Democratic dreams of a 60-seat filibuster-proof “supermajority” in the US Senate ended last night after a Republican victory in a run-off election in Georgia.

Saxby Chambliss, the Republican incumbent, easily defeated his Democratic challenger, Jim Martin, after a bitterly contested rematch which was triggered after their November 4 contest left neither of them with a clear 50 per cent majority.

The result leaves one Senate contest still undecided - an ongoing recount in Minnesota - but means that Democrats will not reach the magic 60-seat majority in the upper chamber that allows a party to pass legislation largely unfettered by the opposition.

Yet even if the recount in Minnesota goes against the Democratic challenger there, Barack Obama’s party will still have 58 seats in the Senate. With a few moderate Republicans likely to back much of his agenda early in his term, he is on course to pass a swathe of legislation without significant trouble.

With 70 percent of the precincts reporting, Mr Chambliss had captured 60 percent to Mr Martin's 40 percent.

Mr Chambliss' win was a rare bright spot for Republicans in a year where they lost the White House as well as seats in the House and the Senate.

It also spoke to the fact that the party has been reduced to a redoubt in the South, and will have to appeal anew to voters in the midwest and southwest as it seeks to recover from a significant rejection by US voters.

"It's been a hard and tough four weeks," Mr Chambliss said. "We had a hardcore campaign on both sides.”

Mr Chambliss' central message during the runoff campaign was simple: his re-election was critical to prevent Democrats in Washington from having a blank cheque.

He was also helped by some of the biggest names in the party flying in to campaign for him, and millions of dollars poured into the state by the Republicans.

Yesterday, Sarah Palin flew in to Georgia to campaign for Mr Chambliss. The Alaska governor is hugely popular among the party’s grassroot supporters and her appearance was aimed at turning them out.

Mr Martin, by contrast, had one big disadvantage: Mr Obama, this time, was not on the ballot. On November 4, he reaped significant “down ballot” help, particularly from African American voters, because of Mr Obama.

Despite appearances in recent days for Mr Martin by Bill Clinton and Al Gore, Mr Chambliss never looked in danger of losing.

Mr Obama declined to campaign in Georgia for Mr Martin, but recorded a television commercial on his behalf.

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