Former U.S. vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman, who insisted on remaining in a Senate race after losing the Democratic nomination, has been reelected in Connecticut. Lieberman, who lost his party s support over his vocal backing of the war in Iraq, promised that he would stay in the race as an independent candidate after losing to newcomer Ted Lamont. Despite Lamont s surprise victory in the Democratic primary, longtime Senator Lieberman beat both Republican and Democratic challengers to win a fourth term. He beat out Lamont by 49 percent to 40 percent, according to partial results, leaving the Republican challenger far behind. This year s campaign, to say the obvious, was a long journey on which you, my dear supporters, and I were tested like never before, but we never wavered in our beliefs, Lieberman said in his acceptance speech. Lieberman was Al Gore s running mate in the 2000 presidential election won by Bush, but he began to fall from favor among his Democratic colleagues because of his strong support for the largely unpopular Iraq war. He said in August he was scapegoated by fellow Democratic lawmakers and influential opinion makers.
