Angus King is the first ever Independent elected to serve in the Senate
from Maine. He follows in the footsteps of Republican Senator Olympia Snowe,
who announced she would not run for re-election earlier this year, citing
frustration due to partisanship. King previously served as the two term
Independent Governor of the state between 1995 and 2003. King will caucus with the
Democrats once sworn in; meaning there will be 55 Senators in the caucus a
pickup of two seats from the 112th congress. Before serving as Governor, King
was the host of a statewide political talk show on public television and served
as an assistant on the staff of Maine Democratic Senator William Hathaway in
the mid 70’s. During the 80’s King worked for several companies that were
developers of alternative and renewable energy including founding his own
company which worked to conserve electricity at commercial and industrial
businesses throughout New England. A major focus of King’s Campaign was his
promise to fight for government reforms including campaign finance, filibuster
reform, and the No Budget, No Pay Act.
Deb Fischer
With
the retirement of Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Democrats basically lost all
hope at being able to retain his seat. In a last ditch effort Democrats
persuaded former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey to come home to his native state
and run for his former seat. It was a short-term fix as Kerrey was pegged as
out of touch with his former constituents because he had since moved away from
his native Nebraska. The Republican nominee, Deb Fischer, easily won the
election. Fischer was born, raised, and educated in Nebraska and has worked
since College on her husband’s Cattle Ranch. She was first elected to political
office in 2004 when she was elected to the Nebraska State Legislature. She was
vastly outspent (10 to 1) in her primary but managed to pull off a major upset
in part due to a last minute endorsement from Sarah Palin. She is in favor of
disbanding the EPA, repealing Obamacare, and helped lead the opposition in the
State Legislature against imposing a statewide smoking ban. She is strongly
prolife and anti-gay marriage. The election of Fischer marks the end of an era
of a moderate voice in Nebraska politics; she will bring what is a growing feature
of Republican Party -- hardline tea party ideology.
No comments:
Post a Comment