With Arlen Specter's defection and Al Franken's expected win this summer, Democrats will have 60 seats in the Senate for first time in 30 years. According to Senate.gov, Democrats have held 60 or more seats in the Senate during two periods since there have been 50 states in the union: 1959 to 1969 and again from 1975 to 1979. When Clinton came into power, Democrats had 57 seats but lost one in June when Kay Bailey Hutchison won a special election in Texas.