Washington: Democrats on Tuesday lost a closely-watched US Senate run-off election in the state of Georgia, US media reported, thwarting their chances of reaching the critical threshold of 60 seats that would prevent Republican filibustering or stalling maneuvers in the 100-seat chamber.
With 95 percent of the vote counted, The New York Times reported on its website that Democrat Jim Martin had conceded defeat in the southern state against Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss.
Chambliss handily defeated Martin by a 58 to 42 percent margin, the Times reported, citing early projections. Tuesday's runoff comes nearly one month after the November 4 balloting in which Chambliss and Martin virtually tied.
The Republican victory leaves just one remaining US Senate race undecided: Ballots for a US Senate seat representing the mid-western state of Minnesota are still being recounted, with Republican Norm Coleman ahead by just a few hundred votes of some 2.9 million cast.
