The headline result of the 2006 midterm elections was the ability of the Democratic Party to capture majorities of both houses of Congress in Washington. Now, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is looking to build, according to Congressional Quarterly.
To do that, it is going to be providing cash to 10 candidates not currently enjoying employment in Washington. Seven are in districts which supported President George W. Bush over challenger John Kerry, and which at resident to currently have Republican representatives. The catch is that all seven incumbents have announced their retirement, opening an opportunity to make inroads into Republican, or red, territory.
The other three opportunities include Illinois 14, where a 3/8/08 special election will fill the seat of former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), out on the early retirement program; LA 6, where Richard H. Baker (R-LA) is expected to resign; and IN 7, the lone district on the list already in Democratic hands, where the grandson of the late Julia Carson is running to fill her seat.
The other candidates include John Adler (NJ 3), John Boccieri (OH 16), Charlie Brown (CA 4), Debbie Halvorson (IL 11), Mary Jo Kilroy (OH 15), Linda Stender (NJ 7) and Gary Trauner (WY at large).
RBR/TVBR observation: This puts 10 districts into the battleground category, and if they’re attracting Democratic cash, they will most likely pull even more from the Republican side. In the sale of advertising time for the political category, location is everything. The DCCC just elevated all of these districts.
