I can think of two.

Ted Strickland (Ohio) and David Price (North Carolina).

I'm sure that someone like CMBurns will emerge to fill in the blanks--and then some.

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by: James L. @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 03:09:58 AM UTC

And while it doesn't really fit...

Maria Cantwell lost in 1994 to Rick White, but re-emerged 6 years later to knock out Republican Senator Slade Gorton.

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by: James L. @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 03:12:21 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Just those two

However, both of those one term incumbents were real wingnuts.  I mean, Heiniman said that somebody making $175,000 was lower middle class. 

Cremeans was also a nut.  He said that homosexuals were to blame for AIDS and his biggest priority seemed to be to get a big cross put up in a local park.  Still, he only lost by a hair.

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by: Sean @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 03:41:09 AM UTC

Only 2 won in 1996...

The aforementioned Ted Strickland, now Governor of Ohio, and Rep. David Price are the only Congressmen defeated in 1994 who won in 1996.

Here's what the future held for some of the 34 incumbents who lost in 1994:

Jay Inslee: In 1998, he carpetbagged to a Seattle area district and beat right-wing Rep. Rick White.  Inslee is  leader in Congress on renewable energy issues.

Two years ago, Former Rep. Eric Fingerhut ran against Senator Voinovich and lost by by over 20%

Dick "Please don't make fun of my surname or my first name" Swett's wife ran for Congress and lost by 17% to Charlie Bass.

Jill Long ran in a gerrymandered district agains Chris Chocola and lost in the tough political year that was 2002.

Larry LaRocco led the Democratic resurgence in Idaho, but like Grant and Brady, he lost by a close margin.

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by: Myles @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 03:51:09 AM UTC

Dick Swett is ran

for the Senate against Bob Smith in 1996 and only lost by two points.

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by: Sean @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 03:56:56 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks!

Didn't the VNS call Swett as the winner?  I thought there was a controversy over that.

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by: Myles @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 04:02:21 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yeah

But it was freakin' Bob Smith.

The Crolian Progressive: as great an adventure as ever I heard of...

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by: Nonpartisan @ Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 03:29:08 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Did anyone else

Run again and fail?

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by: DavidNYC @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 04:33:26 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yes, they did.

They made the same mistake in Maine that night when they called Joe Brennan over Susan Collins.

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by: Sean @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 04:14:35 AM UTC

You should try

Replying to the comment, not just hitting "Post a Comment" at the bottom of the page. :)

Anyhow, I knew about the blown call with Swett - that one is famous. I didn't know they ALSO blew a call in ME. For the life of me I'll never figure out why people put so much stock in exit polls. Sure, they can be helpful, but the fact that they were off in 2004 seems pretty meaningless to me, given their past (weak) track record.

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by: DavidNYC @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 04:35:08 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Dukakis in '88

Exit polls actually had him winning by about .5%.

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by: Sean @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 04:55:43 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Dukakis up by .5%?

I wonder if even he believed those exit polls.

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by: Myles @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 05:41:01 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Maybe, final polls did show the race close

I think the final Gallup poll only had Bush up by three points.

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by: Sean @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 05:49:26 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Next trivia question should be about second-time challengers

As in, Joe Donnelly ran twice in IN-02, Diane Farrell twice, Lois Murphy twice, Jerry McNerney twice, Patty Wetterling twice, etc.

It would be interesting to see the success/failure rate and speculate on what makes the difference.

Especially because we're gonna have Darcy Burner, Larry Kissell, Dan Seals, Tessa Hafen, Nancy Skinner, Linda Stender,  Christine Jennings, Eric Massa, Dan Maffei, Gary Trauner, and probably others on the menu in 2008.

On second thought, there may be too many of these to do a trivia question.

28, gay guy, Democrat, CA-08

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by: texas dem @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 17:48:59 PM UTC

Probably also Dennis Spivack in DE

Delaware democrats: "Oh gosh golly gee, I don't wanna take on nice Mr. Castle! He's such a swell fella!" The nominee could be Spivack again by default, and he said he's interested in running I think.

Delaware Liberal - biggest and best blog in Delaware.

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by: X Stryker @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 17:58:23 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

1996 Comebacks

Strickland(OH-6) and Price(NC-4) won their old House Seats. Strickland is now Governor of Ohio. In Washington state. two incumbents who lost in 1994- Maria Cantwell(WA)- was elected the the US Senate in 2000 defeating Slade Gorton. and Jay Inslee was elected to the other US House District in Washington State- he unseated Rick White in 1998 who defeated Cantwell in 1994. The other Washington State Democratic House member who lost in 1994- Mike Kriedler- was elected State Insurance Commisioner in 2000.

Lynn Shenk(CA)- made an unsucessful run for Attorney General- lost in the 1998 Democratic Primary

Buddy Darden(GA)- lost in the 2002 Democratic Primary when he made a run at the newly drawn 11th Congressional District.

Larry LoRocco(ID)- lost the 2006 Lt Governors Race.

Jill Long Thompson(IN)- lost in 2002 IN-2nd CD House Race to now ex Rep Chris Chocola

Tom Barlow(KY) has made 4 unsucessful runs for the US Senate and his old House seat.

Dick Swett(NH) narrowly lost the 1996 NH US Senate Race

Eric Fingerhut(OH) was elected to the Ohio State Senate- recently lost the 2004 US Senate Race to George Voinovich

Leslie Byrne(VA)- was elected to the Virginia State Senate- narrowly lost the 2005 Virginia Lt Governors Race.

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by: CMBurns @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 19:44:31 PM UTC

Jeb Bradley (NH-01)

I live in New Hampshire's first, I helped the Carol Shea-Porter campaign (though I'm a much bigger fan of her colleague Paul Hodes, the new Congressman from NH-02), and let me tell you, Jeb Bradley is done.  New Hampshire has had a blue revolution this year, and Democrats have more power in NH now than they've had in nearly 140 years, and our Democratic Governor won re-election in 2006 with the greatest margin of victory in a NH gubernatorial race ever--he's the 90th Governor and we hold elections for that position every 2 years.

I'm pretty convinced the only seat in the New Hampshire Congressional delegation that will change parties in the 2008 election is John Sununu's (R) Senate seat.

http://www.intentdis...

http://www.intentdissent.com

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by: intentdissent @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 22:25:45 PM UTC

Hmmm..

Boyda-D KS-02 has proven that she could take out Ryun in spite of a strong & nasty Gop Robocall call campaign & lack of DCCC support. Wingnuts in Kansas may likely not be able to make a comeback in Kansas any time soon. Mc Nerney-D CA-11 could only have a tough race if its against someone other than Pombo-R and if the Gop has a divisive primary there again, that may seal their fate there. I also think that Jerry has been well positioned to hold the seat and hopefully the top of the Democratic ticket in Ca in 2008 will be a help too.
Patty Wetterling-D MN-06 probably should take a pass as should Lois Murphy-D PA-06 & Diane Farrell-D CT-04.
As it looks like there will be no resolve of the Iraq War coming from the Bush Administration nor any change in their policies/direction(read: Intransigence), I see '08 as another Blue year, at this juncture in time.
Second runs by Massa-D NY-29 & Stender-D NJ-07, Brown-D CA-04 & Seals-D IL-11 may prove more fortuitous the second time around, especially if the DCC gives them decent support  this time.
Bradley-D NH-02 just sounds like a Bozo and given that CS-P pulled the rug out from under him under less than fantastic circumstances, I think she'll be able to hold the seat.
 

(-8.50/-7.44) "Real Democrats don't make promises they can't keep." Dr. Howard Dean

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by: Predictor @ Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 03:37:02 AM UTC

I hope Pombo runs again in CA-11!

That will only seal the deal with Jerry McNerney! Pombo was a "true red" wingnut who became out of touch with an increasingly "purple" electorate in CA-11...
And oh yeah, who can forget his "work" on behalf of Native Americans?
http://www.beyonddel...

That's kinda why he lost last year. If he's the GOP nominee next year, then our task of protecting McNerney will be MUCH easier!

: )

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by: atdnext @ Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 05:13:38 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hey, there you are!

I didn't realize you were on this site already. LOL.

Yeah, that's for sure on Pombo. I'm hoping he'll attempt to get back his seat and hoping there will be a nasty Gop Primary in the process. Assemblyman Guy Houston-R San Ramon(AD-15) could give Jerry a run for the money, here's his district: http://www.guyhousto...
Jerry had already focused on San Joaquin County (Pombo's homebase) setting up a campaign HQ there and a Congressional Office so he's giving that area attention. Pombo only won the San Joaquin part of the District with 53% of the vote, a huge fall-off from his prior runs. Seems he wore thin with a good number of those constituents, and certainly did with the ones in Contra Costa, Alameda & Santa Clara Counties.
Houston won re-election with 54.8% of the vote. The Gop has a 2% Registration advantage in AD-15. I'm not familiar with the politics/quality of his challenger Terrence J.Coleman-D. More research necessary.

(-8.50/-7.44) "Real Democrats don't make promises they can't keep." Dr. Howard Dean

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by: Predictor @ Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 06:30:06 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Your right

I also think that Tessa Hafen should give NV-03 another run as well as Darcy Burner in WA-08.

We need to find new candidates in PA-06, CT-04, and MN-06.

Elwyn Tinkleberg should run in MN-06, Dan Wofford should run in PA-06, but I don't know who could run in CT-04.  We need somebody more aggressive here than Lois Murphy.

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by: Sean @ Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 06:33:11 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hello Sean

Twinkleberg could be a possibility in MN-06, as I remember he was to the right of Wetterling?
Think you meant Farrell-D in CT-04. Keep in mind that Ned Lamont-D lives in Greenwich, in that District. If Ned is "over" the political scene that may be a no go. It looks like Lieberidiot narrowly carried CT-04 and did carry Greenwich. So, those are also some negs on Lamont running there. Though, with the right kind of assistance from the DCCC it might just be a match.(Plus I like the guy and believe he got totally screwed in the General by the DSC & lack of a viable Gop challenger). Plus, he wouldn't be so "green" this time around, he gained some valuable experience.

Well, Dan Wofford came as close as Lois Murphy did on his first run in PA-06, he may be a possibility or maybe this District just needs new blood. The Dems have made strides in Chester County in the last few years, 2008 could be the year.

(-8.50/-7.44) "Real Democrats don't make promises they can't keep." Dr. Howard Dean

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by: Predictor @ Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 06:56:16 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Yes

Tinkleberg was pro-life. 

Maybe Lamont could run in CT-04.  If he wanted to be Senator, why not try for the next best thing?

I think Wofford would do better than Murphy did in PA-06.  I was shocked that she lost that race and she does not deserve to run again.  You also have to remember that Wofford nearly beat Gerlach in a pretty down year for Dems.

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by: Sean @ Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 07:07:53 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

CT-04 search is going to be difficult

Last I spoke with Ned, he had no interest whatsoever in challenging Shays.  He didn't get into the race against Lieberman because he had burning political ambitions; he got in because he really thought someone within our party needed to finally stand up to Joe Lieberman.  (For which Lamont's commitment to fighting Lieberman is ever more commendable given Lieberman's recent free-pass to Bush on Katrina and statements about supporting a Republican in '08.)

Anyway, the second person everyone around here seems to mention as a possible great CT-04 candidate in '08 is Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy, who narrowly lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary in August to New Haven Mayor John Destefano, who went down to a crushing defeat against Jodi Rell.  But Malloy, too, has told me he has absolutely no interest in running for Congress; his sights are set on the 2010 Governor's race in CT.

No-one else who is currently obvious jumps out, but many of us would love to see George Jepsen, former Majority Leader of the State Senate and the Chairman of Ned Lamont's campaign, run for the seat.  He just  moved back to CT-04.  But he might want to run for AG, I hear.

Other possible contenders that I hear might be interested are State Sen. Bob Duff, from Norwalk, and State Rep. Jim Shapiro, from Stamford.

BTW -- I read SSP often, but don't usually open to the comments...I just happened upon this comment because it came up in a Google News alert about Ned Lamont!  I've never seen Google News alerts get generated from a blog comment before.  Weird!

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by: Maura @ Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 10:12:59 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Ah... that was the issue

that is why Emily's list was involved with Wetterling. At approx R+5, it isn't an easy District, I can see where a more conservative Dem might stand a better chance. Though I'd have to hold my nose sending any $$ to any Anti-Choice Dem, but against Bachman-R, I'd probably send money.

Good point on Wofford. He didn't exactly have coattails between Kerry-D and especially not any  running next to Joe Hoeffel-D. Chester & Montgomery Counties have always given the Specter-R strong support. 2004 was not our year, 2008 will be alot different.

(-8.50/-7.44) "Real Democrats don't make promises they can't keep." Dr. Howard Dean

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by: Predictor @ Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 07:58:30 AM UTC

I will just throw this out there

Why not have a comeback in LA-06 from a candidate who almost unseated an incumbent in 1998?

Here are the results:

U. S. Representative, 6th Congressional District
All 530 precincts reporting
Click here for Results by Parish
97,044  51% Richard Baker, R Elected
94,201  49% Marjorie McKeithen, D Defeated

Marjorie McKeithen is the daughter of a Republican Secretary of State and the granddaughter of a very famous Democratic Governor.  She is now Secretary of the Louisiana State Mineral Board and Assistant Secretary of the Office of Mineral Resources.  Although her father switched parties in 1987, she and her grandfather remain staunch Democrats.

Learn more about Bobby Jindal.

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by: louisianagirl @ Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 20:39:03 PM UTC