With the runoff win of Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) Tuesday, the Democrats’ hopes of obtaining a filibuster-proof majority of 60 members in the Senate died. But they remained undeterred, saying they have the support to fend off GOP efforts to derail major legislation.

“The Democratic margins in the Senate are much, much better so the likelihood of filibusters [by Republicans] being successful will be diminished,” said Bill Wicker, a spokesman for Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Senate Democrats currently hold 58 seats, including two by independents who routinely caucus with the Democrats. They could gain another seat in Minnesota, where Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken are sweating out a recount. All told, Democrats gained seven new seats in the Senate in the most recent elections.

The Democrats’ failure to gain a filibuster-proof majority “will assure that any kind of major legislation that’s passed in the Senate has a modicum of bipartisan support,” said Martin Edwards, vice president of legislative affairs for the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, which represents interstate gas pipelines.

“Even if they had gained 60 votes, it would have been difficult to pass a Democrats-only bill,” especially one dealing with energy and environmental issues, which usually break down along regional rather than party lines, he said.

“The Chambliss win just puts a finer point on that,” Edwards noted. The Senate Democratic caucus “is not a monolith” voting one way on all issues, but rather “it is 58 different senators with different opinions.”

The reason that Senate Democrats and Republicans were deadlocked on so many issues this past year, including energy, was that the chamber was “so evenly divided” between the two parties, Wicker said. Democrats had 51 seats, with Republicans holding 49. But the margin between the two parties going into the next Congress is much larger — 17 seats.

In addition to the independents, Wicker believes there are a number of “fairly progressive, open-minded Republicans” who are up for reelection in two years and don’t want to obstruct the Obama administration that will side with Democrats.

Republicans currently have 41 seats in the Senate, with the hope of gaining one more in Minnesota. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who faced a tough election himself in November, has said holding 41 seats is critical to forcing Democrats to reach compromises, not to block legislation, the Washington Post reported.

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