The 10th District of Illinois was considered a toss-up the day before the election. A suburb of Chicago, it was home to one of the nation's priciest and most competitive House races. While officially represented by a Republican, it went solidly to Kerry in the 2004 Presidential election.

Incumbent Mark Kirk (R), fought desperately to cling to his seat by touting a centrist platform throughout the race. Whereas, challenger Dan Seals (D), endorsed by President Obama, tried to paint Kirk as more closely tied to the Republican Party than he claimed.

As of this writing it appears that the U.S. Senate race in Georgia between Saxby Chambliss (R-Incumbent) and Jim Martin (D) is headed for a runoff on Tuesday, December 2. The runoff is sure to attract national attention as the Democrats seek to build their working majority in the Senate, and to capitalize on the momentum of the election victory of Barack Obama, and the Republicans seeks to secure a line of defense in the Senate.

Last night, Chellie Pingree triumphed over Charlie Summers, 56% to 44%, claiming Maine's 1st District House seat. Newcomer, Chellie Pingree is a former Maine State Senator, businesswoman and former CEO of Common Cause. This will be her first term serving in the U.S. House of Representatives.

At Common Cause, Chellie Pingree worked to "foster collaboration between influential nongovernmental leaders from partner countries to better address government accountability issues."

Representative Pingree will hopefully be a true CGS advocate. On her campaign website, Pingree declared her support for increased global interaction, "America must no longer be seen as an aggressor in the world. We need to embrace a new foreign policy to restore our reputation. In the future we must work cooperatively with other nations, acting multilaterally first and unilaterally only if necessary." CGS endorsed Chellie Pingree because we feel that once in office, she will work hard to promote global engagement and international cooperation.

Congratulations Chellie Pingree! We look forward to following your Congressional career.

Lynn Woolsey has served in Congress for over sixteen years, and yesterday she defeated her challenger, Mike Halliwell with a resounding 72% to 24% victory. Representative Woolsey is a champion of CGS causes, earning an A rating on our Congressional Report Card and we are delighted to welcome her back to Washington.

As a member of the House she "proposed a plan called SMART Security , which is a Sensible, Multilateral American Response to Terrorism. Under this plan, war is an absolute last resort, to be pursued only after every diplomatic solution has been exhausted." Woolsey's plan involves fighting terrorism by "promoting multilateral partnerships and the better intelligence they bring - with an emphasis on respecting human and civil rights."