U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., has won his second full term on Capitol Hill -- striking a blow to the pro-family movement.
Nelson, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, defeated Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Fla., for the seat, 58 percent to 41 percent, according to Fox News exit-poll projections. Nelson, first elected in 2000, voted against the Marriage Protection Amendment earlier this year and has a consistent 0-percent rating with the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC). Harris, on the other hand, voted to pass the Marriage Protection Amendment in the House and enjoys a 100-percent rating with the NRLC.
Carrie Gordon Earll, director of issue analysis for Focus on the Family Action, said how life issues fare will depend mostly on which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives. But the Senate will determine what kind of judges the nation has.
"It would have been good to have [Harris] in that seat because of the types of judicial candidates she would have supported," Earll said. "There continue to be rumors that there will be a Supreme Court vacancy, and the Senate is key to having justices who practice judicial restraint. We've got to have a strong enough majority in the Senate that we can get good judges."
