Oct. 16, 2006 Close to three weeks after Mark Foley was forced to resign from Congress after Instant messages and e-mails he exchanged with pages were originally brought to light, the effect of the scandal has rippled into several House races, putting some incumbent seats at risk.
Below is a rundown on some of the House races that have been most affected.
Mark Foley's resignation left his own seat at risk, with most recent polls showing his district in Florida leaning towards a democratic candidate that at one time was considered the underdog. It's too late to change Foley's name on the ballot, but State Rep. Joe Negron will be put into his seat if the Republicans are elected.
Immediately after the Foley scandal broke, Tom Reynolds was put in the spotlight, as the chairman of the House Republican Campaign Committee. Complaints from pages who received inn appropriate Foley emails were directed to his office by the GOP House Leadership.
Despite Reynold's initial appeal that he did what anyone else would do with Foley's e-mails, "report them to his supervisor," the congressman from Western New York finds himself under increasing pressure.
His campaign released a commercial featuring a candid Reynolds where he defends himself: "I trusted that others had investigated. Looking back, more should have been done, and for that, I am sorry."
While it's expected that Dennis Hasteret will be re-elected, his position as House Speaker, which he has held longer than any other Republican in the history of Congress, has been put at risk.
ABC News's George Stephanopolous has said he does not expect Hastert to retain the speakership if the Republicans maintain control of the house.
While Jim Kolbe is also expected to win reelection in his district in Arizona, he has not been able to avoid getting drawn into the Foley fallout. Last week his office confirmed that an inappropriate e-mail was brought to the attention of Kolbe's office and was forwarded on to Foley's office for evaluation.
