In another closely watched Senate race, Republican Bob Corker defeated Harold Ford in Tennessee to fill the seat held by Bill Frist. Ford was attempting to become the first African-American Senator elected in the South since Reconstruction. He was the target of a Republican ad campaign that was widely viewed as racist. One television ad featured a white woman with blonde hair acting as a Playboy model. At the end of the ad she winks and whispers “Harold call me.” Critics said the ad made an implicit appeal to deep-seated racial fears about black men and white women. Last night in his concession speech, Ford described the campaign as debasing.

Harold Ford: “I love my country more than I love this process. And as sometimes demeaning and debasing as this process can be, sometimes we sometimes easily forget that when politics works, people live better lives and safer lives.”

Exit polls showed voters were most concerned with corruption and scandals in government, the Iraq war, the economy and the issue of terrorism. The White House has said little about the election outcome but President Bush is scheduled to hold a news conference later today.