United States Senate (100 members) Makeup:
55 Democrats
41 Republicans
2 Independents (both caucus with the Democrats)
2 vacancies***
*Barack Obama (D-IL) resigned his Senate seat on November 16th to focus on his transition into the office of President of the United States. Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) has appointed former IL Attorney General Roland Burris to the vacancy, but due to Blagojevich's indictment on corruption charges, the Senate Democratic leadership has shown resistance to seating Burris.
**The senate race in Minnesota remains unresolved; Al Franken (D) was certified the winner by the Minnesota Canvassing Board on Jan. 5 (watching it as I write this, actually), but incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R) has indicated that he will contest the results in court, and the seat will remain vacant until those challenges are seen through.
Expected resignations
•Joe Biden (D-DE): Will resign on or before Jan. 20 to become Vice President of the United States. Gov. Ruth Ann Minner (D) has indicated that she will appoint Biden's chief of staff Ted Kaufman to fill the vacancy, who will then not run in the special election in 2010.
•Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY): Is expected to resign upon confirmation as Secretary of State. Her successor will be appointed by Democratic Gov. David Paterson, and subject to a special election in 2010. He has yet to indicate who he will appoint to the vacancy.
•Ken Salazar (D-CO): Is expected to resign upon confirmation as Secretary of the Interior. His successor will be appointed by Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter. Ritter has announced that he will appoint Colorado's Superintendent of Schools Michael Bennet, who will run for a full term in 2010.
House of Representatives (435 members) Makeup:
256 Democrats
178 Republicans
1 vacancy* Non-voting territorial delegates
5 Democrats
1 Independent (will caucus with the Democrats)
*Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) resigned Jan. 2 in expectation of becoming White House Chief of Staff. His successor will be decided by a general election to be set by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Expected Resignations
•Hilda Solis (D-CA) is expected to resign upon confirmation as Secretary of Labor. Her successor will be decided by a special election to be set by Gov. Arnold Schwarzneggar.
So I'm going to use this thread to report on on important votes in both the House and Senate, as well as politics, the upcoming midterm elections (some of which are already shaping up), and other relevant subjects. I hope this will be of some use, if anyone cares
8 members of Congress has already announced that they will not be seeking another term in the 2010 midterms:
•Delaware Senate: Biden's appointed successor, Ted Kaufman (D), has announced that he will not run in the special election in 2010 to complete Biden's term. It is widely expected that this is keeping the door open for Biden's son, Delaware Attny. Gen. Beau (who is serving in the DE National Guard and will be going to Iraq soon), to run in the special election.
•Florida Senate: Mel Martinez (R) announced that he will not seek a 2nd term in 2010. Possible Republican candidates include former Gov. Jeb Bush and Rep. Vern Buchanan. Possible Democratic candidates include Reps. Kendrick Meek, Allen Boyd, Ron Klein, and state CFO Alex Sink.
•Kansas Senate: Sam Brownback (R), keeping a term limit promise he made when first elected, will not seek a 3rd term in 2010. It is expected that he will run for Governor.
•Kansas's 1st district: Jerry Moran (R) is running to replace Brownback in the Senate
•Kansas's 4th district: Todd Tiahrt (R) is running to replace Brownback in the Senate.
•Michigan's 2nd district: Pete Hoekstra (R) announced he will be running for Governor in 2010.
•Tennessee's 3rd district: Zach Wamp (R) announced he will be running for Governor in 2010.
•Tennessee's 4th district: Lincoln Davis (D) announced he will be running for Governor in 2010.
I have a serious question here. I don't pay attention to much politics, but I was wondering if anyone could answer this fleeting concern for me:
Does anybody really know how Hillary got the position as Secretary of State?
Was it because Obama felt she was the right person for the job?
Was it more of the "keep your enemies closer" kind of deal?
Or did she unleash a threat (like locking Bill in the same room with Obama's wife and a jar of Viagra) that helped Obama make the decision?
I'd go with the first one; Clinton is not Obama's "enemy", and it's unlikely she would threaten to be SoS when she enjoyed being in the Senate so much.
Yes, with 65% of the vote. Biden is resigning this Thursday, the 15th.
Also, Republican Sens. Kit Bond (MO) and George Voinovich (OH) will not be running fro re-election in 2010. Both are potential pick-ups for the Democrats.
Roland Burris (D-IL) was allowed to take his Senate seat on Jan 15
Vice President Joe Biden resigned from the Senate Jan 15. He was replaced with his former chief of staff Ted Kaufman on the 16th.
Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Ken Salazar (D-CO) were confirmed to their respective Cabinet posts on Jan 20 and 21 and have resigned from the Senate.
The reason there is a special election in 2010 is because it was Biden who was elected to a 6 year term in 2008. The Governor of Delaware is entitled to make a temporary replacement, but the Delaware Constitution requires that the state have an elected Senator after a certain time. The special election is to decide who will fill out the remainder of Biden's term.
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Jan 6th, 2009 01:34 AM
