Networks Call McConnell Victory

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has held onto his Senate seat, according to projections from major media outlets.

CBS News, ABC News, CNN, and Fox News are calling the race with McConnell leading Democrat Bruce Lunsford 52 percent to 48 percent with 80 percent of precincts reporting.

If McConnell’s lead holds, he will have fended off significant spending against him by Democrats. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), seeking revenge for the ouster of Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), spent millions on the race, and Lunsford spent $5.5 million of his own money on the race, according to this filings with the Federal Election Commission.

McConnell’s campaign had cautioned media outlets not to call the race too early, claiming exit polls typically skew in favor of Democrats in Kentucky and that the precincts likely to report earliest lean left.