House snapshots - Los Angeles Times

J.D. Hayworth, an incendiary Republican labeled by a top House Democrat as "one of the most impolite members" of the House, faced a stiff challenge from Harry Mitchell.

Hayworth, an anti-immigration advocate who beat his 2004 opponent by more than 20 percentage points, was a formidable opponent, and the mere prospect of his defeat showed how high the Democrats' hopes were riding. By evening's end, those hopes had been rewarded as Mitchell was projected the winner. California.

As usual, the outcomes of most of the state's House races were forgone conclusions, the district boundaries having been carefully drawn to protect incumbents. One possible exception was the 11th District in San Joaquin and Alameda counties, where Rep. Richard Pombo of Tracy was entangled with the scandal involving campaign contributions from lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Pombo gained enemies by trying to soften the Endangered Species Act, but he beat his 2006 opponent, wind engineer Gerald McNerney, by 22 points in 2004. Colorado. Republicans, including President Bush, rallied behind Marilyn Musgrave, a two-term representative of eastern Colorado who was a prominent sponsor of legislative efforts to ban same-sex marriage.

Musgrave received 55% of the vote in 2002 and only 51% in 2004, and Democrat Angie Paccione made a determined effort to continue the trend. In the open seat left by the resignation of Republican Bob Beauprez, Democrats took advantage of Rick O'Donnell, the Republican candidate, for having written that Social Security should be abolished. O'Donnell disavowed that view, but the Democratic candidate, Ed Perlmutter, gained from the episode.

Defeated was Rep. Nancy Johnson, a 24-year House veteran who chairs the Ways and Means health subcommittee. She was instrumental in passing the controversial Medicare prescription drug benefit in 2003.

Democratic state Sen. Chris Murphy, her challenger, charged her with being part of the problem in Washington. In western Connecticut, Rep.

Rob Simmons faced a second challenge from former state Rep. Joe Courtney. He beat Courtney handily, by 10 percentage points, in 2002, but observers say Courtney was a much better candidate four years later.

In the district that includes Connecticut's New York suburbs, Rep. Christopher Shays was locked in a tight rematch with Diane Farrell, the former first selectman of Westport. Charging Shays with rubber-stamping Bush's agenda, Farrell came within 4 percentage points of him in 2004.

They particularly coveted the Gulf Coast seat of Katherine Harris, who was in charge of the presidential recount in 2000 and gave up her House seat after two terms to run for the Senate this year. In a match-up of non-politicians, auto dealer Vern Buchanan held the seat for the Republicans against Democratic businesswoman Christine Jennings. The state's other high-profile race was in the central Florida district abandoned by Republican Rep.

Mark Foley when he admitted to sending sexually explicit e-mails to young male House pages. But Foley had won his seat by more than 2 to 1 in 2004, and Democrat Tim Mahoney had a big gap to close. To his advantage, the Foley scandal broke so close to the election that his name could not be removed from the ballot, and voters choosing the new Republican candidate, state Rep.

Joe Negron, had to mark Foley's name. Democrats picked up the Foley seat, with Mahoney projected the winner. Clay Shaw, who represents the coastal portions of Palm Beach and Broward counties, was the most endangered of Florida's Republican incumbents.

A moderate, he tried to distance himself from Bush and boast of cooperating with President Bill Clinton, but state Sen. Ron Klein was the one who benefited from a fund-raising visit by Clinton. Georgia.

Thanks to a Republican-engineered redrawing of congressional district boundaries, this state had the potential to be a rare locus of bad news for the Democrats. Former Republican Reps. Max Burns and Mac Collins ran strong campaigns to unseat incumbents John Barrow and Jim Marshall.

Barrow beat Burns two years ago by only 52% to 48%, and Marshall had to defend himself in a new district. Illinois. With the retirement of popular Rep.

Henry Hyde after 16 terms, Democrats finally had a chance to capture his seat in a district west of Chicago. They chose as their candidate Tammy Duckworth, who was born the year Hyde was first elected to Congress; she is an Iraq war veteran who lost both her legs when her helicopter was shot down. Her opponent was Peter Roskam, a state senator.

For the first time in 6 years I feel like our country might actually be moving in the right direction. I want to try to hold on to that feeling..

.I hope the newly elected democratic senate does not ruin it for me..

Please..Please.

.Please..

stand up for the people who elected you
First we take back control of both houses, then an impeachment trial for both Cheney and Bush, and then a trial for war crimes, followed by hanging for the entire Bush cabinet.
: L.A.

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