Tag: House

The 2008 elections won’t only be notable for electing a Democratic President. The 2008 house races will give us a rare opportunity to increase our majority as well as test our defence.

It is great then to see candidates bobbing up and announcing so early in the cycle.

And the news on the filing front is great, courtesy of the 2008 Race Tracker Wiki. Take a look also at DCCritters.

Below the fold for all the news.
(cross posted at MyDD and Daily Kos)

277 races filled! six in the last 2 weeks alone. This of course includes 233 districts held by Democratic Congresscritters (yeh yeh I know some will not run but I am assuming we will find candidates in those districts!)

But we also have 44 GOP held districts with confirmed Democratic opponents.

So without further ado:
1) The GOP held districts with confirmed Democratic challengers are as follows:
AZ-02,
AZ-03,
AR-03,
CA-04,
CA-26,
CA-41, [In the event of a special election but he will run in 2008 methinks!]
CA-48,
CT-04,
FL-01,
FL-09,
FL-13, [Either through the House of Reps investigation or Jennings has committed to another run.]
FL-21,
FL-25,
GA-10 [SPECIAL ELECTION JUNE 19TH],
ID-01,
IL-10,
IL-14,
IN-06,
IA-04,
IA-05,
MI-07,
MN-06,
MO-09,
MT-AL,
NE-02,
NV-03,
NJ-07,
NJ-11,
NM-02,
NY-25,
NY-29,
NC-08,
NC-09,
OH-02,
OH-07,
OH-15,
PA-03,
PA-15,
TX-04,
TX-08,
TX-13,
VA-06,
WA-08,
WI-01,

2) The following 3 GOP held districts have candidates that are expected to run but are yet to confirm:
NJ-05,
OH-01,
OH-14,

3) We also have the following 37 GOP held districts have rumoured candidates – please note that some of these “rumours” are extremely tenuous!
AL-01,
AL-04,
AK-AL,
AZ-01,
AZ-06,
CA-03,
CA-42,
CA-45,
CO-04,
DE-AL,
FL-06,
FL-12,
KY-05,
MI-09,
MN-02,
MO-06,
NE-03,
NJ-02,
NJ-03,
NJ-04,
NM-01,
NY-03,
NY-13,
NY-26,
NC-03,
OH-16,
PA-06,
PA-18,
TN-07,
TX-02,
TX-03,
TX-10,
TX-14,
UT-03,
VA-01,
VA-11,
WV-02,

4) And last but not least the following 118 districts have not a single rumoured candidate:
AL-02,
AL-03,
AL-06,
CA-02,
CA-19,
CA-21,
CA-22,
CA-24,
CA-25,
CA-40,
CA-44,
CA-46,
CA-49,
CA-50,
CA-52,
CO-05,
CO-06,
FL-04,
FL-05,
FL-07,
FL-08,
FL-10,
FL-14,
FL-15,
FL-18,
FL-24,
GA-01,
GA-03,
GA-06,
GA-07,
GA-09,
GA-11,
ID-02,
IL-06,
IL-11,
IL-13,
IL-15,
IL-16,
IL-18,
IL-19,
IN-03,
IN-04,
IN-05,
KS-01,
KS-04,
KY-01,
KY-02,
KY-04,
LA-01,
LA-04,
LA-05,
LA-06,
LA-07,
MD-01,
MD-06,
MI-02,
MI-03,
MI-04,
MI-06,
MI-08,
MI-10,
MI-11,
MI-12,
MN-03,
MS-01,
MS-03,
MO-02,
MO-07,
MO-08,
NE-02,
NV-02,
NY-23,
NC-05,
NC-06,
NC-10,
OH-03,
OH-04,
OH-05,
OH-08,
OH-12,
OK-01,
OK-03,
OK-04,
OK-05,
OR-02,
PA-05,
PA-09,
PA-16,
PA-19,
SC-01,
SC-02,
SC-03,
SC-04,
TN-01,
TN-02,
TN-03,
TX-01,
TX-05,
TX-06,
TX-11,
TX-12,
TX-19,
TX-21,
TX-24,
TX-26,
TX-31,
TX-32,
UT-01,
VA-02,
VA-04,
VA-05,
VA-07,
VA-10,
WA-04,
WA-05,
WI-05,
WI-06,
WY-AL,

Please note that in some races others at the racetracker site have confirmed candidates that I haven’t. This is because to satisfy me a confirmed candidate has either filed with the FEC, The Sec of State or has an active campaign website, or even if they come and blog and say yep I am running. Others are not so rigorous.

Praise to those states where we allready have a full slate of house candidates – Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Vermont
Praise also to those State parties that have obviously been very aggressive in candidate recruitment. Ohio and Florida for instance have nearly full slates.

Tips, rumours and whatnot in the comments please.

I wanted to share with everyone a brand new site that we have been putting together over the past couple of months: DC Critters.

This site lists every House and Senate incumbent and the vote totals by county for each race. The site also lists any challenger or potential challenger for the seat in 2008 (the Senate seats that are up in 2010 and 2012 will be updated as candidates announce as well.)

This should be somewhat of a clearinghouse for election data and candidate announcements so we will keep it updated as the candidates begin to announce for 2008.

If you are a data geek like us, this site is pure heaven!

Another month, another opportunity to pause and take stock of all the potential retirements by some of the sun-ravaged mummy husks currently occupying the House of Representatives. Like last time, I’ve put together two charts: one tracking definite retirements and the other potential retirements, listing each district by its incumbent, PVI, and the representative’s age on election day in 2008. With a fresh batch of House retirement speculation straight from Karl “MC” Rove himself, the potential open seat playing field has expanded considerably.

Definite House Retirements

District	Incumbent	Party	PVI	Age	Notes
CA-52	Hunter	R	R+9.3	60	Running for President
CO-02	Udall	D	D+8.1	58	Running for Senate
IL-04	Gutierrez	D	D+30.7	54	Retiring

Since last time, there’s been only one addition to the definite list of retirements (Hunter), and one subtraction: an astute reader sent us this Roll Call link from last December, which indicates that Elton Gallegly is intending to run again in 2008. Still, he was marked by Rove as a potential retirement in the GSA Powerpoint, so he won’t be going from our other watchlist anytime soon:

Potential House Retirements

District	Incumbent	Party	PVI	Age	Notes
AK-AL	Young	R	R+14.3	75	Speculation*
AL-02	Everett	R	R+13.2	72	Speculation/Rumors
CA-24	Gallegly	R	R+4.8	64	Botched a retirement attempt in 2006*
CA-25	McKeon	R	R+7.1	70	Speculation*
CA-41	Lewis	R	R+9.0	74	Speculation*
DE-AL	Castle	R	D+6.5	69	Health issues*
FL-10	Young	R	D+1.1	78	Age issues/Speculation*
IL-14	Hastert	R	R+4.8	67	Hastert issues*
IN-07	Carson	D	D+8.7	70	Health issues
IA-03	Boswell	D	D+1.4	74	Health issues
IA-04	Latham	R	D+0.4	60	Possible Senate run
IA-05	King	R	R+8.4	59	Possible Senate run
LA-01	Jindal	R	R+18.5	37	Running for Governor*
LA-06	Baker	R	R+6.5	60	Possible Senate run
MD-06	Bartlett	R	R+12.8	82	Age issues*
ME-01	Allen	D	D+6.2	63	Likely Senate run
MI-03	Ehlers	R	R+9.0	74	Speculation*
MI-09	Knollenberg	R	R+0.1	75	Speculation*
MT-AL	Rehberg	R	R+10.8	53	Possible Senate run
NC-09	Myrick	R	R+12.2	67	Speculation*
NE-02	Terry	R	R+9.0	46	Possible Senate run
OH-16	Regula	R	R+3.6	84	Age issues/Speculation*
TX-04	Hall	R	R+17.1	85	Age issues
VA-11	Davis	R	R+0.6	59	Possible Senate run*
WY-AL	Cubin	R	R+19.4	61	Speculation*

All districts marked with an asterisk* were identified as possible open seats in the Rove-generated GSA presentation.

On the face of it, there could potentially be a fair bit of open red turf to play in next year. One district I have my eye on is Richard Baker’s LA-06. While Kerry won only 40% of the vote there in 2004 (and Gore 43% in 2000), the game could potentially be quite different in 2008. Baton Rouge, the population center of this district, absorbed between 50,000 to 100,000 Hurricane Katrina and Rita refugees from New Orleans since 2005. You can bet that Sen. Mary Landrieu will be mining all of the displaced (and presumably Democratic) voters she can in her re-election bid next year; a strong Democratic House challenger would be well-placed to ride on those coattails. Throw an open seat into the mix, and things could get very, very interesting.

Many of you already know the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s held a hearing today entitled “Allegations of Misconduct at the General Services Administration.”  One of the allegations explored by the committee was the misuse of GSA funds and resources for political purposes, and the document on which this allegation is based is a Power Point presentation delivered by Karl Rove’s aide Scott Jennings.  The presentation, delivered 26 January 2007, is the official 2007 and 2008 strategy of the White House Office of Political Affairs.  Included therein are graphs and charts pertaining to district PVI, Presidential party performance in midterm elections, overall Presidential party performance during a particular President’s term, House seat statistics, including PVI, party affiliation in recent elections, partisan identification trends, data on the Republicans’ 72 hour program, voter registration data, turnout data, case studies on the success of the 72 hour program and lists of vulnerable House, Senate and gubernatorial seats.  While some of this information is presented in a skewed manner, some of this data is very useful.

Top 20 House Seats Republicans Will Target
order of importance

1 TX-22 (LAMPSON)
2 FL-16 (MAHONEY)
3 CA-11 (McNERNEY)
4 OH-18 (SPACE)
5 IN-09 (HILL)
6 PA-10 (CARNEY)
7 PA-08 (MURPHY)
8 KS-02 (BOYDA)
9 PA-07 (SESTAK)
10 IN-08 (ELLSWORTH)
11 NC-11 (SHULER)
12 TX-23 (RODRIGUEZ)
13 WI-08 (KAGEN)
14 GA-08 (MARSHALL)
15 IN-02 (DONNELLY)
16 GA-12 (BARROW)
17 PA-04 (ALTMIRE)
18 NY-19 (HALL)
19 NY-20 (GILLIBRAND)
20 SD-AL (HERSETH)

HOUSE GOP “PRIORITY DEFENSE”
order of importance
1 PA-06 (GERLACH)
2 FL-13 (BUCHANAN)
3 NC-08 (HAYES)
4 NM-01 (WILSON)
5 CO-04 (MUSGRAVE)
6 IL-06 (ROSKAM)
7 CT-04 (SHAYS)
8 OH-02 (SCHMIDT)
9 VA-02 (DRAKE)
10 WY-AL (CUBIN) – indicates she may retire
11 CA-04 (DOOLITTLE)
12 NV-03 (PORTER)
13 NY-25 (WALSH)
14 OH-15 (PRYCE)
15 NY-29 (KUHL)
16 NJ-07 (FERGUSON)
17 MI-09 (KNOLLENBERG) – indicates he may retire

HOUSE GOP “SECONDARY DEFENSE”
seats are listed in alphabetical order
AK-AL (YOUNG) – indicates he may retire
CA-24 (GALLEGLY) – indicates he may retire
CA-25 (McKEON) – indicates he may retire
CA-41 (LEWIS) – indicates he may retire
CA-42 (MILLER)
CA-52 (HUNTER) – indicates he may retire
DE-AL (CASTLE) – indicates he may retire
FL-10 (YOUNG) – indicates he may retire
IL-10 (KIRK)
IL-14 (HASTERT) – indicates he may retire
KY-02 (LEWIS)
LA-01 (JINDAL) – indicates he may retire
MD-06 (BARTLETT) – indicates he may retire
MI-03 (EHLERS) – indicates he may retire
MI-07 (WALBERG)
NC-09 (MYRICK) – indicates she may retire
OH-16 (REGULA) – indicates he may retire
PA-15 (DENT)
VA-11 (DAVIS) – indicates he may retire

GOP SENATE OFFENSE
in no particular order, as a map illustrates the strategy
MT-SEN (BAUCUS)
SD-SEN (JOHNSON)
IA-SEN (HARKIN)
AR-SEN (PRYOR)
LA-SEN (LANDRIEU)
NJ-SEN (LAUTENBERG)

GOP SENATE DEFENSE
in no particular order, as map illustrates the strategy
OR-SEN (SMITH)
CO-SEN (OPEN)
NM-SEN (DOMENICI)
MN-SEN (COLEMAN)
MS-SEN (COCHRAN)
ME-SEN (COLLINS)
NH-SEN (SUNUNU)
VA-SEN (WARNER)

Alaska, Wyoming, Idaho, Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Michigan, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Delaware, Rhode Island and Massachusetts are considered noncompetitive

GOP OFFENSE – GUBERNATORIAL RACES
in no particular order, as strategy is illustrated with a map
WA-GOV (GREGOIRE)
MT-GOV (SCHWEITZER)
NC-GOV (OPEN)
LA-GOV (BLANCO) – they note this is a 2007 race

GOP DENFENSE – GUBERNATORIAL RACES
in no particular order, as strategy is illustrated with a map
MO-GOV (BLUNT)
IN-GOV (DANIELS)
VT-GOV (DOUGLAS)
MS-GOV (BARBOUR) – they note this is a 2007 race
KY-GOV (FLETCHER) – they note this is a 2007 race

Utah, North Dakota, West Virginia, Delaware and New Hampshire are not considered competitive

Although some of this information is dated, I do find it very useful.  How do you view this document?

It goes without saying that the wave election of last November was an extremely rare spectacle in modern politics–going beyond a mere “six year itch” that Ken Mehlman and friends would like you to believe. Due to the deeply fortified structural advantages that Republican incumbents had going into the 2006 cycle (a limited number of competitive seats due to shrewd gerrymandering, the standard powers of incumbency that were as salient as ever, etc), the intensity of this “wave” is rivaled only by that of 1994’s Republican coup. With that in mind, it’s worth noting what usually happens in the cycle after wave years. From the Hotline archives:

1974: +49D

1976: +1D



1980: +34R

1982: +26D



1994: +52R

1996: +3D

Waves don’t come in pairs for the same party–at least not historically. I suppose, however, that if the GOP managed to nominate a McCain-esque Iraq War cheerleader, it would almost make a second mini-wave (a ripple?) possible. But that’s a hypothetical that we shouldn’t count on at this point.

The point is: we have a number of potentially vulnerable House freshmen and even a few incumbents who probably will lose in 2008. We should get used to this idea, even as we fight our hardest to prevent it from happening. Where do we make up for it? Of course, judiciously targeting vulnerable Republican incumbents (think MI-07’s Club For Growth stooge Tim Walberg, for example) and scandal-plagued members in tippable districts (PA-18’s Tim Murphy would make a good target). The other thing we have to hope for is a strong crop of open seats left vacant by retiring Republicans in winnable districts.

So far, the open seat picture is largely speculative at this point, but I’ve made an attempt to track the number of definite and potential vacancies up for grabs in 2008. The first chart tracks definite retirements, listing each district by its incumbent, PVI, and their age on election day in 2008.

Definite House Retirements

District	Incumbent	PVI	Age	Notes
CA-24	Gallegly (R)	R+4.8	64	Botched a retirement attempt in 2006
CO-02	Udall (D)	D+8.1	58	Running for Senate
IL-04	Gutierrez (D)	D+30.7	54	Retiring

Obviously, that’s a pretty small list at this point, as I’ve restricted it to only confirmed retirements (Gallegly has stated that this term will be his last). This list will grow considerably. There are lots of reasons for retirement: age, health issues, depression due to being in the minority, scandals, vacating the seat to pursue other career aspirations, etc. I’ve done a little bit of research into this question and have come up with a shortlist of potential retirements in districts with a PVI of less than R/D+10 (unless district history leaves me compelled to bend the rules). I could have compiled an extremely thorough list detailing including all of the members with advanced age issues (and let’s face it, we have more than our share of cryptkeepers in Congress), but I think this would be better focused on vacancies with the potential to tip the political balance. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far (and remember, just in case there’s any confusion, “age” here means age on election day, 2008):

Potential House Retirements

District	Incumbent	PVI	Age	Notes
DE-AL	Castle (R)	D+6.5	69	Health issues
FL-10	Young (R)	D+1.1	78	Speculation/age issues
IL-14	Hastert (R)	R+4.8	67	Hastert issues
IN-07	Carson (D)	D+8.7	70	Health issues
IA-03	Boswell (D)	D+1.4	74	Health issues
IA-04	Latham (R)	D+0.4	60	Possible Senate run
IA-05	King (R)	R+8.4	59	Possible Senate run
LA-06	Baker (R)	R+6.5	60	Possible Senate run
ME-01	Allen (D)	D+6.2	63	Likely Senate run
MI-09	Knollenberg (R)	R+0.1	75	Speculation
MT-AL	Rehberg (R)	R+10.8	53	Possible Senate run
NE-02	Terry (R)	R+9.0	46	Possible Senate run
OH-16	Regula (R)	R+3.6	84	Age issues/Speculation
VA-11	Davis (R)	R+0.6	59	Possible Senate run

This is by no means a complete list. There could very well be some left-field retirements that leave both parties scrambling to put up viable candidates, and I haven’t taken into consideration the potentiality of scandal-induced retirements. Additionally, maybe there have been some retirement rumblings surrounding incumbents in swing districts that I haven’t heard about. So, I invite you to join the discussion in the comments. Who do you think is likely to retire in 2008?

On the face of it, I’d say that the potential open seat picture favors Team Blue more than it does Team Red.

I just want to point out for everybody the existence of the “Victory Caucus,” a new GOP pressure group that’s intended to find primary challengers for House members who – like most of the country – oppose Bush’s escalation. The nearest equivalent of the netroots available on the right is all over this, demanding primary challenges.

An instructive comment:
The RINOS who vote for surrender with the Democrats should be removed from office. They join with the Party of Treason in sabotaging the war and in giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

To put this more practically: they’re talking about knocking moderate-ish Republican incumbents out of moderate-ish districts and replacing them with firebreathing conservatives who emphasize particularly their enthusiasm for continuing the war.

This would be of great assistance in preserving our majority. Can you imagine a Redstate-approved hawk trying to win in, say, IL10 or even MN3?

Is there any way we can encourage this? Maybe some direct mail to right-wing voters?

Recent news that Linda Stender, Eric Massa, Dan Maffei and Larry Kissell, to name a few, are all considering rematches inspired me to create  a diary to help find challengers to vulnerable Republicans. Who better to suggest candidates than people who live in or no these districts on an intimate level.

Finding the next Harry Mitchell could turn a Safe GOP seat into a pickup.

Here’s my list of the top fifty GOP house seats that could be in danger in 2008.

Rogers, Mike, Alabama, 3rd
Renzi, Rick, Arizona, 1st
Bilbray, Brian P., California, 50th
Doolittle, John, California, 4th
Musgrave, Marilyn, Colorado, 4th
Shays, Christopher, Connecticut, 4th
Castle, Michael N*., Delaware, At Large
Keller, Ric, Florida 8th
Young, C.W. Bill*, Florida, 10th
Buchanan, Vern, Florida, 13th
Latham, Tom *, Iowa, 4th
Roskam, Peter J., Illinois, 6th
Kirk, Mark., Illinois, 10th
Souder, Mark E., Indiana, 3rd
Walberg, Timothy, Michigan, 7th
Rogers, Mike, Michigan, 8th
Knollenberg, Joseph, Michigan, 9th
McCotter, Thaddeus, Michigan, 11th
Bachmann, Michele, Minnesota, 6th
Ramstad, Jim *, Minnesota, 3rd
Rehberg, Dennis, Montana, At Large
Fortenberry, Jeff, Nebraska, 1st
Terry, Lee, Nebraska, 2nd
Ferguson, Michael, New Jersey, 7th
Garrett, Scott, New Jersey, 5th
LoBiondo, Frank, New Jersey, 2nd
Heller, Dean, Nevada, 2nd
Porter, Jon, Nevada, 3rd
Kuhl Jr., John R. “Randy”, New York, 29th
Wilson, Heather, New Mexico, 1st
King, Pete, New York, 3rd
Fossella, Vito, New York, 13th
Reynolds, Thomas M., New York, 26th
Walsh, Jim, New York, 25th
Hayes, Robin, North Carolina, 8th
Chabot, Steve, Ohio, 1st
Schmidt, Jean, Ohio, 2nd
Tiberi, Pat, Ohio, 12th
Pryce, Deborah, Ohio, 15th
Regula, Ralph *, Ohio, 16th
English, Phil, Pennsylvania, 3rd
Gerlach, Jim, Pennsylvania, 6th
Dent, Charles W., Pennsylvania, 15th
Murphy, Tim, Pennsylvania, 18th
Paul, Ron, Texas, 14th
Drake, Thelma D., Virginia, 2nd
Wolf, Frank, Virginia, 10th
Davis, Tom, Virginia, 11th
Reichert, David G., Washington, 8th
Ryan, Paul*, Wisconsin, 1st
Capito, Shelley Moore, West Virginia, 2nd
Cubin, Barbara, Wyoming, At Large

* This race is only competitive if the incumbent retires or runs for another office.

2006 left us with few “low hanging fruit” targets.

Seats like PA-06, NV-03, OH-15, NY-25, NC-08 WA-08 and NM-01  need top challenges, as do lower tier races like IL-10 and PA-15. Let’s find the next batch of Democratic Congresspeople.

Here’s some names to start with: Steve Udall in AZ-01, Andy Dinniman in PA-06 and Joe Turnham in AL-2

Folling the tragic news of Charlie Norwood’s death, the Republican vultures took little time to circle the sky above his still-warm body. Two Democrats were also mentioned, but none yet have announced

State Senator Ralph Hudgens (R) — who lost runs for Congress in 1988, 1992 and 1994 — already announced he will run. Hudgens was the early frontrunner in the 1994 GOP primary, but Norwood defeated him in an upset. State Representative Barry Fleming (R) also is likely to run. State Representative Jeanette Jamieson (D) and former Athens-Clarke County Mayor Doc Eldridge (D) are also possible candidates, although CD-10 demographics favor the GOP.

No date has been announced yet, but we should be prepared to at least make the Republicans work for it.

The Hill published an article highlighting some of the fundraising efforts of freshmen Democrats in the House.  Apparently, many are doing quite well.  David Loebsack (IA-02) has raised about $71,000.  Kirsten Gillebrand (NY-20) has raised $65,000 in PAC money alone.  Earl Perlmutter (CO-07) has raised $79,000.  Charlie Wilson (OH-06) has raised $34,000.  Paul Hodes has raised $35,000.  Jason Altmire (PA-04) and Patrick Murphy (PA-08) have both raised $50,000 in PAC money alone.  Zack Space (OH-18) and Steven Kagen (WI-08) have both raised $35,000 in PAC money.

As far as simple financial numbers go, this is good news.  All of these candidates are vulnerable to some degree.  So, if all of these House members are already off to good starts, they may be able to force out potentially strong challenges early on.

But the article also has some worrying relevations.  For one thing, Nancy Boyda (KS-02) has raised only $13,000.  Considering the presidential vote in her district (Bush won it by 20 points), Boyda is probably one of our top five most vulnerable Democrats.  Plus, she will not have Sebelius’ coattails helping her and will instead have to contend with the Republican tide at the top of the ticket from the eventual Republican nominee and Senator Pat Roberts. Finally, she will possibly face a rematch against Jim Ryun. More over the flip…

However, the thing that is more disappointing to me than Boyda’s numbers (it’s early, give her some time) is where the other candidates are getting there money.  First, relying heavily on PAC money does not give the best image.  But beyond that, it’s a question of which PACs they’re getting donations from.

Both Gillebrand and Perlmutter have taken money from Altria, which represents the makers of Marlboro cigarettes. Loebsack and Perlmutter have received contributions from the American Bankers Association PAC while Perlmutter also has donations from Comcast and JP Morgan and Loebsack has donations from the American Association of Realtors.

It’s unsettling to see any elected officials taking money from cigarette makers.  It’s worse to see Democrats, liberal Democrats at that, doing that.  And while Comcast, et al. aren’t the scourge of Satan, I also don’t like the image of elected Democrats at their beg and call.

http://www.thehill.c…

My suggestion for anyone else who feels the way I do, is to donate through the Netroots and other liberal PACs like MoveOn and Democracy for America.  The more candidates and elected officials can get from the Netroots, the less they have to rely on PACs whose goals are sometimes/often/always contrary to the goals of progressives/working people/middle class/etc.

One should also note that Netroots heroes Jerry McNerney (CA-11), Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01), John Yarmuth (KY-03), Joe Sestak (PA-07), John Hall (NY-19), and Tim Walz (MN-01) are not mentioned in the article.  We need to act now to keep these people a)in Congress by making sure they have adequate resources to be re-elected and b)from becoming corrupted by negative interests.

Since the buzz word of the House 2008 picture this week is “rematch” (what with ex-Reps. Bradley and Ryun agitating for another run), here’s something to chew on–according to the Hotline, since 1998 “there are have been nearly 200 House rematches, with just 10 (six last cycle) being successful”.  In a separate post, Hotline reports that Richard Pombo (CA-11) may be itching for a rematch against Rep. Jerry McNerney in 2008.  Josh Kraushaar notes:

By choosing to run again, GOPers are making the races a choice between candidates instead of a referendum on the incumbent’s record. That could be the best scenario the DCCC could ask for in these tough races.

And the track record for repeat attempts against the same opponent doesn’t suggest otherwise, either.

Two other rematches may be in the works, as well, according to the Hotline’s subscription-only section: unsurprisingly, former State Rep. Joe Negron (R) will take on Rep. Tim Mahoney (FL-16) once again, after falling short by 2 points in 2006 while carrying the burden of being listed as Mark Foley on the actual ballot.  Additionally, Idaho’s Larry Grant may be “leaning toward” a rematch against Bill “Brain Fade” Sali in ID-01.  Of all of these match-ups, Negron’s may prove to be the most worthwhile, as he ran an effective campaign with the deck stacked so heavily against him.  Still, with Mahoney’s self-funding capability, incumbency advantage, and moderate profile, I’d much rather be us than them.