When Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) assumes the Presidency in January 2009, he will have a massive effort by organized labor to thank for his election, and we can expect his agenda to reflect that.  During the next few weeks, we here at Workplace Horizons will highlight various legislative proposals and other employment law developments likely to be at the heart of the President-Elect's priorities.

President-Elect Obama's ability to pass employment legislation will depend largely on support in the Senate.  As we have discussed in detail at our sister blog, EFCA Updates, notwithstanding a Democratic majority in that chamber, a filibuster by the Republican minority can still scuttle any bill passed by the House.  In order to defeat a filibuster, a bill needs 60 votes in the Senate. 

We have been tracking how close the Democrats appear to be getting to the 60 votes needed for cloture. As of this morning, two days after Election Day, here are some thoughts:

Democrats probably hold 55 seats: Pick-ups in Colorado, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina and Virginia give the Party at least a slightly larger edge. As of this morning, it appeared too that Oregon will be "turning blue," though no one has yet conceded a close and slowly resolving race.  Republicans will hold at least 40 seats.

Two Independents will likely Caucus with Dems on EFCA: Although there is some speculation that Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) may be further ostracized from the Democrats, it is questionable whether he might break ranks on employment law issues.

Three Seats Still Questioned:

Georgia: Sen. Chambliss (R) has not yet conceded the point, but he appears to be headed for a required run-off with challenger Jim Martin (D). Chambliss received 100,000 votes more than Martin, but his tally falls short of the required outright majority by 0.011%. Voter turn-out for a possible December 2nd run-off, and the conduct of the 126,000 voters who cast ballots for Libertarian candidate Allen Buckley, will dictate the results here.

Alaska: Approximately 50,000 absentee, provisional and early ballots remain uncounted, and incumbent Sen. Ted Stevens (R) maintains a slim 4,000 vote lead over challenger Mark Begich (D). No one is conceding. The most interesting wrinkle in this race is that if Stevens wins, yet is forced to step aside due to his legal woes, it appears that Governor Sarah Palin (R) may have to call for a special election to fill the seat -- casting doubt on prompt resolution of this seat's future.

Minnesota:  A dead heat.  State officials will begin the recount process some time in mid-November, meaning this race will not likely be resolved this month. Most recent accounts place incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R) with a 475 vote edge over challenger Al Franken (DFL) -- with approximately 2.9 million votes cast.

In short, it appears the Democrats will have somewhere between 55 and 57 seats when the next Senate is sworn in. Short of 60 votes alone -- but with the influence of "swing" votes like the Independents and some select Republicans, probably enough to push significant employment law measures through.

Check back here as we track these likely developments further in the next few weeks.