Democrats added 11 seats to their ranks in the nine states comprising the Northeast region in 2006. Freshmen are often inviting targets for the opposing party, but it appears this time that most of them are safe, while even more Republican seats in the region are in trouble. According to the New York Times, a dozen seats in the region are competitive, most of which are the Republican’s to lose. Retirements are a problem, as is the failure to knock the Democratic rookies off their pedestal – only two of the 11 newcomers are said to be in competitive races. The region is already a Democratic stronghold, with only 21 of 81 Congressional seats in the hands of Republicans as the 110th Congress winds down.
RBR/TVBR observation: The battle for the House of Representatives is where the Republicans may be at their most compromised – the national Democratic campaign fund is far ahead of its Republican counterpart in funding. Watch for serious national cash to funnel into selected races here as the Democrats try to grab an even bigger share of the delegation in their natural environment, while Republicans answer with as big a defensive push as they can.
