The Associated Press, MSNBC, and CNN have declared Democratic Rep. Chris Murphy the winner of the Senate race in Connecticut to replace Joe Lierberman.
Rep. Chris Murphy was elected to an open Connecticut Senate seat, delivering Linda McMahon her second defeat in three years.
Murphy, who was projected to win by the Associated Press, will replace retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent who sometimes sides with Democrats but is known for going his own way.
McMahon spent $50 million of her personal fortune in her failed 2010 campaign against Richard Blumenthal, and she is believed to have spent about as much this time around. Campaign finance records filed in mid-October showed that McMahon had loaned $40 million to her campaign, bringing the total to $90 million.
That’s the most that any candidate has ever spent from their own pocket to win federal office, although Ross Perot still holds the record for the most spent in a single campaign cycle: He sank more than $63 million into his failed 1992 bid for the presidency.
This is an important first victoy towards keeping our control of the Senate in this highly contested race.
6:10 PM PT: 9:05 PM – Today
Kirsten Gillibrand Wins
Kirsten Gillibrand has been projected the winner of her New York Senate race by the New York Times.
6:14 PM PT: MSNBC Calls Bob Casey winner of PA, and says Republicans will retain control of the House.
6:21 PM PT: MN: Klobuchar (D) wins says MSNBC. And, BTW PA has just been called for Obama!
6:23 PM PT: Doesn't look good for Republicans
6:31 PM PT: Republicans Lose Three Early Races for the U.S. Senate
Republican candidates lost their bids for U.S. Senate seats in Florida, Maine and Connecticut, three of 10 critical contests that will determine which party controls the chamber in the next Congress.
In Florida, Democratic Senator Bill Nelson of Florida won a third term, defeating Republican Representative Connie Mack IV. Nelson, the only Democrat holding a statewide office in Florida, was first elected to the seat in 2000 after Connie Mack III retired.
Democrats control the Senate 53-47. Republicans need to pick up four net seats to gain a majority. ... In Maine, independent Angus King beat a Republican and a Democrat for the seat being vacated by Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, whose decision in February to retire was an early blow to Republicans’ hopes of gaining Senate control. King, who is expected to caucus with Democrats, won what was a safe Republican-held seat.
Democrat Chris Murphy defeated Linda McMahon, the former head of World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (WWE), for the Senate seat in Connecticut now held by retiring Senator Joseph Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with Democrats. Murphy is a three-term U.S. congressman.
6:43 PM PT: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel was projected by the Associated Press to lose the Ohio Senate race on Tuesday night.
The Republican candidate faced Democratic incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown in a tight race that the GOP had high hopes of winning in their quest to retake control of the Senate.