Daschle Loses S.D. Senate Seat to Thune

Daschle Loses S.D. Senate Seat to Thune (Fox – AP)

Sen. Tom Daschle added a dubious distinction to his long political career — he became the first Senate party leader in more than 50 years to be voted out of office. And the White House couldn’t be happier.

With 824 of the state’s 827 precincts reporting, the Democrat had 192,157 votes Tuesday, or 49 percent, while his Republican challenger, former Rep. John Thune, received 197,642 votes, or 51 percent.

This was a result that I expected going into the day but, as it narrowed with the final precints coming in, I feared that there might be some shenanigans with the Indian reservations again. The irony is that Thune’s incredibly narrow loss to Tim Johnson in 2002 made possible this stunning defeat of Daschle in 2004. I can’t imagine any other candidate pulling this off.

FILED UNDER: 2004 Election, , ,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. libs4lunch says:

    Oh, Happy Days are Here Again!!!

    Goodbye Puff, you’ve been a pain in the a## for so long we cant wait for you to disappear.