[laughter] senator tom carper and lieutenant governor matt denn. thank you all for being here today, and if you're all ready, i will turn it over to secretary ray mabus, our 75th secretary of the navy. >> well, thank you all for being here. i particularly want to thank dr. biden for being here, senior senator from delaware, tom carper, and the lieutenant governor of delaware, matt denn. and, dr. biden, i understand you have brought your spouse with you. >> yes, i have. [laughter] >> i'm pleased to announce today ha one of our most advanced navy platforms, a fast attack nuclear submarine, ssn791, will be named uss delaware. the name "delaware" has been prominent and honored throughout our great naval history, but the it is a name that has been out of our fleet for too long, and i am happy to change that today. seven ships have been named for the first state stretching back to navy's earliest days of wooden ships under sail. the last uss delaware was navy's first dread naught, a coal-burning, steam-powered, all big gun battleship. but that delaware d

delaware, tom carper, one of the few remaining moderates in the senate, democrat, he is winning re-election, we project. maryland, cnn is projecting senator ben cardin is going to win. same goes for sheldon whitehouse, democratic senator from rhode island. cnn projecting he has won another term. still, the drama is in those competitive races. those too close to call. we will go back to the state of indiana. look at this. it is still pretty -- it was pretty close but look at this. joe donnelly, the democratic candidate, pulled ahead of richard mourdock. he is a republican candidate who made the big faux pas in talking about the fact he believes pregnancy as a result of rape is a gift from god. he plummeted in the polls. 29% reporting right now but so far, joe donnelly looks like he is ahead. republicans say that romney has to outperform romney by ten points to win. in virginia, also very, very close. only 17% of the vote reporting but george allen is ahead by almost 34,000 points. tim kaine is a former governor. >> let's look again, how any of this affects the balance of power. >> remember,

>> tom carper is set to take over that panel. joe lieberman is retiring and susan collins, the ranking republican, is term limits it out, as we were talking about what the house of folks. senate republicans have that same rule. it looks like it will be tom cole born -- tom coburn. he has a reputation for being a finger in the i kind of guy. but he has actually been very serious and a talented group of people work for him on the committee doing investigations and what not. carper is a pretty conciliatory guy. i actually think they will get along pretty well. and both of them will likely be focused on the government affairs part of the committee -- homeland security. i am sure they have a particular interest in that particular subject area. >> what other top seats are changing hands? >> another big one is budget committee. kent conrad is also retiring. patty murray is up for that seat. we say she is the favorite, and i agree. i do think there is a possibility she does not take it. last time i talk to her people but they told me tha

>> yeah, tom carper's set to take over that panel.joe lieberman's retiring, and susan collins, who's the ranking republican, is term limited out, again, because as we were talking about with the house folks, senate republicans have that same rule. and so it looks like it's going to be tom coburn. which might seem a little, you know, i think coburn has a reputation of being, um, you know, a finger in the eye kind of guy. but he's actually been very serious, and he has a very talented group of people working for him on that committee doing investigations and what not. and carper's a pretty conciliatory guy. i actually think that they'll probably get along pretty well. and both of them will likely be focused on that government affairs part of the committee. um, not that they're going to ignore homeland security, i'm sure they won't. but i think they both have a particular interest in that, in that particular subject area. >> what other top seats are changing hands? >> well, another big one is the budget committee. kent conrad also retiri

not only bringing them back to the senate, veterans like sherrod brown and tom carper and dianne feinsteinsaved claire mccaskill and jon tester and picked up four outstanding new senate democrats, elizabeth warren, tammy baldwin heidi heifkamp and joe donnelly. strong enough to push the obama agenda through the senate and to block the tea party agenda coming over from house republicans. another reason to keep that big smile on our face! s here on this election week. great to see you today folks. go out and have a great thursday and come on back. join the conversation again tomorrow morning.

>> tom carper is set to take over that panel. joe lieberman is retiring and susan collins, the ranking republican, is term limits it out, as we were talking about what the house of folks. senate republicans have that same rule. it looks like it will be tom cole born -- tom coburn. he has a reputation for being a finger in the i kind of guy. but he has actually been very serious and a talented group of people work for him on the committee doing investigations and what not. carper is a pretty conciliatory guy. i actually think they will get along pretty well. and both of them will likely be focused on the government affairs part of the committee -- homeland security. i am sure they have a particular interest in that particular subject area. >> what other top seats are changing hands? >> another big one is budget committee. kent conrad is also retiring. patty murray is up for that seat. we say she is the favorite, and i agree. i do think there is a possibility she does not take it. last time i talk to her people but they told me tha

in the state of delaware, that tom carper has won reelection. >> ifill: and in the state of florida, bill nelson, who actually had been running against connie mack, the son and grandson of the famous connie mack, he has also won reelection, even though connie mack had been making a late surge. >> woodruff: both of those democrats. in the state of maryland, another return this isenat ben cardin, returning for his second term. >> ifill: and in rhode island, sheldon whitehouse, a good friend of the president's, returning to the senate. >> woodruff: here we have a republican in the state of tennessee, bob corker re-elected to a second term. >> ifill: jeffrey brown will be watching the congressional races for us all night. jeff, here's your first pass. >> brown: thank you, and with me is christina bellantoni and stuart rothenberg, editor of the rothen berg report to help so throu the senate races. let's start with florida, christina. >> none of the races that gwen and judy just mentioned called by the associated press were a big surprise but florida was an opportunity for the republicans.