NewsCenter 7’s Washington Bureau reporter Scott Macfarlane also said the nation’s most heated Senate race also hangs in the balance.

Delphi wants to close 21 U.S. plants, including four in the Miami Valley. The company plans to cut jobs and slash wages, but said it has to do so to survive.

Beneath the amber lights of Delphi’s Kettering plant, workers go about their jobs, unsure if they will still be working in 2007. Some are wondering if these jobs will be headed to Asia to save Delphi money and help it survive.

Meanwhile, beneath the Capitol dome in Washington, Sen. Mike DeWine and his challenger, Rep. Sherrod Brown, go about their jobs, both trying to convince Ohio voters that they are doing more than the other to solve Delphi’s problem.

DeWine recently met with Delphi’s CEO and said, “He didn’t have very good news for Ohio -- particularly for Dayton. I talked to him about my deep concern for the workers. We’re working now on a pension issue.”

The senator voted for new pension legislation, which he said would prevent Delphi employees from getting stuck with government-funded pensions, if Delphi defaults.

Brown said the Senate should work to penalize companies who default on pensions. He said, “It’s outrageous. I’ve seen it in all parts of the state, where big industry has promised pensions and health-care benefits to workers. And, when the time comes, they turn their backs on them.”

Brown also said, recent free trade agreements, including the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which he opposed and DeWine supported, have crippled American manufacturers like Delphi.

With such a close race, and with the Delphi cloud looming over voters throughout the Miami Valley, the Delphi dispute could decide this race.