Independent U.S. Senate candidate Greg Orman poses with his wife Sybil at the Clint Bowyers Community Center in the west end of Emporia, Kans.,Mark Reinstein—Corbis
One of the more intriguing possibilities on Election Day is a tie in the Senate with Kansas Independent Greg Orman as the kingmaker. While Orman has not said who he would caucus with should he beat incumbent GOP Senator Pat Roberts, Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he’s confident that Orman will join the Democrats.
“We have a chance of picking up an independent who will be with us in the state of Kansas,” said Biden in a radio interview with WPLR, a Connecticut radio station. Biden added that he thinks Senate Democrats will hold the majority with about 52 senators, with victories in North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, New Hampshire and Alaska.
Biden’s comments play into the Republicans’ narrative that Orman is really a Democrat. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus has said it’s “impossible” that he would caucus with the GOP, even though Orman has maintained that he would align with whoever wins the majority.
Still, the odds are that the Senate won’t come down to Orman, since most forecasters expect Republicans to win more than enough seats to take the majority with or without the Kansas independent.
Orman campaign manager Jim Jonas said in an emailed statement that the candidate has “never spoken to the Vice President in his life.”
“Greg is an Independent, and he’s not going to Washington [to] represent the Democrats or the Republicans—he’s going to represent the people of Kansas,” added Jonas.
See Where America Votes
Salvador Ponce, 73, leaves after casting his ballot at a polling place set up in the playground of a McDonald's restaurant in Los Angeles on Nov. 4, 2014.Jae C. Hong—APPeople vote at the polling place in Krishna Temple in Salt Lake City on Nov. 4, 2014. Rick Bowmer—APA woman votes at a polling station inside a local grocery store in National City, Calif. on Nov. 4, 2014. Mike Blake—ReutersA voter works on his ballot at First Class Barber Shop in Chicago on Nov. 4, 2014.Brian Kersey—Getty ImagesSandy Anderson votes at Oakton Ice Arena in Park Ridge, Ill. on Nov. 4, 2014.Brian Kersey—Getty ImagesVoter Larry Levatte casts his ballot inside the old Hoggards Mill Courthouse of Baker County in Newton, Ga. on Nov. 4, 2014. David Goldman—APDeborah Brown, 60, emerges from the voting booth after casting her ballot at the West Philadelphia YMCA in Philadelphia on Nov. 4, 2014. MARK MAKELA—REUTERSA voter leaves his booth as election workers GayLee Erickson, left, and Debbie Redmond, second from left, confer at the Valley Bible Chalet, in Indian, Alaska on Nov. 4, 2014.Ted S. Warren—APPoll worker Maria Soroka finishes setting up a polling station in a garage before polls open in San Diego on Nov. 4, 2014.Gregory Bull—APA voter casts her ballot at a fire station in Climax, N.C. on Nov. 4, 2014.Alex Wong—Getty ImagesA voter looks over her ballot for the U.S. midterm elections at a laundromat used as a polling station in Chicago on Nov. 4, 2014. Jim Young—ReutersA woman fills out her ballot at a polling place at a swimming pool in Los Angeles on Nov. 4, 2014. LUCY NICHOLSON—REUTERSVoters fill out their ballots in a gym on election day at St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church in Albany, N.Y. on Nov. 4.Mike Groll—APVoters fill in their ballots at a polling place located in Shoaf's Wagon Wheel in Salisbury, N.C. on Nov. 4, 2014. CHRIS KEANE—REUTERSResidents cast their votes at a polling place in Ferguson, Mo. on Nov. 4, 2014.Scott Olson—Getty ImagesA voter drops her election ballot at one of many ballot drop boxes in the Arvada suburb of Denver on Nov. 4, 2014. BOB PEARSON—EPAA voter enters the voting booth at Bishop Leo E. O'Neil Youth Center in Manchester, N.H. on Nov. 4, 2014.Darren McCollester—Getty ImagesA voter leaves the Valley Bible Chalet polling location in Indian, Alaska on Nov. 4, 2014.Ted S. Warren—AP
