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Supporters of Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss can attribute their candidate’s re-election Tuesday night to any number of factors.

It could have been a fear of a filibuster-proof upper house with Democrats behind the wheel. Or it could have been former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin who drew thousands to events she attended in Georgia this week.

Local Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon thinks it’s a bit of both.

“Middle of the road voters don’t like the idea of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama passing anything willy nilly,” McKoon said as he watched the returns at the Columbus Government Center. “We need Saxby to be this kind of firewall.”

The number 60 is magic in the Senate. Sixty Democrats in that house could silence any filibuster by Republicans and proceed with their chosen legislation.

Democrats won 58 seats Nov. 4 in the 100-member house. Only the runoff in Georgia between Chambliss and Jim Martin and a recount in Minnesota remained in play.

Palin’s appearance also helped bump Republican turnout, McKoon said. He was in Perry on Monday, where he saw some 3,000 people attend a Chambliss rally with Palin.

“The margin you see in this race, I think you can attribute to her involvement in the end,” McKoon said.

Chambliss defeated Martin by 58 percent to 42 percent with 97 percent of precincts reporting. Chambliss only took 49.8 percent of the vote Nov. 4. Martin took around 46 percent. The race included Libertarian Allen Buckley, who got 3.4 percent.

Local Democratic Party Chairwoman Alice Pate watched the numbers roll in from the Rankin. While she wasn’t as ready as the major networks to call the race for Chambliss, she wanted to see how close the margin got.

Palin, Pate said, didn’t make a difference in those numbers. Those who were going to vote had already made up their minds.

“The numbers are going to get a lot closer,” Pate said. “We’ll wait to see how close we get. That’ll tell us a lot about 2010.”

Local Democrats are already looking at the possibility of recapturing the state’s governorship in two years. That momentum could potentially tip Georgia back into a blue state come 2012’s presidential election, Pate said.

She also expects that momentum to get legislation passed regardless of the filibuster-proof number being met. Democrats now hold majorities in the House and Senate and they have the White House. The reason meaningful legislation hasn’t been passed in the past two years is because of Republican filibusters, Pate said.

It’d be easier to get bills passed with the magic number, but not impossible.

“It’s very important (Obama) succeed in these next two years,” Pate said. “I do believe that the momentum is on our side.”

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