House News & Analysis
Tuesday’s results were an uncomfortable reminder to strategists in both parties that this is a strange election cycle. While the surprises were on the Republican side, they confirm a level of dissatisfaction, at least on the political right, with politics as usual and established politicians.
Certainly many current…
Georgia 8. Republicans had a hard time finding a credible challenger to Democratic Cong. Jim Marshall. But now that state Rep. Austin Scott is in the race, this district becomes dramatically more interesting. Marshall has proven his skill since he was first elected in 2002, but he faces a…
From Barack Obama’s election as president to a white Congressman fending off African-American challengers in a majority-black district, have Americans moved beyond race as a determining factor in their vote choice?
A couple of weeks ago, Tennessee Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, the white, Jewish incumbent, won re-nomination over…
“The White House is hoping that Michelle can do for Barack what Laura did for George and the GOP four years ago,” wrote Washington Post political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson recently, in an August 11, 2010 article that reported on efforts to get the First Lady heavily involved in this…
Two years ago, John Boccieri was a Democratic superstar, a top recruit, a fresh-faced state legislator with a military record who, by this time last cycle, was on his way to taking over an open seat that had been in Republican hands for three decades. Today, he’s in grave…
Competitive open seats usually follow the direction of the overall cycle, so with House Republicans poised for large gains, it should be no surprise that most of the open seats that flip will be headed their way. The districts at the top of the list are more likely to…
Reps. Chet Edwards (D-Texas), Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (D-S.D.) and John Spratt (D-S.C.) need to keep in mind the fate of former Reps. Jim Leach (R-Iowa) and Sue Kelly (R-N.Y.).
Kelly, first elected in 1994, had only one tough race (in 1996) before she was upset in 2006. In…
Second in a series of profiles of committee independent expenditure directors.
Democratic operative Robby Mook’s entry into politics was a little dirty.
“I remember standing in front of the dump for hours,” Mook recalled. “Everyone takes their trash to the dump in Vermont, so that’s where you…
Republicans aren’t going to sneak up on Earl Pomeroy. The nine-term Democratic congressman from North Dakota has been a target before and he even survived the Republican revolution in 1994.
Pomeroy is ready for another tough reelection race, this time against long-time state Rep. Rick Berg (R), and…
Sometimes, you can almost hear the conventional wisdom and expectations shift, even when they are based on faulty premises.
I’ve heard dozens of times over the past few months that large Democratic losses in the House were inevitable this year because of sweeping Democratic victories in 2006 and…