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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/03/politics/campaign/03house.html
Republicans maintained their strength in yesterday's Congressional elections in states where the polls closed early, and seemed poised to retain their majority in the House of Representatives.
Democrats needed a net gain of 12 seats to end the decade of Republican control of the House, and with most incumbent lawmakers running without competitive opposition, that was a formidable task.
In Kentucky, one state where the polls closed early, Democrats lost a seat when Nick Clooney, a former television newscaster who is the father of the actor George Clooney, was defeated by a Republican, Geoff Davis, returns compiled by The Associated Press indicated. The seat is now held by Representative Ken Lucas, a Democrat, who is retiring.
Anne M. Northup, a Kentucky Republican whose seat the Democrats had believed was vulnerable, won handily, defeating her Democratic challenger, Tony Miller.
Democratic leaders had poured time and money into those contests in Kentucky as part of their strategy to recapture the House.
Connie Mack, the son of the former senator with the same name, held the Republican seat in southwest Florida that was vacated this year when Porter J. Goss became director of central intelligence.
Several prominent Florida lawmakers were re-elected, including Representative C.W. Bill Young, a Republican who is chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
Some prominent lawmakers won re-election in Ohio as well, among them Michael Oxley, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, and Bob Ney, chairman of the Committee on House Administration, both Republicans, and Dennis J. Kucinich, the last Democratic presidential candidate to keep campaigning against Senator John Kerry.
In Illinois, Daniel Lipinski, a Democrat, was elected to replace his father, William, who retired.
But in a race for a vacant seat in Virginia that Democrats had hoped to win, Thelma Drake, a Republican member of the state's House of Delegates, defeated the Democrat, David Ashe, a former Marine officer and veteran of the war in Iraq. The seat is in the Tidewater area, which has a concentration of naval bases and retirees from the Navy. Representative Edward L. Schrock, a Republican, is retiring there.
The House has become an especially partisan institution in recent years, and the party in control has managed to develop legislation without real consultation with the opposition. For the last 10 years, this has been frustrating for Democrats, who, except for a brief break in the 1950's, ran the House from the 1930's through 1994.
Not all the races for Congress are finished, because those in some Louisiana districts are headed for runoffs in December. But with Republicans' effective edge of 229 to 206, House Democrats needed a strong showing to make their leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the first woman to become speaker.
In trying to hold on to the House, Republicans had an advantage, given a scarcity of truly competitive races and a Republican-engineered Congressional redistricting in Texas that put a half-dozen Democratic seats in jeopardy in that state alone.
That redistricting by the State Legislature brought months of political acrimony. Democratic lawmakers fled the state for a time to deny the Republican majority a quorum and so temporarily block the redrawing of the lines, and the new map was challenged all the way to the Supreme Court. The justices, in a decision that effectively kept the new districts in place for this election, sent the matter back to a lower court last month for review.
Five Democratic incumbents ultimately chose to run in their new Texas districts, but just one was given a better-than-even chance of retaining his seat. All told, Republicans hoped to gain as many as seven seats in Texas, offsetting possible Northeastern and Midwestern gains by Democrats in districts with large numbers of Democratic voters where moderate Republicans held seats.
Democrats took aim at incumbents and open seats in areas where they believed President Bush's popularity was lagging, including Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, Minnesota and urban districts in and around Louisville, Ky., and Albuquerque.
In a handful of districts, they ran advertisements tying the incumbents to Mr. Bush and his administration's policies on health care and the economy. The idea was to halt ticket splitting by voters who were opposed to Mr. Bush but might be inclined to back their local member of Congress.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/03/politics/campaign/03house.html
Republicans maintained their strength in yesterday's Congressional elections in states where the polls closed early, and seemed poised to retain their majority in the House of Representatives.
Democrats needed a net gain of 12 seats to end the decade of Republican control of the House, and with most incumbent lawmakers running without competitive opposition, that was a formidable task.
In Kentucky, one state where the polls closed early, Democrats lost a seat when Nick Clooney, a former television newscaster who is the father of the actor George Clooney, was defeated by a Republican, Geoff Davis, returns compiled by The Associated Press indicated. The seat is now held by Representative Ken Lucas, a Democrat, who is retiring.
Anne M. Northup, a Kentucky Republican whose seat the Democrats had believed was vulnerable, won handily, defeating her Democratic challenger, Tony Miller.
Democratic leaders had poured time and money into those contests in Kentucky as part of their strategy to recapture the House.
Connie Mack, the son of the former senator with the same name, held the Republican seat in southwest Florida that was vacated this year when Porter J. Goss became director of central intelligence.
Several prominent Florida lawmakers were re-elected, including Representative C.W. Bill Young, a Republican who is chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
Some prominent lawmakers won re-election in Ohio as well, among them Michael Oxley, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, and Bob Ney, chairman of the Committee on House Administration, both Republicans, and Dennis J. Kucinich, the last Democratic presidential candidate to keep campaigning against Senator John Kerry.
In Illinois, Daniel Lipinski, a Democrat, was elected to replace his father, William, who retired.
But in a race for a vacant seat in Virginia that Democrats had hoped to win, Thelma Drake, a Republican member of the state's House of Delegates, defeated the Democrat, David Ashe, a former Marine officer and veteran of the war in Iraq. The seat is in the Tidewater area, which has a concentration of naval bases and retirees from the Navy. Representative Edward L. Schrock, a Republican, is retiring there.
The House has become an especially partisan institution in recent years, and the party in control has managed to develop legislation without real consultation with the opposition. For the last 10 years, this has been frustrating for Democrats, who, except for a brief break in the 1950's, ran the House from the 1930's through 1994.
Not all the races for Congress are finished, because those in some Louisiana districts are headed for runoffs in December. But with Republicans' effective edge of 229 to 206, House Democrats needed a strong showing to make their leader, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the first woman to become speaker.
In trying to hold on to the House, Republicans had an advantage, given a scarcity of truly competitive races and a Republican-engineered Congressional redistricting in Texas that put a half-dozen Democratic seats in jeopardy in that state alone.
That redistricting by the State Legislature brought months of political acrimony. Democratic lawmakers fled the state for a time to deny the Republican majority a quorum and so temporarily block the redrawing of the lines, and the new map was challenged all the way to the Supreme Court. The justices, in a decision that effectively kept the new districts in place for this election, sent the matter back to a lower court last month for review.
Five Democratic incumbents ultimately chose to run in their new Texas districts, but just one was given a better-than-even chance of retaining his seat. All told, Republicans hoped to gain as many as seven seats in Texas, offsetting possible Northeastern and Midwestern gains by Democrats in districts with large numbers of Democratic voters where moderate Republicans held seats.
Democrats took aim at incumbents and open seats in areas where they believed President Bush's popularity was lagging, including Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, Minnesota and urban districts in and around Louisville, Ky., and Albuquerque.
In a handful of districts, they ran advertisements tying the incumbents to Mr. Bush and his administration's policies on health care and the economy. The idea was to halt ticket splitting by voters who were opposed to Mr. Bush but might be inclined to back their local member of Congress.