Free Republic

GOP Could Pick Up 5 House Seats by John Gizzi Posted Oct 22, 2004 With a week to go before Americans vote in all 435 congressional districts, Republicans look poised to expand their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, based largely on favorable redistricting since the 2000 census. In the swing states of Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, Republicans managed to dominate the redistricting process after the census, raising the number of safe Republican seats there. In Texas, a masterful (if controversial and belated) redistricting is now almost certain to yield the bulk of national Republican gains in this election...

Chet Edwards, running against Arlene Wohlgemuth for the Texas 17th Congressional District (Bush's district), is getting desperate. His latest radio spot, running on WBAP during Limbaugh, makes the claim that Arlene Wohlgemuth is endorsed by the "fringe" National Taxpayers Union, which means the end of all defense systems. Huh? He's implying that a vote for Wohlgemuth is a vote against every weapon system Kerry hates (e.g., the joint strike fighter, the V22 Osprey, etc.), which will cost North Texas something like 60,000 jobs (don't remember the exact number, but it was absurd like the rest of this disingenuous ad). Listen...

Deep in the heart of Texas a helluva good House race By CRAGG HINES Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle COLLEGE STATION — At last we come to the final act of Tom DeLay's passion play — his long-planned martyrdom, by redistricting, for a handful of U.S. House Democrats from Texas. They have defied him, so now they must prepare to meet their fate. It's the Alamo, with DeLay as Santa Anna. And so to Aggieland, at the southern end of the newly drawn 17th District, where Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, a moderate seven-term Democrat, is fighting for his political life against...

Democrats keep up with Republican opponents in campaign fund raising Associated Press AUSTIN (AP) — Texas' Democratic incumbents kept pace last quarter with the fund-raising efforts of their Republican challengers in congressional districts that were redrawn last year to favor the GOP. Republican leaders engineered the redistricting effort to eliminate a half-dozen incumbent Democrats from Congress. Five of the Democratic incumbents will be on the November ballot facing Republican challengers. The five Democrats raised a total of $3.08 million in the quarter ending June 30, compared to their Republican challengers, who raised $3.12 million. "This really shows that the Republicans...

In a high noon visit to Waco, Vice President Dick Cheney today officially backed GOP congressional candidate Arlene Wohlgemuth, underscoring new dynamics at play in the fight over who will personally represent President Bush in Congress. Cheney's appearance helped the Wohlgemuth campaign raise more than $300,000 and marks the first time a member of the Bush administration has endorsed a candidate running against U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco. In one of three campaign stops in Texas today, the vice president praised Wohlgemuth's work as a state lawmaker and assured about 400 Republicans at the Waco Convention Center that Wohlgemuth would...

Jockeying for congressional races will affect other races DAVE MCNEELY Thursday, October 23, 2003 So, U.S. Rep. Jim Turner might run for governor in 2006? Or the U.S. Senate? Or lieutenant governor? That's where Turner says his interests lie if the Republican re-redistricting knife job on his 2nd District in East Texas is upheld by the Justice Department and federal courts. Turner, D-Crockett, dismissed the rumor that he might seek a return to the Texas Senate against Republican Sen. Todd Staples of Palestine. Elections in a time of uncertainty over district boundaries are nervous affairs. Democrats are telling their Congress...