The biggest problem for Republicans in keeping the House majority is the lack of competitive districts held by Democrats. There are very few Democrats retiring this year, and those who are represent relatively safe seats.
Alexander McClure notes. in his Illinois post below, Illinois Democrat Melissa Bean is looking more vulnerable now. But with Iowa Democrat Leonard Boswell apparently in good shape, there aren't many seats left to target. Two of them are in Georgia, as CO Girl of at Hang Right Politics notes, first from the Savannah Morning News on the 12th CD:
Last year, the Georgia Legislature redrew the district that Burns represented for a term before narrowly losing his seat to Barrow in 2004. This time, Barrow is running without the benefit of having his Democratic-leaning hometown of Athens included. The city was dropped in favor of several new rural counties being added.
CO Girl also found info on the 8th CD from the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer:
With the district's boundaries redrawn by the state Legislature last year, the new 8th District now leans more Republican than [ed. incumbent Dem. Jim] Marshall's old 3rd District. The 8th runs from Newton County southeast of Atlanta to Colquitt County near the Florida state line. Its largest city is Macon, where Marshall was mayor in the late 1990s and is expected to get some of his strongest support.
There's more on both at the link above. I found the latest polls at Pollster.com, which show Burns in a dead heat with Barrow in the 12th, but incumbent Democrat Marshall well ahead in the 8th. TOO far ahead, in fact. Both polls come from known Democratic-leaning firms.
Both are possible pick-ups. This is Jawjah, y'all, not Joisey.
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Congressional Races, Georgia
Comments (2)
Thanks for the link, Jim. ... (Below threshold)1. Posted by COgirl | October 30, 2006 10:16 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Thanks for the link, Jim. We should stay in touch as we learn of more of these opportunities from our respective readers.
1. Posted by COgirl | October 30, 2006 10:16 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 30, 2006 22:16
2. Posted by daniel | October 30, 2006 11:30 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Maryland CD-3 due to favorible redistricting is in play. This is Ben Cardin's district which has a strong candidate, John White vying for the seat. Bush won 45% in 04' and Bob Ehrlich won 56% in 02' and he is back on the ballot this year.
2. Posted by daniel | October 30, 2006 11:30 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 30, 2006 23:30