Call them the 49 percent majority makers, a path blazed 20 years ago that Democrats probably need to replicate this fall.
Back in 2006, when they gained six seats and the Senate majority, Democrats relied on a trio of victories that came courtesy of a plurality: Claire McCaskill winning Missouri with 49.6 percent of the vote; Jon Tester winning Montana with 49.2 percent; and Jim Webb winning Virginia with 49.6 percent.
In each race, a small but significant bloc of voters ignored the two major parties’ candidates and cast ballots for independent options or wrote in their own alternative. Democratic challengers didn’t need to clear 50 percent to win in those solidly red states, opening the door for plurality victories and the narrowest possible majority, 51-49, in January 2007.