House Races on The Huffington Post

Melissa Bean Facing Democratic Primary Challenge

2009-11-04T17:52:57Z

It's not just Republicans who want to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean of Barrington.

Danny Davis Files To Run For Congress And Cook County Board President

2009-11-02T17:34:12Z

Congressman Danny Davis says he doesn't think filing petitions in two races for the February primary election will hurt his image with voters.

Dierdre Scozzafava Drops Out Of NY House Race

2009-10-31T11:59:30Z

ALBANY, N.Y. — Fighting plunging support, Republican Dierdre Scozzafava abruptly suspended her campaign Saturday in a special election for a U.S. House seat that has exposed a rift among national factions of the party.

Campaign spokesman Matt Burns said Scozzafava is essentially withdrawing from the race, although her name will remain on Tuesday's ballot. She thinks stepping aside is best for the party, he said.

GOP Identity Crisis Finds New Home: Upstate New York

2009-10-31T10:43:14Z

A special election for an open seat in the U.S House of Representatives has turned into a high-profile proxy war over how the party should come back from the stinging losses of both the House and Senate in 2006 and the White House in 2008.

Immigrant Leader Taking On Dan Lipinski In Democratic Primary

2009-10-15T18:43:55Z

One of the Chicago area's most visible immigrant leaders is planning to challenge Congressman Dan Lipinski in this winter's Democratic primary.

Abner Mikva Not Endorsing Seals Or Hamos In Kirk Replacement Race, Despite Claim

2009-09-25T19:28:22Z

It turns out that a big endorsement by former congressman and appellate court justice Abner Mikva for Congress in the north suburban 10th District isn't. At least, not exactly.

Julie Hamos Lands Emily's List Endorsement In Kirk Replacement Race

2009-09-15T13:35:52Z

State Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Evanston) landed the endorsement of one of the country's most powerful women's political groups Tuesday in her bid to succeed Mark Kirk in Congress.

EMILY's List, a political force for pro-choice women candidates, announced that it will throw its significant financial and organizing support behind Hamos as she challenges former Democratic nominee Dan Seals and attorney Elliot Richardson for the Democratic nomination.

"Julie's record of advocating for Illinois women and families is second to none," Ellen R. Malcolm, president of the Washington, D.C.-based political action committee, said in a press release. "We need her in Congress to continue that fight."

"I am honored to be endorsed by EMILY's List," Hamos said in the press release. "Emily's List and its members' support is tremendously valuable as we move closer and closer to the February 2nd Democratic primary election."

EMILY's List claims more than 100,000 members nationwide, and in the last election cycle raised more than $43 million to support women candidates. The group's backing is no guarantee of victory, however. State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz lost the Democratic primary special election for Rahm Emanuel's Congressional seat despite support from Emily's List.

A host of Republicans are vying to keep the seat red, including state Rep. Beth Coulson, businessmen Dick Green and Bill Cadigan, attorney Jim Koch, and former Edgar Administration official Renee Thaler.

Kirk is leaving the 10th Congressional District seat he has held since 2001 to run for the U.S. Senate.

Read the whole release:

Emily's List Endorses Julie Hamos -

Beth Coulson Set To Run For Mark Kirk's Congressional Seat

2009-08-18T20:16:01Z

The GOP may be getting its wish in the closely-contested race to replace U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk in Congress.

State Rep. Beth Coulson, a Glenview Republican dubbed "the most liberal Republican in the field," has confirmed that she's going to run for the North Shore Congressional seat Kirk is vacating in order to run for the Senate.

"I think I bring an expertise in health care to Washington at a time when we need it," Coulson, a physical therapist and Chicago Medical School professor, told Crain's political columnist Greg Hinz.

Coulson's plans were first reported by Team America and were confirmed by Capitol Fax. Her entrance adds another name to a potentially crowded GOP field.

According to a Swing State Project report flagged by Progress Illinois, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the National Republican Congressional Committee recruitment chair, was in town Saturday to meet with potential candidates, including attorney Bill Cadigan, a former aide to Kirk's predecessor, ex-Rep. Jon Porter, and businessmen Dick Green and Bob Dold. A handful of other names have also been floated as possible GOP candidates.

On the Democratic side, State Rep. Julie Hamos, attorney Elliot Richardson and Dan Seals, the party's 2006 and 2008 nominee, are all planning to run. A recent poll commissioned by the Seals campaign showed him to have a wide lead over both candidates in a hypothetical primary.

GOP Taking Aim At Suburban Democrats Bean, Foster

2009-08-11T16:35:48Z

National Republicans see hope for a resurgence in President Barack Obama's home state -- and they're coming here this week to help move it along.

Seals Leads Hamos In Democratic Primary For Kirk's House Seat: Poll

2009-08-10T17:42:13Z

Dan Seals, the Democratic nominee against Rep. Mark Kirk (R) in 2006 and 2008, holds a wide lead in the 2010 Democratic primary, according to a survey done for his campaign and obtained by the Fix.

Ethan Hastert Fundraising Off His Father For Congress

2009-07-31T14:10:24Z

Republican Ethan Hastert may be trying to create his own political brand in Illinois
as he challenges Democratic Rep. Bill Foster, but he's already working in his father's shadow.

Julie Hamos Running For Mark Kirk's House Seat

2009-07-27T14:09:21Z

CHICAGO (AP) -- State Rep. Julie Hamos (HAY'-mohs) wants to move up from the Illinois Capitol in Springfield to the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

The Evanston Democrat will announce Tuesday she's running for the 10th Congressional District seat Republican Rep. Mark Kirk holds.

Kirk isn't seeking re-election because he's one of the Republicans running for President Barack Obama's old U.S. Senate seat, which Democrat Roland Burris now holds. Burris isn't running for a full term.

Hamos has been in the Illinois General Assembly for a decade. Her campaign says she'll make her announcement Tuesday in Highland Park.

The 10th district runs north of Chicago to almost Wisconsin and includes wealthy communities along Lake Michigan and more modest communities to the west.

Democrat Dan Seals, who has lost twice to Kirk, is also running.

-ASSOCIATED PRESS

Sarah Newman: Sarah's Social Action Snapshot: The Rod Blagojevich Awards

2009-01-07T11:18:49Z

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington just released their list of the most embarrassing re-elected members of Congress. Since these awards are for Congress, and poor Rod Blagojevich is only the Governor of Illinois, he doesn't qualify. But, as he seems to have been one of the more outrageous politicians of last year, I'd like to ensure he's given the top honor by re-naming the awards after him. No, I'm not referring to just the embarrassing news that his special Paul Mitchell black hairbrush needed to be ready for action at anytime by his aides and was referred to as "the football" but his more sinister behavior that led him to try to auction Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder.

Top winners in the "Blagies" include Rep. Michele Bachman (R-MN) who invoked the ghosts of Senator Joseph McCarthy by saying President-elect Obama was anti-American. Rep. Don Young (R-AK) who was tied to the Jack Abramoff scandal continued to be ensnared in bribery charges last year that he steered earmark funds to family and friends who donated to his Political Action Committee (remember how often John McCain brought up the sins of earmarks? I guess Young didn't listen). Across the aisle, one of the Democratic Party's icons, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), was outed as possibly violating House ethics committee rules and campaign finance laws. I think all winners should receive a custom-made hairbrush inscribed with their name.

While it's amusing to read about these politicians who thought they could surreptitiously pass below the radar, it's important for citizens like you and me to make sure they're held accountable. Takepart with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington to learn how you can make our government open and accountable to all citizens.

(this post originally appeared on Takepart)

Quigley, Feigenholtz Have Edge In Race For Emanuel's Seat

2008-12-30T16:55:59Z

Uncertainty in the race to fill the seat of Rep. Rahm Emanuel has opened important fundraising and organizational advantages for two early candidates: Cook County Commissioner Michael Quigley and state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz.

Mr. Quigley expects to have raised more than $100,000 by yearend, while Ms. Feigenholtz -- who has well-connected Chicago trial lawyer Joseph Power and lobbyist Gila Bronner heading her finance committee -- cleared that hurdle weeks ago, according to her campaign manager, Michael Rendina.

Disgrasian: A Vietnamese-American In the House... Our Parents Will Be So Proud

2008-12-15T11:25:36Z

Everyone is all kinds of excited about the fact that there's now a Vietnamese-American dude rocking the U.S. House of Representatives, for the 2nd Congressional District of Louisiana (It's no wonder -- consider it a super-unlikely opportunity for Reprzentasian in that District if you aren't experienced, Black or a Democrat).

Anh "Joseph" Cao is my peeps' first Reprzentative, and that isn't nothing! In fact, for my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, I'm sure that achievement alone would be enough for us all to claim bragging rights and call it a year. Incidentally, I think it's a bit of a mixed bag -- a little bit of good news, and a little bit of bad.

Wow, Joseph Cao victorious in Louisiana... Good and Bad?

Let's think:

Cao is the first Vietnamese-American elected to the House! Woot! We all love to be the first! ✓...that's GOOD!

As a nominee, Cao received endorsements from Christian right PACs, Bobby Jindal, and Pat Boone. Umm... X... that's bad!

Because of Cao, lots of people have been forced to read/speak/say/smell/spell the word "Vietnamese" in national headlines. Are we here? Yes! To stay? Fuck yes! ✓...that's good!

Like my Aunt "Tracy," Cao has adopted an "American" name in "quotations" so that people can refer to him more easily. What's wrong with the name Anh? My sister's name is Anh. It's a hot name! Hotter than Tracy, at least. X... that's bad!

Cao is a Republican, although that's not inherently bad (I guess) -- in fact, he considers himself a political centrist, running last year in 2007 as an Independent, and shape-shifting just before this election as a strategic move to crush his veteran incumbent Dem opponent. The fact that he's a Republican? Kind of a bummer. Late-game party-changing? Not great. But the fact that he admittedly capitalized off of low voter turnout -- the result of voter fatigue in an election postponed a month by Hurricane Gustav... that ol' politics kinda gives us the creepy tingles. X... that's bad!

Cao was accused of resorting to negative advertising, and at the very least benefited from PAC-produced negative ads, all seemingly deployed to discourage and disenfranchise African-American voters. X... that's bad!

Cao has dedicated himself to multiple efforts aiding Vietnamese refugees, and aims to further Vietnam as a peaceful, Democratic state. ✓... that's good!

Cao is a dedicated church-goer, which gives his life structure and meaning. ✓... that's good!

He's a devout Catholic, who cites religious reasons for his party choice, and -- more importantly -- adamantly opposes abortion. X...that's bad!

The man is cute as a button (see photo above) and reminds us of a little, very friendly muppet, or Los Angeles sushi Chef Saito (also cute as a button). ✓...that's good!

Cao's Vietnamese heritage combined with his Houston, Texas upbringing basically make him a life meld of Jen and Diana... ✓...that's good!

But doesn't that fact automatically make him Disgrasian? X...that's bad!

I suppose only time will tell.

John Bruhns: Extremity Causes Backlash

2008-11-19T11:53:31Z

The last 8 years of the Bush Administration taught us one certainty: There is always a backlash to extremity. Hence the historic election of Barack Obama as President of the United States.

Those who voted to elect George W. Bush in 2000, and most significantly in 2004, enabled him to push this country so radically to the right it made rebellion inevitable.

At Bush's behest, we ended up with a botched war in Afghanistan, an unnecessary war in Iraq, wrong sided tax-cuts, Katrina, warrantless spying on American citizens, a crippled economy, overwhelming job-loss, and over 10 trillion dollars of deficit.

Is that why the vast majority of Americans didn't vote for John McCain? Ya think?

Of course the minuscule remainder of unrepentant Bush supporters will never accept this reality. Rather than give Obama a chance to activate his positive visions of change, unity, and hope for America, these sore losers manipulate their own minds to create irrational scenarios they dread -- oh how they love to abuse themselves. I've heard the whining; "We're going to become a welfare country," "Obama is going to empower all the minorities," "There will be nothing left but section 8 housing and affirmative action," and "We're going to lose in Iraq." Talk about a circular firing squad.

This element isn't unique to the far-right. They're prevalent throughout the far-left as well.

Ralph Nader received 696,728 votes, Bob Barr with 510,177 votes, and Cynthia McKinney managed to garner 152,111 votes. These 3 nonviable candidates received over a million votes combined -- a total of 1.1%. I support Americans voting for 3rd party candidates, but it's so obvious those votes went right in the wastebasket. What is the sense in that?

The ultra-left is against any establishment candidate. They're absolutist and will not negotiate. They make no distinction between those who voted for Obama and those who voted for McCain. They unfairly view Democrats and Republicans to be complicit with many of the disasters created by the Bush Administration.

The best examples to cite are the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition and The World Can't Wait organization. They marched on the Pentagon in March 2007 demanding the impeachment of George W. Bush and an immediate withdrawal of our troops from Iraq. Someone must have forgotten to tell them that the Department of Defense, our military's headquarters, doesn't hold impeachment hearings nor do they dictate our foreign policy.

Even worse, they accuse police officers who stop them from wreaking havoc on property of government agencies of holding membership in a modern day Gestapo or being direct proxies of Bush creating a police state -- total lunacy.

Every time they conduct an event they plan for maximum impact. If they don't achieve the desired outcome, they'll continuously up the ante. This causes them to appear even more extreme than they already are -- if that's even possible.

They contributed significantly to the decreased credibility of the anti-war movement by alienating the silent majority. What middle-of-the-road American wants to participate in an anti-war protest only to find themselves in an anti Semitic mob scene chanting "free Mumia," "overthrow the government," while wearing Che Guevara t-shirts and waving the Palestinian flag? Not me.

There are far right extremist groups to counter them such as the Free Republic and Move America Forward. They have no ability to look objectively outside the box. They pledge undying loyalty to George W. Bush and neoconservative ideology. If it were possible they would imprison or deport all those who disagree with them -- only they are allowed to be American and support the troops. I've personally been on the receiving end of their vileness. The Freepers (on many occasions) have called me and my fellow Iraq veterans who oppose the war cowards, phonies, and traitors. They even told us we should be sent to Guantanamo.

Eventually these types of groups (on both sides) will fade away into obscurity. They are socially destructive, politically irrelevant, and a speed bump to progress. Hopefully the recent election will hinder their circus act.

If there is any advice that I could give President-elect Obama and members of Congress (of both parties) it's this: Learn from the last 8 years of George W. Bush's failed presidency. His extreme right-wing policies caused the Republicans to self-destruct and emaciated the size of their party in both chambers of Congress.

Now that the Democrats have the White House and a sizeable majority of Congress they should not focus on pushing a leftist agenda (as their predecessors did on the right) that will certainly cause partisan political gridlock. Instead, they should work together with their collegues from the other side of the aisle to get things done for the American people -- it's to their benefit and ours.

Still Waiting... Six House And Senate Races Remain Undecided

2008-11-10T18:40:22Z

Nearly a week since Election Day, the fate of six House and Senate races remained unclear Monday as heated recounts and a runoff were underway in contested races across the country.

In Georgia, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R) was gearing up for an intense runoff against Democrat Jim Martin after the Republican failed to cross the 50-percent mark. Voters were scheduled to revisit the polls on Dec. 2, but early voting could start next week.

Cliff Schecter: Progressive U.S. House Seat On The Line -- It's Up To You

2008-11-09T22:22:16Z

Hello from the great state of Ohio, where we heaved that Bush monkey off our backs and helped elect President Barack Obama, took over the state house with a progressive slate of candidates and elected two more Democrats to Congress.

Make that three, if you're willing to help.

In Ohio's 15th district, centered around Columbus, Ohio, we have one of the few House races that is still too close to call. Progressive champion Mary Jo Kilroy is currently down only 146 votes in the Ohio SOS tally to Republican Steve Stivers, and with your help she can easily pull this race out.

First, let me tell you what is on the line. In the left corner, we have Mary Jo Kilroy, who is in favor of gay marriage (take that Prop 8!), the Employee Free Choice Act, universal healthcare, eliminating tax breaks for companies that take our jobs to China and President-elect Barack Obama's tax plan--to give tax cuts to hard-working middle class families while raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, who make over 250K per year.

Here is Mary Jo, from her own website, on her position on Iraq:

It's time to bring our troops home. It was a mistake to invade Iraq and it's a mistake to stay there now. Our brave men and women in uniform did their job. Iraq needs to step up and take responsibility for its own country.

Five years is more than long enough. I will vote to start to bring our troops home the day I am sworn in. We need to put America first, honorably bring this war to a close and take better care of our veterans.

In the far-right corner, we have Steve Stivers. He is a former bank lobbyist who was one of only 4 state senators in Ohio from either party to oppose regulating predatory lenders (on whose behalf he lobbied), mentions nothing about Iraq on his website and most ominously is one of Boehner's boys--a reliable crony for House Minority Leader John Boehner, who in a major moment of projection called our new President "chickenshit" and is infamous for having once handed out tobacco checks on the floor of the House to his GOP buddies (he also has the same spooky tanning habits as George Hamilton--but I digress).

Now, remember, this is a R+1 district, which encompasses a bunch of the suburbs and exurbs of Columbus, and we can get a Congresswoman from here who supports unions, gay rights, women's rights and redeploying our troops from Iraq. Or we can get Boehner's buddy--who you can count on to be a loyal vote for his best man on all legislation having anything to do with corporate power, Iraq and our constitutional rights.

It's our choice.

Right now there are 27K-30K early absentee and provisional ballots left to count, more than enough to easily have the will of the people respected and send Mary Jo to Congress. These votes should be overwhelmingly Democratic, as they are largely from Democratic Franklin County, but we need to ENSURE they are counted (and as Stivers is Boehner's boy, well, you get the picture).

In fact, when Mary Jo first ran two years ago and took on the fourth-ranking Republican in the House, Rep. Deborah Pryce, she ended up down 3,500 votes after election day. But once provisional votes were counted she made up a whopping 2,500 votes. We have already seen progressive Jeff Merkley win a U.S. Senate seat this year after trailing his Republican opponent, based solely on early votes from Democratic districts. In other words, this is not only doable, it will be done if we want it badly enough.

The issue is that provisional ballots have to be verified, so Mary Jo needs to keep paying some staff to ensure that legitimate ballots are not thrown in the trash. That means, whether you can afford $5 or $500, if you are willing to go to her recount page at ActBlue and give a donation, you can ensure that all the votes are counted and she becomes the kind of progressive voice in Washington that can help ensure President Obama ends the War in Iraq, protects our rights and brings us back to economic sanity.

Or we can get another reliable vote for right-wing GOP Leader Boehner's positions on economic issues and Iraq (more supply side and endless war for everyone!). This is entirely in our hands.

As history has taught us, we need every vote in Congress that we can get (see Bill Clinton and universal healthcare for a refresher course). And a win by a progressive over the Boehner Machine and Republicans who routinely attempt to suppress Democratic votes in Ohio, via the counting of every vote, well, that would just be the icing on the cake.

Mary Jo Kilroy's ActBlue Page for all recount-related donations

Arianna Huffington: Sunday Roundup

2008-11-08T21:55:19Z

In the wake of Obama's overwhelming victory, and Democratic gains in the House and Senate, conservatives are desperately trying to convince the world that these results are meaningless. "Democrats should not make the mistake of viewing Tuesday's results as a repudiation of conservatism," insisted John Boehner. "Barack Obama understands this is a center-right country," claimed Karl Rove. "This country remains every bit as center-right as it has for a generation," parroted Brent Bozell. And David Brooks dreamed of an Obama administration that understands "this was an election where the middle asserted itself." Drunk on self-delusion, a staggering GOP whistles past the electoral graveyard, missing the whole point of this election: the center has shifted, and positions that used to be considered "left-wing" -- on healthcare, on global warming, on corporate responsibility, on Iraq -- are now solidly mainstream.

Dem Perriello Declares Victory Over Goode In VA

2008-11-07T16:11:20Z

Roll Call reports:

With the canvassing process virtually complete in Virginia's 5th district and attorney Tom Perriello (D) ahead of Rep. Virgil Goode (R) by nearly 750 votes, the Democratic challenger declared victory Friday afternoon.

"It looks like the outcome is now certain. We are going to win this race and pull off the upset," Perriello said.

Perriello said his campaign would now be moving into a transition phase and in that effort he has enlisted the help of former Rep. L. F. Payne (D-Va.), who held the seat from 1998 until retiring in 1996. Goode, then a Democrat, won the open seat and succeeded Payne.

Goode disagrees:

Virgil Goode disagrees with that statement. In a statement provided to NBC29 he says, "Any declarations of winners and losers in this race is premature."

Congressman Goode goes on to say: "It is important that we take the time for a fair and thorough process to ensure that every legitimate vote is counted. We remain optimistic that we will prevail when this process is completed."

Goode is best known for his attacks on Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and other Muslims. When Goode was sworn in on a Koran, Goode wrote, "If American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Quran." In an ad this cycle, Goode depicted Perriello as dark-skinned and bearded.

Erik Ose: Supposedly Safe GOP House Seat in CA Too Close To Call

2008-11-06T16:42:13Z

Prop 8 Hangs In Balance as GOP Lawyers Try To Influence Vote Count

Two days after the Nov. 4 elections, a congressional race in conservative Orange County, California that was dismissed by most observers as a lock for the GOP remains unresolved. Democratic challenger Bill Hedrick is down by 4,600 votes against 16-year incumbent Republican Ken Calvert in the 44th congressional district, but nearly 100,000 provisional and vote-by-mail absentee ballots have yet to be counted.

GOP lawyers are descending on registrars' offices in Orange and Riverside, the district's two counties, trying to influence the vote counting which began Thursday:

Rebecca Martine, Riverside County's chief deputy registrar, said there are 38,000 paper provisional ballots and 9,000 electronic provisional ballots to be counted.

This is in addition to approximately 50,000 absentee ballots still outstanding.

Calvert's team has apparently been having private conversations with the registrar's office in Riverside County, which was the last county in California to report its election results. There were numerous reports from Democratic Party officials, voters and even a poll worker in Riverside County that voters were "forced to use provisional ballots" or "denied ballots entirely" on Tuesday.

Hedrick's campaign today issued a call for all votes to be counted. "We are urging any voter within Riverside or Orange County who voted in the 44th congressional race and were issued a provisional ballot to contact the registrar of voters in their county," said Hedrick communications director Lori Vandermeir, "to demand their ballots be counted."

44th district incumbent Ken Calvert (left), and challenger Bill Hedrick (right)

The fate of California's anti-gay marriage Proposition 8 initiative is still up the air, with the measure's foes refusing to concede before all provisional and absentee ballots are counted. Voters in Riverside County approved the initiative by a heavy 64-36% margin, but provisional votes may skew differently.

If you'd like to ask elections officials to count all the provisional votes fairly, free from influence by GOP lawyers, call the Riverside County Registrar's office at (951) 486-7200, where you can leave a message for Registrar of Voters Barbara Dunmore.

The 44th congressional district includes San Clemente, home to Richard Nixon's Western White House. It is a GOP stronghold. The Hedrick-Calvert race was rated solid Republican by Charlie Cook's Political Report as of mid-October. In 2004, Bush beat Kerry in the district by 59-40%.

Calvert has been named one of the most corrupt members in Congress for three years running by the independent watch dog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. He has served in Congress since 1993. Calvert outspent Hedrick in this race by more than 5-1, raising and spending nearly a million dollars to Hedrick's $150,000.

Despite voting with George W. Bush 94.4% of the time, this fall Calvert distributed mailers without a single mention that he belonged to the Republican party, proclaiming himself "An Independent Voice Working for You." The 44th district has seen a jump in voter registration this year, with Democrats outpacing Republicans, especially in Riverside County. It is the second-fastest growing district in California, adding almost 200,000 new residents since 2000, the majority of that growth in the district's Hispanic population.

The Riverside Press-Enterprise reports Hedrick got an assist from Obama voters:

Republicans still hold a slight edge over Democrats in the Riverside County portion of the district, with roughly 5,000 more registered GOP voters than Democrats. But Hedrick, perhaps aided by the excitement surrounding President-elect Barack Obama, was ahead by almost 6,000 votes in Riverside County, according to the Riverside County registrar of voters.

Voters wait in line in Riverside, CA on election day

National Journal's Hotline on Call blog agrees:

"Calvert...appears to not have taken his re-election seriously enough, and may have gotten tripped up by the big Obama-influenced turnout. An unlikely win by Hedrick would be the story of the cycle."

Although the Obama tsunami wiped out GOP incumbents across the country, this is one congressional contest no one predicted would become a cliffhanger. Help bring public pressure to bear in support of a fair counting of all the votes in this race, which is shaping up as a poster child for meaningful voting reform that takes us beyond the sloppy provisional ballot system. Any form of Election Day confusion that leaves 47,000 citizens in a single county unsure whether their votes will count is not what a true democracy looks like.

Erik Ose is a veteran of Democratic campaigns in North Carolina and blogs at The Latest Outrage.

Idaho Turns A Little Bit Blue

2008-11-05T23:34:07Z

Congratulations to Walt Minnick, flipping a seat that has been in Republican hands for the past 14 years in a state that has been as unfriendly to Democrats as any in the past two decades. He's been declared the winner, but, true to form, that isn't enough for Bill Sali:

Mitchell Bard: Yes We Did! But There Is a Lot More to Do

2008-11-05T14:57:20Z

I am truly moved by the historic nature of Barack Obama's victory. And I fully understand the need for his supporters to celebrate. After months of hoping, waiting and fearing the worst, Obama's win was like a giant catharsis. A communal breath of relief.

But let us not linger too long on his triumph. Because if an Obama presidency is not successful, much of what was gained will be lost. And quickly. The last thing we need is another Jimmy Carter (which brought us Ronald Reagan), and Obama may not have the time to rebound after a tentative start, like Bill Clinton did early in his first term. The election is not the end of this journey. In fact, it's close to the beginning. Obama has not hit a home run; he has merely earned the right to step into the batter's box.

First, though, we should absolutely pause for a moment to recognize and take pride in what has occurred. It is monumental that the United States has elected an African American to be president. Given that racism is still felt in so many aspects of our society, that mere fact alone is worthy of celebration. But what I find exceptionally gratifying and moving is that the country turned to a black candidate because it wanted a smart, unifying, transcendent leader. Race took a back seat to excellence. It was an important step for the U.S. to take.

Equally exciting to me is that the American electorate rejected negative smear tactics and a campaign of fear to elect a candidate who had demonstrated that he was competent, smart, thoughtful, forward-thinking and a man of big ideas. For the last eight years, we have endured the polar opposite. George W. Bush ruled by fear, scaring Americans into accepting what he wanted. He was a beacon of anti-intellectualism and shallow thought. And competence was a dirty word in the Bush administration, forever personified by the president's compliment, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job," when the head of FEMA, who was totally unqualified for the position, completely dropped the ball as death and destruction were allowed to rage in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

In this election, the citizens of this country reached a point where they were not going to accept another campaign of fear and smears. No amount of talk about Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright, or accusations that Obama was a socialist and a friend of terrorists, or the not-so-subtle hints about "real" Americans and "pro-America" parts of the country, would sway voters from choosing the candidate they felt was the better man for the job. And this is something of which we should all be proud.

So rejoice fellow Obama supporters. Take in this moment. Feel the pride and the hope and the optimism. It's all well deserved.

But eventually, and soon, we have to move on. Because tremendous challenges await the Obama administration (how cool is it to write that?!?), and failure is not an option, not if the Democrats want to hold onto power. Again, if Obama turns out to be as unsuccessful as Carter was in addressing the nation's woes, what, other than the symbolic breaking of a barrier, has been accomplished?

Obama will take office facing a mountain of problems that are, in aggregate, far worse than those faced by Carter: an economy in recession, reeling financial markets, a broken military, two wars, an energy crisis, the need to overhaul the nation's health care system, the spiraling cost of Medicare and Social Security, and a huge deficit that will limit the resources available to address all of these problems.

And Obama will have to act with an angry, bitter, very conservative minority in Congress waiting for him to fail and committed to do what it can to see that he does. Remember, with the Democrats mustering only 56 Senate seats (if you include Joe Lieberman, plus Jeff Merkley and/or Mark Begich if either prevails in their late-running races), the party is far from securing the 60 votes it needs to bring legislation to a vote. That means it takes only 41 Republicans to block anything from getting done in the chamber.

If you think the Republicans have been humbled by the drubbing the party took, consider that House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio (a state Obama won) said yesterday: "Democrats would be making a big mistake if they viewed these results as a repudiation of conservatism or a mandate for big government." Boehner also said that Obama "has sketched a troubling policy road map that will be run through a Congress that was purchased by powerful liberal special interests." Without filibuster power, House Republicans won't be able to do much to block Obama's plans, but Boehner's bellicose words, which are, frankly, shocking in light of the country's repudiation of Republicans in the election, illustrate the kind of nearly irrational hostility the new president will have to face from the GOP.

And when you consider the election as a whole and look beyond Obama's win, there are some disturbing signs that the Democrats will be at great risk of losing power in 2010 if they don't start solving some of the country's problems very soon. Consider that 2008 was a perfect storm rushing at the Republicans: a despised Republican president was in office, an economic crisis hit less than two months before the election, the country was engaged in an unpopular war, and Democrats experienced record turnout (including African Americans and young people).

It would be hard to conceive of a set of circumstances, short of a Watergate-like scandal, that would be worse for the Republicans. And yet, in the end, they did better than they ever could have hoped. While Obama's victory was solid, he only bested McCain by six percentage points. While gains were made in the Senate, the Democrats failed to capture any of the three vulnerable deep red states in play (Kentucky, Georgia and Mississippi), prospects look bleak for a victory in blue Minnesota, and there is no guarantee of winning in blue Oregon. Even in the House, where seats were picked up (we don't know for sure how many yet), it looks like the total will be on the low end of the expected range, and several Democratic incumbents actually lost, including one in Louisiana who earlier this year won a special election to gain the seat in a predominantly Republican district.

My point is that, even with an extremely favorable situation in place, the Democrats' gains were relatively modest. It would not take much of a turnaround for these swing House districts to swing back to the GOP, and for the Senate races to be less hospitable to Democrats than they were in 2008. And in 2010, the party will not be able to count on the historic turnout that came with Obama's run for the presidency.

Which is why the journey is not over with Obama's election. It is essential that the Democrats take a smart and bold path to make the lives of middle and working class Americans better. If the party can succeed in this regard, the 2010 doomsday scenario will never occur. Bold options have to be considered, such as the Green New Deal Van Jones has talked about. Jones argues that investing in green energy production as both an economic stimulus and a way to address the country's crippling energy problems can ensure that Obama does not meet the same fate as Carter. (Jones wrote an article in the latest issue of The Nation about building a coalition to make a Green New Deal a reality.) Whatever path Obama and the Democrats take, they have to put the United States on a path to recovery.

As excited as I am about Obama's big win, I can't help worrying about what comes next. If he handles the presidency as deftly and assuredly as he ran his campaign, we have nothing to worry about. Let's hope the Democrats are able to start getting the job done in the next two years. The legacy of this election depends on it.

Read more reaction from HuffPost bloggers to Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election

Ted Stevens Holds Slim Lead, Race Undecided

2008-11-05T09:50:35Z

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — After a sometimes thrilling, sometimes bumpy run in the national spotlight, Alaska saw its governor defeated for vice president Tuesday. Still uncertain was the future of the state's senior senator, his standing as a political giant hammered by corruption convictions.

"Forever, I'm going to be Sarah from Alaska," Gov. Sarah Palin said as she voted in her hometown of Wasilla before flying to Phoenix, where Tuesday night she watched her running mate, Republican Sen. John McCain, concede defeat to Barack Obama in the presidential race.

House Races: Democrats Looking For Bigger Majority

2008-11-04T13:11:45Z

Democrats sought to pad their House majority at the polls Tuesday in heavy early congressional balloting.

Long lines formed as polls opened before daybreak in about a dozen Eastern seaboard states. Democrats were counting on heavy turnouts to capture more than 15 GOP seats, although the man who heads their campaign committee cautioned that the gains might not be in the range that some pundits had envisioned.

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