Stabenow leads Abraham for Michigan Senate seat

JOYCE LEE/Daily

Sen. Spence Abraham speaks with his wife Jane at the Holiday Inn hotel in Lansing last night.

By Hanna LoPatin and Jeremy W. Peters

Daily Staff Reporters

DETROIT - In what was perhaps the closest Senate race in the nation, U.S. Rep. Debbie Stabenow appears to have edged out incumbent Spence Abraham and in doing so, narrowed the Republican majority in the Senate to one of the smallest in decades.

As of 3:30 a.m., the race was tied at 49 percent each for Stabenow and Abraham, with Stabenow having a slight lead in the total number of votes cast.

"I have to tell you that until we see some final numbers we can't officially declare this - but it sure looks good," Stabenow said just after midnight to a crowd at the Democratic victory party in Detroit. "It's going to be a while before we know what this all looks like, but I just couldn't have you down here and not come and tell you how grateful I am ... for all of your help and support."

Stabenow appeared optimistic throughout the night as she addressed the crowd numerous times.

As early as 11 p.m., sources within the Abraham campaign were saying the outlook for re-election was bleak. At this point in the night, most of the votes in the state had been accounted for except for Wayne County, sources said.

The senator came down from the room where he was monitoring the election results with his family around 1:15 a.m. to speak to the crowd at the Michigan Republican Party's reception in Lansing. It was the only time he made a public appearance the entire night.

He did not express outright defeat, but his demeanor was not one of a victorious candidate.

"It does look like it's going to go on for a while longer. But it's not over yet. We're going to keep hanging on," a subdued Abraham told the crowd.

He then thanked his campaign staff, his wife and Gov. John Engler.

"You guys worked tirelessly throughout the campaign," Abraham said.

After his remarks to the crowd, Abraham summoned his campaign staff - many of whom were teary-eyed - upstairs to address them.

Mark Brewer, chair of the Michigan Democratic party, said Abraham "didn't establish himself at all in his five years as incumbent."

Brewer blamed the correlation between Abraham and special interests.

"People took a look at Spence Abraham's record and saw who's side he's been on all these years," he said.

Drawing similarities to Engler's election in 1990, Michigan Republican Party Chair Rusty Hills, said he wasn't giving up on Abraham before the final results were tallied.

"It's going to be tight, but you have to remember it was the same way with Engler 10 years ago and I was here until five in the morning with him before we knew we had won. Nobody thought we'd win," Hills said.

Before the vote was called, Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm said that Stabenow's win along with Democratic Vice President Al Gore's win in Michigan could mean that Michigan is moving in a more Democratic direction.

Granholm, who is the only statewide elected Democratic official other than U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, said "everything has been in the Republican column for so long it would be nice to see a little more balance return ... and I hope it does."