Search for Competitive House Open Seats Comes Up Empty
June 18, 2013 · 9:14 AM EDT
Open seats are supposed to be opportunities. Without longtime incumbents on the ballot, these districts should be easier to takeover. But six months into the 2014 cycle, that just isn’t the case on the House side.
So far, there are 10 districts slated to be open seats because the member is running for higher office or retiring in 2014. Either President Barack Obama or Mitt Romney won all of them with at least 55 percent last year.
On Election Day in 2012, eight of the 68 most competitive House seats were open — not counting another half-dozen open seats that were newly created during the redistricting process.
There is more than enough time for Members to announce their retirement or decide to run for another office, but there is very little chance there will be as many competitive open seats as last cycle.
Of the current open seats, President Obama did well in Hawaii’s 1st (70 percent), Iowa’s 1st (56 percent), Michigan’s 14th (81 percent) and Pennsylvania’s 13th (66 percent). Romney swept Georgia’s 1st (56 percent), 10th (63 percent) and 11th (67 percent) districts as well as Louisiana’s 6th (66 percent), Minnesota’s 6th (57 percent) and West Virginia’s 2nd (60 percent).
Since Rep. Michele Bachmann’s retirement made her Minnesota seat safe for Republicans, just one…
Latino candidates line up for next year’s Congressional races in Florida
June 17, 2013 · 10:46 AM EDT
The midterm elections are still more than a year away, but Latino candidates in Florida are already jockeying for position in a couple of key congressional races.
In 2012, Democrat Joe Garcia defeated incumbent David Rivera in the 26th District, in large part because the Republican congressman…
Democrats Struggle for Traction in Early House Landscape
SubscriberJune 14, 2013 · 1:00 PM EDT
Democrats’ long-shot slog to add the additional 17 seats that would give them control of the House after the midterms has gotten even tougher over the past couple of months.
Elizabeth Colbert Busch’s underwhelming showing in a South Carolina special election showed how difficult it will be to…
2014 House Overview (June 14, 2013) Alabama - Indiana
SubscriberJune 14, 2013 · 12:59 PM EDT
Alabama (6 Republicans, 1 Democrat)
AL 1 (Open; Bonner, R). Special Election. Jo Bonner is expected to resign from Congress in mid-August in order to take a position with the University of Alabama system. Former state senator/2012 gubernatorial candidate Bradley Byrne is considered a very…
2014 House Overview (June 14, 2013) Iowa - Oklahoma
SubscriberJune 14, 2013 · 12:58 PM EDT
Iowa (2R, 2D)
IA 1 (Open; Braley, D). Bruce Braley looks to have the cleared the Democratic field in the Senate race, but his congressional seat could get crowded. Former state House Speaker Pat Murphy (D) and Cedar Rapids City Councilor Monica Vernon (D) are in, with Murphy the clear favorite…
