Maine delegation faces changes in new Congress

WASHINGTON – The deep hues of red and blue that fell across the nation’s electoral map late Tuesday and into Wednesday morning will mean vastly different things for members of Maine’s congressional delegation when they return for the 109th Congress in January.

While the exact balance of power in the Senate technically depends on the last uncounted votes, some say Maine’s senators will have more influence in the Senate, both because of the expanded Republican majority and their ability to relate to both parties.

It appeared late Wednesday that the GOP would pick up four seats in the Senate, for a total of 55 seats. This means that both Sen. Olympia Snowe and Sen. Susan Collins will have more Republicans on the committees they chair. Bills they sponsor will also stand a better chance in the new Senate.

Though resistance to President Bush’s agenda has weakened in both houses, Snowe said the President will still have to appeal to Democrats.

Unlike in the House, at least 60 votes are needed to end debate on a bill in the Senate. “You need 60 votes to get anything done,” Snowe said. “He will still have to build some bridges.”

As one expert put it, moderate Republicans who can work with Democrats will be critical, especially now that more moderate Democrats – like John Breaux of Louisiana and Fritz Hollings of South Carolina – have been replaced with more conservative Republicans, he said.

“I don’t think those five are going to be easy to find,” said Sandy Maisel, director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, referring to the difference between the number of Republicans and the number needed to end debate.

Neither Snowe, who chairs the Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, nor Collins, who chairs the Governmental Affairs Committee, were up for re-election this year.

Collins, who said she was happy with the election results though she had hoped Bush might carry Maine’s 2nd District, stressed the need for compromise.

She pointed to the intelligence reform bill, which she sponsored and which the Senate passed 96-2, as an example of bipartisan success.

“It can be done,” Collins said and added that she, like Snowe, would continue to bridge the two parties in the Senate. “It’s a role I relish.”

Meanwhile, Democrats in the House fell farther into minority status, as the Republicans likely picked up six seats for a total of 233 out of 435.

Both Democratic Reps. Tom Allen and Mike Michaud of Maine easily won re-election Tuesday.

Allen said he was pleased with his win over Republican Brian Hamel in the 1st District, but disappointed with the overall results nationally.

The South and the Midwest, he said, “seem to be marching in a different direction” in comparison with Maine and other states in the Northeast.

Allen went on to say that it would be just as hard – if not more so – getting Democratic-friendly bills on environmental and health care issues addressed in the new Congress.

“The House isn’t going to be any more bipartisan” after an election in which they gained additional seats, Allen said. “That’s for sure.”