On Election Night activists on the left eagerly awaited the results
hoping their hard work in the election would produce a favorable
shift in the balance of power in Washington. When the votes were all
counted and Democrats Jim Webb (VA) and Jon Tester (MT) were finally
declared the winners of Senate seats in two of the closest races,
the Democrats regained control of both the House and Senate for the
first time since the Republican takeover of 1994. As a result of the
election, one set of interest groups would fall out of favor and
another set would find new access on the Hill. Pharmaceutical firms,
oil and gas companies, and student loan providers, targets of the
Democrats' populist “100 Hours” agenda and big contributors to the
Republicans, were instantly thrown on the defensive. Anti-war
groups, environmental groups, and labor unions with weak ties to the
Republican leadership and strong relationships with the incoming
Democratic leaders, were newly empowered. As the legislative
director for one of the largest unions, the American Federation of
State, County, and Municipal Employees, observed a few months into
the 110th Congress, “It's a whole new ball game. Key
leaders on the Hill are much more receptive, and I look 10 years
younger.”