A New Era - Obama Victory, U.S. Senate Gains Put New Focus on Middle Class Worker Issues

President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden greet hundreds of thousands of elated supporters at Chicago's Grant Park on election night.

In a historic victory that electrified CWA members and the nation at large, Americans on Nov. 4 elected Barack Obama the country's 44th president and made strong gains in the U.S. House and Senate that open the door to passing the Employee Free Choice Act, health care reform, and a focus on job creation in the effort to restore the nation's economic health.

"All of America won on Nov. 4, because working families won," CWA President Larry Cohen said. "After eight long years of government by and for corporate interests, we have finally elected people who put working Americans first, people who know that unions are a vital part of rebuilding our economy and our middle class and who aren't afraid to say it."

CWA members were a huge part of the grassroots nationwide network that helped elect Obama and pick up at least seven worker-friendly seats in the U.S. Senate and 22 in the U.S. House. (See full coverage of CWA efforts, click here.)

The last U.S. Senate seat to be decided is in Minnesota, where a recount is underway in the race between Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken. Currently, pending the Minnesota result, Democrats control 58 seats and Republicans 41.

Labor's biggest grassroots election effort ever helped Obama win every battleground state, with the exception of a narrow defeat to John McCain in Missouri. Even traditional red states Virginia, Indiana and North Carolina turned blue.

Virginia hadn't voted for a Democrat since Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and North Carolina last did in 1976, for Jimmy Carter. Just as big a victory for North Carolina Democrats was unseating incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who was widely condemned for her smear campaign against pro-working family challenger Kay Hagan.

In other Senate victories:

• Virginia elected former Democratic Gov. Mark Warner by a huge margin to fill the seat of retiring Republican John Warner.
• Alaska voters narrowly ousted six-term Sen. Ted Stevens, a Republican, who was convicted days before the election by a federal jury on felony charges involving gifts he failed to disclose. After a ballot count that lasted two weeks beyond the Nov. 4 election, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich was declared the winner. 
• In New Hampshire, former Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen defeated Republican incumbent John Sununu. 
• In a tight race in Oregon, two-term Republican Sen. Gordon Smith lost to Democrat Jeff Merkley, speaker of the Oregon House. 
• Colorado Democrat Mark Udall, a member of the U.S. House, won the Senate seat vacated by Republican Wayne Allard. 
• In New Mexico, Rep. Tom Udall won more than 61 percent of the vote in his Senate victory over his Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce. 
• Lousiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, the only Senate Democrat in a close race, won a third term by defeating Republican State Treasurer John Kennedy.

In the U.S. House, Democrats now have 256 seats to the Republican's 175. Four seats remained undecided as the CWA News went to press: Tight races in Ohio's 15th District and California's 4th District, and two Louisiana districts that held elections Dec. 6.

Huge ground campaigns in Ohio and Pennsylvania — states considered essential for Obama to win — put him over the top there and also helped other pro-worker candidates. In Ohio, Democrats gained five seats in the state legislature, giving them control for the first time in 14 years. In Pennsylvania, victories included political newcomer Kathy Dahlkemper's upset over seven-term U.S. House Republican Phil English.

Democrats picked up one governor's seat on Nov. 4. In Missouri, state Attorney General Jay Nixon handily beat Republican Kenny Hulshof, who gave up his U.S. House seat to run. Nationally, 29 governors are Democrats and 21 are Republicans.

La traducción al español de este reportaje aparece en la página 10.