CLEVELAND, November 8 — With more than 40 percent of possible voters casting their ballots, the November 7 elections put the Democrats in to power in the U.S. House of Representatives. As of press time, the majority party in the U.S. Senate was nearly a 50-50 split with the deciding race still too close to call. In addition to large gains in the House, the Democrats now hold 28 governorships across the country.
“Labor, and especially rail labor, has a lot to celebrate in these elections,” BLET National President Don M. Hahs said. “We hope that the shift in power will be a shift towards the interests of the working men and women of this country and away from corporate special interests.
“Rail labor has several specific goals, including long-term funding for Amtrak, that it hopes to accomplish with a new Congress in place, and hopefully, with more worker-friendly legislators, we will be able to accomplish these goals.”
The BLET and rail labor are looking forward to a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee led by Representative James Oberstar (D-MN) and a Railroad Subcommittee chaired by Corrine Brown (D-FL). Both of these Representatives have shown their support of issues of importance to the BLET and rail labor during their years in Congress. Representative Oberstar is serving in his 17th term in Congress. Representative Brown is serving in her 8th term.
Many BLET members volunteered alongside their Teamster brothers and sisters throughout the country campaigning for worker family-friendly candidates.
“I would like to thank all the BLET members who worked so hard on this election. Our work paid off,” said BLET Vice President and National Legislative Representative John Tolman. “I hope that we will be able to get some of our issues addressed in the 110th Congress. The results are not yet finalized in Virginia, but we did take back the House. In Virginia, the Democratic candidate, James Webb, holds is currently ahead and I am hopeful that we will win the Senate. It is a great day for working men and women.”
Representative Nancy Pelosi — the California Democrat poised to become the first female Speaker of the House — has outlined a “First Hundred Hours” agenda. The plan includes promises to reform lobbying, enact the recommendations of the bipartisan 9/11 commission, raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour, cut the interest rate on student loans in half, streamline Medicare’s prescription drug program and expand federal funding for stem cell research.
Democrats currently hold the edge in the U.S. Senate with a margin of 50-49. However, if the Democrats lose the Virginia Senate race, that would create a 50-50 breakdown in the Senate, assuming that Independent Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) will caucus with the Democrats. In that event, Vice President Dick Cheney”s constitutional authority to break tie votes would keep the Senate under Republican leadership. In Virginia, Democrat Jim Webb has claimed victory — with an edge of fewer than 8,000 votes — over Republican incumbent Sen. George Allen. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Webb had 1,170,564 votes, or 49.6 percent, to Allen’s 1,162,717, or 49.3 percent. A Webb victory would give the Democrats the majority of seats.