut: Linda McMahon, former World Wrestling Federation CEO won and will face Democratic Rep. Chris Murphy in race to succeed retiring Joseph Lieberman.
Currently, the US Senate is held by Democrats by a 51-47 advantage with two independents joining Democrats on most votes. Every two years, the US Senate has elections for 33-34 members and this year there will be 33 seats up for a vote. This year, there are 21 Democratic, two independents and 10 Republicans that will face the voters. Of these, there are truly only about 10 in play and here they are: Wisconsin, Florida, Massachusetts, Indiana, Maine, North Dakota, Missouri, Montana, Virginia and Ohio. Simply put, the Republicans need to win 4 net seats to take back the Senate. Overall, neither side will achieve the 60 seats needed to cut-off debate and go to a vote on pending bills. This means both sides must compromise on all legislation unless it’s done through a budget reconciliation (think Obamacare). This means that compromise will be necessary and that should lead to longer lasting laws (again, think Obamacare repeal now).
