GOP Senate Resignations Not Necessarily Good For Democrats

by Stuart Shapiro

There have been two more announcements in the past week by Senators not seeking reelection in 2012.  Neither is terribly good news for the Democrats.  Senator Daniel Akaka will join colleagues Kent Conrad, Jim Webb and Joe Lieberman as Democrats (or those who caucus with them) who won’t be in the Capitol in 2013.  While Hawaii is not a vulnerable seat (particularly with native son President Obama heading the ticket), it will be a seat they now have to pay attention to.

The other resignation, Republican Senator John Ensign (pictured), is ironically worse news for the Democrats.  Nate Silver explains:

With an approval rating below 40 percent, Mr. Ensign probably would not have escaped a primary challenge, let alone gotten re-elected. Nor, in all likelihood, would he have won the primary; instead, polls suggested that another candidate, U.S. Rep. Dean Heller, was the favorite.

The Democrats can always hope that Sharron Angle runs and takes out Heller but this doesn’t seem too likely.  While Nevada is a competitive state, what once seemed to be a prime pickup opportunity just got harder to pick up.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.