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Harkin rolls, wins 5th term Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa defended his seat in the U.S. Senate Tuesday, as Democrats across the country rode a blue wave that solidified their margins in both houses of Congress and won them the White House. Harkin defeated Republican challenger Christopher Reed by 62 percent to 38 percent, winning his fifth term in the U.S. Senate. He has served in Congress since 1974. The win didn’t come as a surprise for Harkin. “Judging by the huge margin in my race, it’s very clear that I got the vote of the Democrats and independents, but also that of the Iowa Republicans,” Harkin said in his speech Tuesday at the Iowa Democratic Victory Party in Des Moines. “I think that’s fitting for this election. I’m a proud progressive — but I know how to get away from bickering and reach across the aisle.” Thirty-five of 100 seats in the Senate were contested Tuesday, 23 of which were held by Republicans. Democrats will hold at least 56 seats in the new Senate. Democrats have not controlled the House, Senate, and White House since Bill Clinton won the White House in 1992. “It will help some, but not that much,” he said. “The super majority is really the key.” But even 60 seats — a filibuster-proof super majority — may not have been enough to give Democrats complete control of the Senate, said Cary Covington, a UI political science associate professor. “Democrats vote together about half of the time,” Covington said. “Carter had 61 Democrats in the Senate, but that meant nothing.” A filibuster-proof majority occurs when one party controls at least 60 seats in the Senate, preventing senators from stalling votes on legislation. Reed, who said he plans to take a break from the election “at least for Wednesday,” said he is worried about Democratic control of the Senate. He would have been even more worried if Democrats had taken control of 60 seats in the Senate. “I wouldn’t want any party to have a filibuster-proof Senate — at least there should be discussion on the table,” Reed said. “I wouldn’t even want the Republicans to have control because that means half the nation isn’t being looked out for.” Parties with the super majority also run the risk of over-reaching, said Tim Hagle, a UI political-science associate professor. With the House, Senate, and presidency controlled by one party, every measure becomes that much harder to repudiate. Still, Ross said, some positive changes can come from a single-party dominated government, pointing to the Great Society in Lyndon Johnson’s presidency and the New Deal during Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency. However, single-party domination generally eliminates any chance of striking a “balance” with the minority party, Ross said. The imbalances often elicit a minority party comeback in later elections, Hagle said. Such backlashes happened in 1994 and 2006, when the House and Senate shifted after two respective years of Democratic and Republican control of the House, the Senate, and the White House. Regardless of the Senate filibuster letdown, Harkin remained upbeat in his speech Tuesday. “Boy, do we celebrate tonight,” Harkin said. “But tomorrow, we’ve got work to do, and I can’t wait to go back to work with Barack Obama as my president.” DI reporter Katie Hanson contributed to this story. |