March 3, 2011 - 4:37pm
Republicans move within reach of U.S. House majority
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans pulled within reach of a House majority on Tuesday, ousting Democratic freshman and veterans in battleground districts in the East, South and Midwest.
The GOP defeated 19 Democrats in districts won by Sen. John McCain of Arizona in the 2008 presidential campaign, as voters expressed disillusion with President Barack Obama, anxiety about the economy and distaste for government. With polls closed on the East Coast, Republicans had scored key victories from Maryland to Texas and broken House Democrats' monopoly in New England by defeating Rep. Carol Shea Porter in New Hampshire.
Among the victims were Florida Reps. Suzanne Kosmas, Frank Kratovil of Maryland and Tom Perriello of Virginia, first-termers who backed key elements of Obama's agenda — Obama even campaigned for Perriello — and were savaged for it by their Republican rivals. But those who stressed their independence from their party, like Reps. Glenn Nye of Virginia and Travis Childers of Missippi also went down. And some old bulls fared no better; 13-term Rep. Paul Kanjorski in Pennsylvania and 20-year veteran Rep. Chet Edwards in Texas lost.
Overall, Republicans had captured 34 seats from Democrats by mid-evening, opened leads against nearly two dozen more Democratic incumbents, and were ahead in bids to claim a handful of seats left open by Democratic retirements. Democrats had taken two seats from the GOP.
Republicans said they had learned painful lessons after being chased from power in 2006 and were ready for a new start.
"Our years in the minority have chastened and disciplined our party, and tonight's elections show that the American people say it's time for our party to stop talking and start listening," said Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the No. 2 Republican.
Democrats struggled to hold their majority. In rare bright spot, John Carney handily beat Republican Glen Urquhart in the race to succeed GOP Rep. Mike Castle in Delaware's only House seat, which Castle left to unsuccessfully pursue a Senate seat. And in New Orleans, Democrat Cedric Richmond beat Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao, who had campaigned as a friend of Obama.
A handful of Democrats heavily targeted by the GOP pulled through, including Reps. Betty Sutton of Ohio, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Heath Shuler of North Carolina and John Yarmuth of Kentucky.
"Democratic turnout has been higher than projected," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the Democratic campaign chief. "We knew it would be challenging, but also knew people understood how high the stakes were in this election.
But the few victories were eclipsed by the scope of potential Democratic defeats. First-termers were lagging in key races and some of the party's old bulls were struggling to survive, like Rep. John Spratt of South Carolina.
