ONE More Senator to Go

Tuesday is election day in Mississippi! The final senate seat to be decided is up for grabs in Mississippi's run-off election between Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy.  Neither candidate got over 50% in a tight 3 person race on national election day, so the final two are at it again today.

The two were neck and neck in the three person race, but polls show the Republican a few points ahead in the two candidate run-off. If she wins, Republicans will have a 53 seat majority in the 100 seat senate.  This could be very important if another Supreme Court seat opens up in the next two years.  Should Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who recently injured her ribs in a fall, choose to retire Trump could tip the majority of the Court further to the conservative side if he can find a good nominee and protect the nominee from the Democrats' wrecking crew.  Senators Diane Feinstein, Richard Blumenthal and Kamala Harris will undoubtedly be searching for scandals on any nominee even if they have to make them up.  So Trump and the Republicans will need a clear majority and the best nominee possible.

By sometime tonight we should know whether the GOP has that margin and whether Susan Collins loses some of her power to command kingmaker status on nominations.  When the GOP had a slim 51-49 majority, Collins from Maine held significant influence over presidential nominees who need a majority of the senate to confirm them. Collins could use her vote to bargain with. But there's a big difference between 51 and 53. And Mississippians can provide that difference today.

What do you think? Will the Republicans (GOP) get to 53? Will that affect what kind of nominee we get in the event of another SCOTUS retirement? Add your comments.