Matt Ortega

In the special election run-off for Senator Roger Wicker’s (R-Mississippi) former House seat, Democrat Travis Childers was declared the victor. This makes three seats in deeply Republican districts flipping to Democrats and we are not even into the summer yet.

President Bush carried the First Congressional District of Mississippi with 62 percent of the vote. Childers won the seat by eight points, 54-46.

It is important to note that the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) dropped roughly $1.3 million of their $7 million cash on hand in an eight point drubbing in an R+10 district. NRCC Chair Rep. Tom Cole (R-Moore, Okla.) did not even try to spin the crushing defeat. It is simply stunning and goes to show the Everest that Republican candidates face in November.

The defeat leaves Republicans with less than 200 seats in the House — 199.

Swing State Project asked readers to draft the NRCC press release and outlined just how big of a victory the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and Rep.-elect Childers secured for Democrats.

A number of conservative bloggers are avoiding the Mississippi special election run-off altogether but a few chimed in with their takes.

Read more »

Congressman Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton, Calif.) holds a significant lead in fundraising dollars over likely Republican challenger and former Assemblyman Dean Andal. Hank Shaw of the Stockton Record reports:

Stockton Republican Dean Andal added another $90,000 to his campaign kitty during the first three months of 2008, according to campaign finance reports released today. Andal, who wants to oust freshman Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, this fall, also spent $42,000, so his net is $48k. Andal has $531,000 in his campaign account, which is pretty respectable for this time of year. Interestingly, Andal raised $11,000 of his cash this quarter from contributions smaller than $200 — a nice show of grassroots support.

The campaign of freshman incumbent Rep. McNerney told Shaw, however, that he brought in $329,000 in the first quarter with $51,000 in contributions under $200 with $1.2 million overall.

Democrat Bill Foster defeated Republican Jim Oberweis in Saturday’s special election for former Republican House Speaker Denny Hastert’s seat. Hastert resigned from his post representing Illinois’ 14th Congressional District in late November 2007.

Saturday’s defeat was another electoral setback for Oberweis, who ran for the U.S. Senate twice and sought the Republican gubernatorial nomination, making him 0 for 4 at the ballot. Oberweis enjoyed the support of former Rep. Hastert’s political machine and the clout of Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), who headlined a fundraiser and traveled to the district to endorse him. Oberweis’ stunning defeat is a major embarrassment to McCain.

To get just how big of a victory this is for Democrats, Daily Kos sums it up quite well:

This is a red district. Former Speaker of the House Denny Hastert represented this district since 1987, winning reelection by huge margins.

This district includes the city of Dixon, which is the birthplace of Ronald Reagan.

This is a district that President Bush won twice, and in 2004 he received 56% of the vote.

The NRCC poured over $1 million here to hold onto this seat — nearly a third of its cash on hand.

John McCain actually took time from his presidential campaign to come to Illinois and hold a fundraiser for Oberweis and formally endorse him.

This was as big a victory for the immigrant community as it was for Democrats. Oberweis was very well known for his anti-immigrant stances, including “eliminating” birthright citizenship, speaking at several Minute Man meetings, and an infamous advertisement.

Rosanna Pulido, State Director of the Illinois Minuteman Project, wrote of Oberweis in 2007:

Let’s give the successful, admirable Oberweis a chance to bring success to Illinois. Oberweis has always supported the Minutemen and has shown up to our meetings when invited.

He has always shown his full support for grassroots activist who have fought illegal immigration in Illinois. Now it is time for Minutemen types to support him.

This election cycle, we are seeing that anti-immigrant rhetoric continues to lose at the ballot box, even in historically Republican areas like the Illinois 14th Congressional District. John McCain’s association with someone like Jim Oberweis will not pay off in November.

Updated 03/08/08 at 11:15pm: Whither Rep. Tom Cole (R-Clarence, N.Y.)? It has been a rough 2008 for the NRCC chairman. Between Oberweis’ defeat in the +5 Republican district, the brewing scandal at the NRCC and the lingering tinge from the Mark Foley scandal last cycle, things do not look good for the New York congressman.