[Galactic Overlord-In-Chief]

It was going to be uphill for her, anyhow, since it was, under the pre-2004 lines, a fairly Dem district (it voted for Clinton twice and even for Dukakis in ‘88). You saw the problem in the adjacent district when we beat Jack Brooks in ‘94, as the Dems took it back again in ‘96 (which meant that even if Peterson had scored an upset, Turner probably would’ve taken it away).

East Texas was defintely a tough nut to crack. It came more our way in the 1990s for statewide office, but still stuck with Dems for other offices. When Jim Chapman retired in a nearby district, it went to another Dem, Max Sandlin. It took redistricting to knock him off, too.

[fieldmarshaldj]

It was interesting that quite a number of Dems walked away in ‘96, not wanting to serve in the minority. Charlie Wilson, of course, was one. I’m hoping that we’re not seeing the same thing with our rash of retirements for the coming year (which sets back our regaining the House, which should be doable — unlike the Senate, which won’t be).