US Senate race
November 4, 2010
We’ve been receiving a number of enquiries about when we plan to close our US Senate Race market. With most of the results called already, you’d be forgiven for thinking that a Democratic majority was in the bag. But with the Democrats currently on 50 seats, they are short of the magic 51 needed for a majority in the senate.
To remain fair, we’ve got to be pretty strict in our interpretation what counts as a Democrat and we know that this figure of 50 is contentious. Most media outlets are reporting the Democrats on 52 seats. Why the discrepancy? Because Joe Lieberman and Bernie Sanders, both independents, are often counted as Democrats due to their choice to caucus with them. But as they are not Democratic senators, we cannot include them in any tally of Democratic seats.
However, those who bet on the Democrats to keep the Senate need not despair. All eyes are now focused on Washington, where the Democrats are ahead to take the seat. If the Democrats are successful, that would give them the extra seat they need to have a majority. So we hope we’ll be able to settle this market soon.
