Freshman Congressman Zack Space, who landed in Congress largely due to the corruption scandal surrounding Bob Ney, coupled with the tarnishing of the Republican state party in Ohio, looks to be in surprisingly solid shape for re-election, prompting Congressional Quarterly to change its rating of the race to “Democrat Favored” from “Leans Democratic.”
In the middle of the 2006 campaign, Ney withdrew from the race due to his Abramoff-related charges, and was replaced by State Sen. Joy Padgett. Space defeated Padgett by a lopsided margin, a feat that is not likely to repeat this time around. Nevertheless, Space finds himself in a strong position right now, with a major fundraising advantage over the relatively unknown Fred Dailey. While the NRCC has certainly not given up on this race, due to the strong conservative leanings of the district, it looks as if we're in good shape to hang onto this one.