Joseph I. Lieberman

Connecticut

Lieberman, 64, is the first senator in modern times to win a general election after losing a party primary -- let alone to claim a chairmanship right afterward. The vice presidental running mate to Al Gore in 2000, Lieberman won as an independent after his defeat in the primary by Connecticut Democrats.

An Orthodox Jew first elected to the Senate in 1988, Lieberman has been a strong voice on moral issues. In recent years, he has at times broken with mainstream Democratic views on certain issues, proving more willing than most in the party to work with the Bush administration -- most notably in supporting the Iraq war even as casualities mounted and public opposition rose.

Lieberman has, however, opposed many of the administration's energy and environmental policies. He was an early proponent of a Department of Homeland Security and, more recently, agreed with many recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission on how to guard against future terrorism, including the creation of a national director of intelligence.