Another area congressman who narrowly won reelection in 2006 is Randy Kuhl, a Republican from Hammondsport, Steuben County. He represents the 29th district, which covers Monroe County’s southeastern suburbs.
A Kuhl spokeswoman said today he had not decided whether he would run for reelection.
On balance, I’d say this would likely be a slightly net negative for Democratic challenger Eric Massa. Kuhl sucks, and a stronger local Republican might have a better shot at retaining this R+5.2 district.
http://www.floridatoday.com/bl…
R+4 District, centering around Melbourne in East Central Florida. Weldon got 56% in 2006.
24 official retirements, with plenty of other possible retirements.
i see this a lot in people’s posts about incumbents retiring. the logic is that in a solidly republcian district, it’s better to have a damaged incumbent than a generic new republican candidate.
i agree, with ted stevens being the most notable remaining example. doolittle and cubin sadly decided to give up their seats. but what does everyone think a “solid” republican seat is?
an R+5.2 doesn’t seem that solid and randy kuhl may suck but is he mired in scandal? it seems to me that in a district like this, a fractured republican field, much lower name rec for their candidate, and the fundraising advantage that Mr. Massa may have would make it better to have an open seat.
Note that neither of today’s losers were on James L’s watch list posted just the other day.
And note that Massa is not the only Dem candidate who came close in ’06, only to get his heart broken. (Well, not his heart only, but also all of us out here in the great cyberspace fan club.) But this year they are getting the payoff they worked so hard to get.
That stuff about “Fight for every district!” and “Contest every race!” and “Don’t concede any state” doesn’t sound like just so much cheerleading any more. It sounds like advice on how to win a and how to get elected!
It’s unfinished business from the 2006 cycle.
My agenda again:
1) Clear out the GOP incumbents in the Northeast and Atlantic Seaboard
2) pick the softest corruption fruit, like Ted Stevens, Doolittle’s seat (try not to get any onya!)
3) move attention to the West, where the GOP has forgotten how to run candidates who are conservative but pro-wilderness. They voted an oilman into the White House, and that tipped the scales against national parks and clean air in their party. Their brand is tarnishing in states they could formerly take for granted. I’d rather go after Westerners, who are pro-Earth and opposed to government snooping, than after southerners. Low-cost media markets, and all those electoral votes mount up in a hurry.
4) re-forge our historic alliance with unions, in the MidWest and Rust Belt states
5) consolidate Hawaii. I worry about Linda Lingle’s ambitions, and their whole delegation should be rabid liberals, not a mix.