US House of Representatives Election 2006

[Atlas]

Elections for the United States House of Representatives were held on November 7, 2006, with all of the 435 seats in the House up for election. The representatives were to serve a two year term. So those elected were to serve the 110th United States Congress starting January 3, 2007 to January 3, 2009. On Election Day, Democrats gained 31 seats in the House, enough to take control, and Republicans became the minority party after 12 years of control. There were two seats which went to December runoffs. This included Louisiana and Texas. In the runoff in Louisiana, a Democratic incumbent defeated a Democratic challenger. In another runoff in Texas, a Democratic challenger defeated a Republican incumbent.

In the election, there were 32 open seats: 28 incumbents not seeking re-election and four vacancies. Of the 28 incumbents, 18 were Republicans, 9 Democrats, and 1 independent. The four vacancies were New Jersey's 13th congressional district, Texas's 22nd congressional district, Ohio's 18th congressional district and Florida's 16th congressional district. New Jersey's 13th congressional districts were to be filled at the same time as the general election with the winner taking office in November immediately after the votes were certified. Texas 22 (http://www.deanforcongress.com/) nd congressional district was to be filled with a separate special election on the same day. Ohio's 18th congressional district and Florida's 16th congressional district did not have special elections to fill the vacancies before January 2007. New Jersey's 13th congressional district had been held by Democrat Bob Menendez, Texas's 22nd congressional district had been held by Republican Tom DeLay, Ohio's 18th congressional district had been held by Republican Robert Ney, and Florida's 16th congressional district had been held by Republican Mark Foley.

This year Elections for the House of Representatives are to be held in the month of November, 2008. All the 435 seats are going for a reelection. The members elected will be forming the 111th United States Congress. It is scheduled to meet in Washington, DC from January 3, 2009 to January 3, 2011.

[Matt]

This is our first of many Civics lessons I hope.

Tom DeLay, Robert Ney, and Mark Foley!
Sort of paints an interesting picture of what the so-called Christian Right movement into government has meant.

[Yellowdogtexan]

What this is missing is the fact that there are only five or so open seat for the Democrats and over 25 open seats for the republicans. In fact the republicans just prevailed on one arizonia representative not to retire because his seat would have been an easy pickup by the Democrats and the RCCC did not have the money to contest that seat.

[Wabash]

What this is missing is the fact that there are only five or so open seat for the Democrats and over 25 open seats for the republicans. In fact the republicans just prevailed on one arizonia representative not to retire because his seat would have been an easy pickup by the Democrats and the RCCC did not have the money to contest that seat.

Many GOP folks are retiring this year....not good for the GOP...

[Wabash]

This is our first of many Civics lessons I hope.

Tom DeLay, Robert Ney, and Mark Foley!
Sort of paints an interesting picture of what the so-called Christian Right movement into government has meant.

My question is this: What was the point?

[nixon]

My question is this: What was the point?The party you belong to is a bunch of hypocrits that hids in back of the Church. The party that preaches "Family Values", that has no "Family Values".

[Yellowdogtexan]

Many GOP folks are retiring this year....not good for the GOP...The GOP got used to being in power and do not like it when they are a minority party. The number of key retirements bode well for the Democrats for picking up a number of seats in the house.

[Ringo]

My question is this: What was the point?

She has one Wabby, but she needs a corner to stand in while wearing this CAP!! I don't know about you, but I never considered Foley a Christian, HOWEVER the Left believes a couple of TOKEN appearences in church by Clinton, makes him Holy, and that Kennedy is a good Catholic despite the Murder by Car!!

[Matt]

The party you belong to is a bunch of hypocrits that hids in back of the Church. The party that preaches "Family Values", that has no "Family Values".

Nixon covered it well here. :)
Your attempt at insults as well as saying they did it too does not negate the fact that the party covered up for Foley for at least two years when he was supposed to be the person protecting teenage boys who were working for the House of Representatives.
What Clinton did was wrong and so was Kennedy but both were with consenting adults.
Does that perchance clear up my point?
Want to discuss Ney and DeLay who also belong to the party that want prayer in schools ~ like it was in Mark Foley's school?

Or shall we all get back to the subject of electing House members. It's all looking good from here, thanks.

[nixon]

Nixon covered it well here. :)
Your attempt at insults as well as saying they did it too does not negate the fact that the party covered up for Foley for at least two years when he was supposed to be the person protecting teenage boys who were working for the House of Representatives.
What Clinton did was wrong and so was Kennedy but both were with consenting adults.
Does that perchance clear up my point?
Want to discuss Ney and DeLay who also belong to the party that want prayer in schools ~ like it was in Mark Foley's school?

Or shall we all get back to the subject of electing House members. It's all looking good from here, thanks.Let us talk about more Republican hypocrisy. Newt Gringrich running down Clinton about cheating on his wife, all the while HE, HIMSELF was having an affair on his wife. How about Mike Vitter? Another "Family Value Republican", paying for call girls and prostitutes. Dennis Hastert, the same cheating on his wife and he also knew about Mark Foley's fetishes with young men. This is the party I want to be associated with.

[Matt]

They even pick up the ones dumped from the Democrats like Dick Morris to help with party business.
Among the talk show hosts who tout the family values party cause are the convicted felons from the Nixon era.
Yep, very interesting associations.

[Wabash]

The only difference that I see is that one party talks about family values and the other doesn't....the actions are all the same!

There are just as many cheating husbands and wives, lecherous skalliwags, and queers and criminals in both parties.
Yes, any one preaching one thing and doing another is a hypocrite!

[Wabash]

Therefore, the foregoing, doesn't necessarily mean that the party is flawed, just some of it's members!
Ol nix likes to keep throwing out barrel after barrel of apples just because there are a few rotten ones.......he knows better too!:wink

So does Matt...but she keeps jumping on the bandwagon of righteousness and subtly keeps bashing religion at the same time....
Don't give me that Dick Morris shit either...you have Sandy the Burglar!

[Trueblue]

The point is the hypocrisy, Wabash, you know that. And what's wrong with bashing hypocrisy in religion?

[Matt]

Therefore, the foregoing, doesn't necessarily mean that the party is flawed, just some of it's members!
Ol nix likes to keep throwing out barrel after barrel of apples just because there are a few rotten ones.......he knows better too!:wink

So does Matt...but she keeps jumping on the bandwagon of righteousness and subtly keeps bashing religion at the same time....
Don't give me that Dick Morris shit either...you have Sandy the Burglar!

Did the pubs send Sandy to us?
I know about John Dean. The Dems like him even tho he hasn't embraced the party per se.

No bashing of religion here.
I bash the lack of religion and those who feign it.

I don't necessarily mean someone who appears in the church building every Sunday.
To me, it's someone that you don't have to ask.
Their life every day reflects their beliefs.
And when they are gone, their belief system will live on among those that they touched.

Also, I'm not talking perfect. All make mistakes and move onward and upward if their religion is real.
There's a big difference between throwing a bad apple out of the barrel, or accepting and trying to sell the rotten apple by convincing people that it's okay.

That's crooked and hyprocrisy. You can Wabash it but it is still true.

[Trueblue]

Did the pubs send Sandy to us?
I know about John Dean. The Dems like him even tho he hasn't embraced the party per se.

No bashing of religion here.
I bash the lack of religion and those who feign it.

I don't necessarily mean someone who appears in the church building every Sunday.
To me, it's someone that you don't have to ask.
Their life every day reflects their beliefs.
And when they are gone, their belief system will live on among those that they touched.

Also, I'm not talking perfect. All make mistakes and move onward and upward if their religion is real.
There's a big difference between throwing a bad apple out of the barrel, or accepting and trying to sell the rotten apple by convincing people that it's okay.

That's crooked and hyprocrisy. You can Wabash it but it is still true.

:clap :D

[Capitalist]

Did the pubs send Sandy to us?
I know about John Dean. The Dems like him even tho he hasn't embraced the party per se.

No bashing of religion here.
I bash the lack of religion and those who feign it.

I don't necessarily mean someone who appears in the church building every Sunday.
To me, it's someone that you don't have to ask.
Their life every day reflects their beliefs.
And when they are gone, their belief system will live on among those that they touched.

Also, I'm not talking perfect. All make mistakes and move onward and upward if their religion is real.
There's a big difference between throwing a bad apple out of the barrel, or accepting and trying to sell the rotten apple by convincing people that it's okay.

That's crooked and hyprocrisy. You can Wabash it but it is still true.


Tell me Matt, do you believe in substitutional attonement?

[Yellowdogtexan]

This is amusing. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/us/politics/10house.html?th&emc=th Congressional Democrats on Sunday were celebrating an election victory that they said increased their confidence of holding the House in November and affirmed that party positions on the Iraq war and health care were resonating with voters.

At the same time, they said the victory, taking over the Illinois seat held for two decades by Dennis J. Hastert, who became the most powerful Republican in Congress, showed that Democrats can run strongly in the more than two dozen House seats being vacated by Republicans, particularly given the party’s financial advantage.

The election of Bill Foster, a physicist, for the 14th Congressional District provided special satisfaction to Democrats since it means that their party in the past two years has won seats held by two of their arch foes — Mr. Hastert, the former speaker who left Congress last fall, and Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader from Texas.

“It was a remarkable repudiation of Republican status quo, showing that voters all across America are eager for change,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, said Sunday.....

Republicans sought to play down the implications of the contest for the broader national landscape but acknowledged privately that the loss of the ex-speaker’s seat would be demoralizing.

“It is a psychological blow,” said one Republican who did not want to be identified by name when speaking of the negative fallout from the contest.....

Democrats said the Illinois victory could be replayed this fall in other races where the party has strong candidates running in districts being vacated by Republicans. Two of those seats are in Illinois.

“If you look at the other open seats, most of them are less Republican than this one,” said Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The Republican Congressional committee spent more than $1.2 million in the race — about 20 percent of its cash on hand as of Dec. 31 — and will not be able to make such a heavy investment in many other open seats without a significant improvement in fund-raising. The party does expect to raise about $7 million at a major fund-raising dinner to be headlined by President Bush this week, though the Illinois loss is likely to dampen the celebration.....

“The symbolic value of winning the seat held by the speaker of the House for more than 20 years cannot be exaggerated,” Mr. Van Hollen said. “There is no sugarcoating this for the other side.”

[Matt]

:D

[nixon]

Therefore, the foregoing, doesn't necessarily mean that the party is flawed, just some of it's members!
Ol nix likes to keep throwing out barrel after barrel of apples just because there are a few rotten ones.......he knows better too!:wink

So does Matt...but she keeps jumping on the bandwagon of righteousness and subtly keeps bashing religion at the same time....
Don't give me that Dick Morris shit either...you have Sandy the Burglar!I agree with you ,Wabs. It really isn't the members of the party, it's the leaders. We can be critical of both sides of the aisle. I just don't see where having control of Congress from '94 to '06 and control of the W.H. for 6 of the last 7 years has done our country any good. My rants about Larry Craig and the likes are me venting my frustration with our leaders. Sorry if it pisses off other straight members of the Gay Ole Party.

[Trueblue]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SESr9D5Gd7A

[Wabash]

I agree with you ,Wabs. It really isn't the members of the party, it's the leaders. We can be critical of both sides of the aisle. I just don't see where having control of Congress from '94 to '06 and control of the W.H. for 6 of the last 7 years has done our country any good. My rants about Larry Craig and the likes are me venting my frustration with our leaders. Sorry if it pisses off other straight members of the Gay Ole Party.

No problem at all nix. When a person makes their bed, they have to lay there thru the good and the bad....if they soil their sheets...too bad...that's.....ANYBODY in my book!

[Yellowdogtexan]

The recent special election of a Democrat to the seat held for 20+ years by the former GOP Speaker is already paying dividends for the Democrats with such new Democratic reprentative casting a deciding vote. http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/03/first_day_swing_vote_for_new_r.htmlIt didn't take long for Bill Foster to make an impact in Congress.

Foster, a Democratic scientist/businessman, won a special election Saturday to replace retired former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) in the House. He was sworn into his seat representing the exurban 14th Congressional District on Tuesday afternoon. By evening, he was casting what was arguably the deciding vote on a white-hot ethics bill.

The bill, pushed aggressively by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), creates an independent, outside panel to investigate ethics complaints against House members. The House approved it last night, 229-182, with most Democrats in favor and most Republicans opposed. That margin is deceptive: Before final passage, the bill first had to clear a much closer procedural vote, which gave House members a chance to kill the idea without, technically, voting against it.

The bill survived that test by a single vote, with Foster voting in favor.

Only four Republicans joined Foster and 202 other Democrats on that vote. We can't say for sure what Jim Oberweis, the Republican whom Foster beat in the special election, would have done if he were in Congress. But given the party-line nature of the vote, some Democrats on Capitol Hill (who favored the outside panel) are crediting Foster today with the bill's passageRepublicans do not believe in ethics and so the only way that ethics reform was going to pass is if the Democrats pass such legislation. Bill Foster got to cast a key vote on his first day and such vote was for ethics reform