Oct 07 2008
Senate
As of today, the U.S. Senate is split nearly evenly. There are 49 Democrats and 49 Republicans. There are also two independents–Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders–who caucus with the Democrats to give them a 51-49 majority. There are 35 Senate seats open this year. There are two special elections scheduled to fill vacancies until 2013 in addition to the 33 seats typically available in Class II.
Of the 35 seats, Republicans must defend seven currently held by men who are either retiring in January or were appointed to fill a vacancy until this election. Both parties want 60 seats in order to invoke cloture and end debate. Otherwise, one senator or one party may filibuster, or delay action, indefinitely.
Entering Election Day 2008, Democrats hold 39 seats and Republicans have 26. Those seats are not up this year. Projected winners will be in bold.
Class II-Terms expire in January 2009; 33 senators: 21 Republican, 12 Democratic
Lamar Alexander (R, Tennessee)
Wayne Allard (R, Colorado) retiring, Mark Udall (D)
Max Baucus (D, Montana)
Joe Biden (D, Delaware)
Saxby Chambliss (R, Georgia)
Thad Cochran (R, Mississippi)
Norm Coleman (R, Minnesota)
Susan M. Collins (R, Maine)
John Cornyn (R, Texas)
Larry E. Craig (R, Idaho) retiring, James Risch (R)
Elizabeth Dole (R, North Carolina), Kay Hagan (D)
Pete V. Domenici (R, New Mexico) retiring, Tom Udall (D)
Richard Durbin (D, Illinois)
Michael B. Enzi (R, Wyoming)
Lindsey Graham (R, South Carolina)
Chuck Hagel (R, Nebraska) retiring, Mike Johanns (R)
Tom Harkin (D, Iowa)
James M. Inhofe (R, Oklahoma)
Tim Johnson (D, South Dakota)
John F. Kerry (D, Massachusetts)
Mary L. Landrieu (D, Louisiana)
Frank R. Lautenberg (D, New Jersey)
Carl Levin (D, Michigan)
Mitch McConnell (R, Kentucky)
Mark L. Pryor (D, Arkansas)
Jack Reed (D, Rhode Island)
Pat Roberts (R, Kansas)
John D. Rockefeller, IV (D, West Virginia)
Jeff Sessions (R, Alabama)
Gordon H. Smith (R, Oregon)
Ted Stevens (R, Alaska)
John Sununu (R, New Hampshire) Jeanne Shaheen (D)
John Warner (R, Virginia) retiring Mark Warner (D)
Class III-Terms expire in January 2011; 34 senators: 19 Republican, 15 Democratic
Evan Bayh (D, Indiana)
Robert F. Bennett (R, Utah)
Christopher S. Bond (R, Missouri)
Barbara Boxer (D, California)
Sam Brownback (R, Kansas)
Jim Bunning (R, Kentucky)
Richard Burr (R, North Carolina)
Tom Coburn (R, Oklahoma)
Mike Crapo (R, Idaho)
Jim DeMint (R, South Carolina)
Christopher J. Dodd (D, Connecticut)
Byron L. Dorgan (D, North Dakota)
Russell D. Feingold (D, Wisconsin)
Chuck Grassley (R, Iowa)
Judd Gregg (R, New Hampshire)
Daniel K. Inouye (D, Hawaii)
Johnny Isakson (R, Georgia)
Patrick J. Leahy (D, Vermont)
Blanche L. Lincoln (D, Arkansas)
Mel Martinez (R, Florida)
John McCain (R, Arizona)
Barbara A. Mikulski (D, Maryland)
Lisa Murkowski (R, Alaska)
Patty Murray (D, Washington)
Barack Obama (D, Illinois)
Harry Reid (D, Nevada)
Ken Salazar (D, Colorado)
Charles E. Schumer (D, New York)
Richard C. Shelby (R, Alabama)
Arlen Specter (R, Pennsylvania)
John Thune (R, South Dakota)
David Vitter (R, Louisiana)
George V. Voinovich (R, Ohio)
Ron Wyden (D, Oregon)
Class I-Terms expire in January 2013; 33 senators: 22 Democratic, 9 Republican, 2 Independent
Daniel K. Akaka (D, Hawaii)
John Barrasso (R, Wyoming)
Jeff Bingaman (D, New Mexico)
Sherrod Brown (D, Ohio)
Robert C. Byrd (D, West Virginia)
Maria Cantwell (D, Washington)
Benjamin L. Cardin (D, Maryland)
Thomas R. Carper (D, Delaware)
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D, Pennsylvania)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (D, New York)
Kent Conrad (D, North Dakota)
Bob Corker (R, Tennessee)
John Ensign (R, Nevada)
Dianne Feinstein (D, California)
Orrin G. Hatch (R, Utah)
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R, Texas)
Edward M. Kennedy (D, Massachusetts)
Amy Klobuchar (D, Minnesota)
Herb Kohl (D, Wisconsin)
Jon Kyl (R, Arizona)
Joseph I. Lieberman (I, Connecticut)
Richard G. Lugar (R, Indiana)
Claire McCaskill (D, Missouri)
Robert Menendez (D, New Jersey)
Bill Nelson (D, Florida)
E. Benjamin Nelson (D, Nebraska)
Bernard Sanders (I, Vermont)
Olympia J. Snowe (R, Maine)
Debbie Stabenow (D, Michigan)
Jon Tester (D, Montana)
Jim Webb (D, Virginia)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D, Rhode Island)
Roger F. Wicker (R, Mississippi)
