was this district a Democratic or GOP?
This is the seat that was held by Ellen Tauscher. She was appointed by Obama to a State Department position, and this is the special election to fill the remaining year of her term.
scooby321 wrote:
was this district a Democratic or GOP?
This district has been in Democrat control since the mid 1990's. In the 1990's it was a competitive district. In 2000, the district was gerrymandered to be a “safe Democrat district.” In 2002, Tauscher won by a 3:1 margin (over 75% for Tauscher, the Dem). Since then, it has usually gone for the Democrat by 2:1 (typically around 66% for the Dem).
A 10 point race here (or closer) represents a big swing toward the Republicans. Opposition to liberal Democrats is growing, even in this “safe Democrat district.”
There are two bad things about this for the GOP. First, they haven’t capitalized on the situation and fought to win in this district. This election is winnable now for a conservative Republican.
Even worse, the Washington “GOP leaders” will probably take this as a lesson that they need a candidate who supports the Obama/Pelosi agenda to win this district. That would be horrible. They need to hold to their principles.
It took big funding from the DCCC, television ads and campaign visits by Bill Clinton and Obama himself to hold this district against Harmer fighting on his own, with no support from the national party. If there had been television ads for Harmer, or big support for him from big name conservatives, I think Harmer would be ahead right now.
| From the desk of cc2k: |
Candidates I support: Doug Hoffman for Congress, NY 23rd (PayPal), David Harmer for Congress, CA 10th (website for info). Please, spread the word about these important special elections on November 3, 209: New York’s 23rd congressional district and California’s 10th congressional district. |