Democrats inched closer to realising their hopes of a 60-seat “super-majority” in the US Senate yesterday after Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the chamber, lost his Alaska seat.

Mr Stevens, who saw his 40-year career in the Senate end yesterday on his 85th birthday, lost to Mark Begich, the Democratic Mayor of Anchorage. His defeat by 3,724 votes was clearly linked to his conviction on corruption charges days before the November 4 election.

Mr Begich’s win gives Democrats their 58th Senate seat, with the party still awaiting the results of a recount in Minnesota - where the Republican candidate led by only 215 votes after the first count - and a run-off election in Georgia on December 2.

A 60-seat majority would allow Democrats in the Senate to break Republican filibusters - a blocking tactic - meaning that Barack Obama’s legislative agenda could be passed largely unfettered.

The downfall of Mr Stevens is one of the more extraordinary stories of the Senate’s long history.

A legend on Capitol Hill, he was famous - his critics say infamous - for bringing huge amounts of federal “pork barrel” projects back to Alaska. A week before the November 4 election, he was convicted on seven federal criminal charges, after he hid gifts and services including a renovation of his home by a company he was accused of steering government contracts to.

Remarkably, he appeared to have beaten Mr Begich after the first count and, having tied his conviction up in the appeals courts, looked set to return to the Senate as a convicted felon. Mr Stevens claims that he was wrongly convicted and his appeal will be heard next year.

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