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Lincoln defeats Boozman, Dems retain Arkansas Senate seat
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.(AllPolitics, November 3) -- Former Rep. Blanche Lambert Lincoln has defeated Republican opponent Fay Boozman to win the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Dale Bumpers.
Lincoln, who served two terms in the House before stepping down in 1996 to raise her twin sons, had maintained a consistent lead since winning the Democratic nomination in May.
She all but sewed up the race after Boozman made some politically damaging comments about rape several weeks ago.
A state senator, ophthalmologist and vocal abortion opponent, Boozman commented in several speeches that pregnancy from sexual assault was rare, because of hormonal surges that result from the stress endured by a woman during a rape.
Although Boozman eventually apologized for the remarks, Lincoln, 38, seized on the gaffe and in the week before the election, an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper poll gave the Democrat a 20-point lead.
Lincoln won the Democratic nomination by beating three opponents: a wealthy state representative, a lawyer who had run for lieutenant governor and Attorney General Winston Bryant, whom she easily beat in a runoff.
Some analysts had predicted a competitive race for the open seat, because the Republican party holds both the governor's chair and Arkansas' other Senate seat.
The retiring Bumpers's was first elected to the Senate in 1974.
Political analyst Stuart Rothenberg contributed to this report.
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