Warner, Hagan, Shaheen Win Senate Seats

by Seth Michaels, Nov 4, 2008

New Virginia Sen. Mark Warner
New Hampshire’s Jeanne Shaheen won her race for the Senate.
Kay Hagen defeated Sen. Elizabeth Dole in North Carolina.

Three of the biggest results of the night already are in: Pro-worker candidates Mark Warner, Jeanne Shaheen and Kay Hagan are headed to the U.S. Senate.

These AFL-CIO-endorsed candidates have picked up Senate seats previously held by opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act and other pro-worker policies. Warner won the open seat in Virginia, which had been held for nearly 20 years by Republican John Warner (no relation to Mark). Shaheen defeated New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu and Hagan defeated North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole, despite Dole’s vicious ad campaign against Hagen.

Unions in these states made electing Warner, Hagan and Shaheen a top priority, hoping to add to the number of senators in Washington who would fight for good jobs, affordable health care and the freedom to form unions.

All of these candidates appear, at this point, to have won substantial victories, showing the strength of a message that supports the middle class in the midst of this economic crisis.

With Hagan, Shaheen and Warner in the Senate, it will be possible to break the grip of corporate obstruction on the Senate and pass historic change that improves the lives of working families.

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