Industry officials said the election also saw the victory of a number of people to state supreme courts who are viewed as sympathetic to the industry position on product liability litigation, and passage of several initiatives supported by the industry also seen as cutting the cost of product liability litigation.

"Yesterday's election represented a great victory for proponents of legal reform," said Julie Rochman, senior vice president, public affairs at the American Insurance Association.

"Clearly, our members have been strong advocates for legal reform at both the federal and state levels," she said. Besides the fact that Republicans picked up seats in the Senate, Ms. Rochman said, "several fair-minded supreme court judges were elected at the state level, and on a series of ballot initiatives, the business community and pro-legal reform allies carried the day."

In the view of insurance organization advocates, the defeat of Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., opened the potential for his replacement as minority leader by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who has been unabashed in his support of the insurance industry.

Not only is Sen. Dodd a proponent of class action reform, he has been supportive throughout his congressional career of the insurance industry and is regarded as a skilled political operative in the very clubby Senate, where personal relationships and seniority are critical.

His only substantive contender for the minority leader's post is Sen. Harry Reid, Nev., currently Sen. Daschle's top assistant as minority whip.

The industry did lose one major supporter with the defeat of Rep. Phil Crane, R-Ill. According to several industry lobbyists, Rep. Crane has been an advocate for the industry during the 35 years he served in the House. Rep. Crane is a ranking member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee and chairman of its Subcommittee on Trade. He was defeated by Democrat Melissa Bean.

David Winston, senior vice president for governmental affairs at the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, viewed the election as helping the industry in its effort to have the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act renewed.

"The election was pretty clear," Mr. Winston said. "Terrorism played a major role in the minds of voters," he said. "President Bush has continued to call this a war on terrorism. NAMIC believes terrorism is an uninsurable risk, and it is the government's responsibility to provide a financial backstop and not expose the industry to financial ruin."

In a rundown of how specific issues should play out in the next Congress, Peter Lefkin, senior vice president for government and external affairs for Allianz of America and the senior property-casualty lobbyist in Washington, said that the opportunity for securing class legislation has significantly improved.

"The Senate was very close to an agreement last year, and a bipartisan consensus emerged in the Senate this year," he remarked.

Mr. Lefkin said that the "general perception is that the Senate was one or two votes short of overcoming a filibuster and supporters now have those extra two votes" [through election of five Republicans in the South Tuesday].

In addition, Mr. Lefkin said, "should Sen. Dodd ascend to minority leader, that would portend positive news for proponents of class action reform. Sen. Dodd was frustrated by the inability to get a bipartisan consensus, and he would commit himself to making sure that class action reform happens this year."

Mr. Lefkin added that it is "difficult to measure whether he will win. Both Sens. Dodd and Reid have both been making phone calls in anticipation of a loss by Sen. Daschle."

Regarding asbestos abatement legislation, Mr. Lefkin said that is going to be harder, a harder push than class action reform."

He explained that "Sen. Specter has always been supportive, but the problem is that it will be a politically charged issue. With a likely number of Supreme Court retirees, the Senate Judiciary Committee will have a full plate."

Mr. Lefkin added that regarding extension of TRIA, which expires at the end of 2005, "the hard part is that the Congress is less relevant to what happens in TRIA than the activity of the Bush Administration, where no clear position has emerged. The Bush Administration was the driving impetus behind TRIA in 2002, and for it to be re-enacted, that will have to occur again."