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]] The United States Senate election, 2004 was an election for one-third of the seats in the United States Senate which coincided with the Re-election of George W. Bush as President and the United States House Election , as well as many state and local elections. Senators who were elected in 1998 , known as Senate Class 3 , were seeking reelection or retiring in 2004. Republicans won six seats but lost two themselves, giving them a net gain of four seats: conservative Democrat Zell Miller of Georgia , who campaigned for President Bush , chose not to run for re-election and Republican Johnny Isakson won his seat; Democrat Fritz Hollings of South Carolina chose not to run for re-election and Republican Jim DeMint succeeded him; Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee John Edwards did not run for re-election and Republican Richard Burr won that seat; Democrat Bob Graham chose not to run for re-election, and his seat went to Republican Mel Martinez ; Democrat John Breaux chose not to run for re-election and Republican David Vitter won his seat, and in South Dakota , Republican John Thune defeated the incumbent Senate minority leader Tom Daschle . Republican Senator Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois chose not to run for re-election and Democrat Barack Obama won a landslide, becoming the only black Senator and only the 3rd since Reconstruction . Also, Republican Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado chose not to run for re-election and Democrat Ken Salazar won the open seat. RESULTS, SUMMARY MAJOR PARTIES The Senate, as of the pre-election 108th Congress , was composed of 51 Republican s, 48 Democrat s, and 1 independent. (The independent, Jim Jeffords of Vermont , was allied with the Democratic caucus and had voted with Democrats to give them the majority in the past.) The Democrats, therefore, needed to make a net gain of at least two seats from retiring or incumbent Republicans to gain control of the Senate. In the election, incumbent senators won reelection in all races but one ( Democratic Leader Tom Daschle , in South Dakota , lost to Republican John Thune ). The seats of retiring senators were taken by the opposing party in Colorado , Florida , Georgia , Illinois , Louisiana , North Carolina , and South Carolina . In fact, the only retiring senator whose seat was taken by a member of his party was Republican Don Nickles of Oklahoma , who was succeeded by Tom Coburn . Republicans gained four seats in the 2004 elections, and entered the 109th Congress with a 55-44-1 lead. While such a majority is formidable, it is still less than the 60 seats needed to override a Filibuster and completely control the body's agenda and procedures.
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