The House -- Can the Dems retake it?

[joemurphy]

Here's an interesting article I found from the Christian Science Monitor:

<http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0413/p01s02-uspo.html>

We need to hold our own and pick up 15 seats.

[Jack Rabbit]

1. That should be doable

This election will be beyond fixing.

[Clarkie1]

2. YES. One of them will be CA-11. n/t

[LiberalPartisan]

3. It's the Dems to lose

I think they can take both the House and the Senate - people are that pissed. And there are going to more corruption cases - with this crows of republicans you just know it. It's like a cancer that has infested their entire party - we've only seen the beginning.

Unless the Dems. screw up really badly they will win both in a walk.

[joemurphy]

4. Supposedly, J.D. Haworth's seat is being listed as vulnerable

in Arizona. Oh, how I pray that he gets ousted. I'm soooooooooo sick of him.

[TahitiNut]

5. I share that opinion. He's my aunt and uncle's Congresscreep.

He's utterly detestable - one of the worst Bushbots of all. I'm hoping he goes down big time - along with Knollenberg (ultrafascist), who's my Kongresskreep.

[longship]

7. Re: Hayworth

This site has Hayworth's seat as non-competitive. If you know something, maybe you can contact the site operator so he can update his info.

It would be beautiful if that mealy-mouthed Hayworth was gone. Can't stand 'im.

[joemurphy]

8. I got it from the Monitor article I posted.

"In Arizona, Representative Hayworth faces his first serious opponent since 1998 in the person of Harry Mitchell, who was a popular mayor of Tempe for 16 years and then, until recently, a state senator. Senator Mitchell jumped into the race only in late March, but as a seasoned politician, is seen as a threat."

[joemurphy]

6. Here's a very good breakdown of "battleground" seats

written from a Dem perspective.

<http://liberal.mydd.com/story/2006/2/8/235818/0267>

Some excerpts:

CA-11: Rep. Richard Pombo is in trouble from you know that little Jack Abramoff scandal. Pombo is in a 54-45 Republican district but has gotten off every year with weak challenge. Democrats are running 3 talented Challengers.

CA-50: Fmr. Rep. Duke Cunningham is going to jail which opens up a chance to win here this district is about 55-45 Republican But the district is also 60% pro-Choice. Republicans still have corruption plagueing them in this district. A special election will be held in June so we will have to wait and see what happens. Francine Busby is the lead Democratic Challenger.

FL-13: Kathrine Harris is leaving the House of Reps. so she can lose to Senator Bill Nelson in 2006. This race could get interesting there are 3 Dems running includeing 04 nominee Jan Schneider. The district voted 55-45 but with an open seat and a popular dem. i see a possible win here.

IL-06: Rep. Henry Hyde is retireing and Democrats are trying to win in this district that is moving more towards Progressives each year. Democrats have two candidates running popular local politician Christine Cegelis who lost to Hyde in 04 by a 56-44 margin. The Other Democrat running is Tammy Duckworth popular Iraq-War veteran who lost her legs in Iraq and has a truly incredible story to tell. The Republican Nominee is going to be State Sen. Pete Roskam a typical Conservative who will try to hold it for the R's. The district while Republican is moving towards Democrats in 2000 Bush won 53-44 in 2004 Bush won 53-47.

IN-08: Rep. Jhon Hoestettler (R) was reelected in 2004 by a 53-45 margin which is way under Bush's 60-38 margin. If Democrats run a strong Conservative to moderate Democrat they can win here but if they don't I think this will fall off the list. Democrats are running Brad Ellsworth.

OH-02: Rep. Jean Schmidt probibly would win the most unpopular contest in the house with Tom Delay and Bob Ney coming in close. In any case she is facing opposition from both parties and is not popular at all. The only thing she has going for her is how conservative the district is. If a strong Democrat wins the primary we might just have a race on our hands here. Multiple challenger on both sides here.

OH-18: Rep. Bob Ney is corrupt and that is helping Democrats here. This district is strong for the Republicans but corruption is a big issue here and multiple Democrats are running here. This should get interesting.

TX-22: Fmr. Majority Leader Tom Delay will face his hardest reelection yet. Tom is going up agenst Fmr. Rep. Nick Lampson who is a popular moderate Dem. who has a strong shot at winning. To make things even worse for Delay a Conservative third party challenger is running that is taking votes from Delay as well.