Danny Moloshok/ReutersJanice Hahn celebrated with supporters after winning a special election for an open U.S. House seat in California.
Posted on 07/13/2011 12:33:12 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
A special congressional election Tuesday in Southern California gave Republicans a surprising opening to seize a House seat in a Democratic stronghold and send a powerful message nationally going into 2012.
Democrats hold a commanding 18-point registration edge in the district where Barack Obama notched a 31-point win in 2008, but the likelihood of a meager turnout, combined with widespread voter anxiety over the economy, could make for a tight finish.
Republican businessman Craig Huey has been attacking President Obama relentlessly, arguing the nation needs deep cuts in tax, debt and spending to drive job growth. Democrat Janice Hahn has cast Huey as an extremist and sought to link him to Sarah Palin. She is still the favorite given the large registration edge for her party.
She took an early lead late Tuesday over Huey in an unofficial tally of mail-in ballots in the 36th Congressional District special election. Hahn had 21,365, or about 54 percent, to Huey's 18,025, or about 46 percent, in early returns. More than 340,000 registered voters are in the district.
...Former President Bill Clinton recorded automated phone messages for Hahn. Organizing for America, the group that provides Democratic Party's foot soldiers, asked supporters to make thousands of phone calls.
....Hahn, a Los Angeles councilwoman, is counting on a strong push from organized labor. Huey, who owns marketing and advertising companies and has largely bankrolled his campaign with personal funds, has Tea Party activists working on his behalf.
....Hahn, 59, supports abortion rights, is eager to see the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and supports growth in the alternative-energy industry.
Huey, 61, opposes abortion rights and same-sex marriage and wants government regulation rolled back.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Just in:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-hahn-huey-20110713,0,3541096.story
In a hard-fought special congressional election marked by sharp divisions in ideology and even sharper personal attacks, Democrat Janice Hahn defeated underdog Republican Craig Huey Tuesday.
Unofficial election night returns showed Hahn won 54.6% to 45.4%.
A nine point margin in a district the O carried by 30%+. I guess you can take that away at least. The hype concerning the Republican’s chances in this district were just that, hype.
The democrats here in California would vote themselves straight into Hell if they could put it on a ballot.
They just did.
LOL that anyone thought a R had a shot. Spending cuts to a liberal are like a cross to a vampire or a Mormon to a Freeper.
what on earth
I`m betting a lot of folks got a snicker at that headline. I`m surprised any candidate not openly embracing all those liberal hallmarks of CA politics would be allowed to run for that seat.
Almost 67,000 voted Republican in the district back in November 2010, more than enough to have put Huey over the top but they just didn't show up despite a month to cast their ballots.
I guess they didn't believe Hahn could be beaten either and it become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
A margin of only 9% is quite low given the registration advantage, name recognition, financial backing, union support, family dynasty, voting patterns and other factors all in Hahn's favor.
This was a good run for first-timer Craig Huey, lacking party support and name recognition, but a moral victory won't cast House votes.
The district has gone Dem 3 to 1, or better, in recent cycles.
Hahn *should* have blown Huey out of the water and didn't.
However, as an incumbent with Obama on the ballot in 2012, Hahn wins reelection easily unless there's a serious shift caused by redistricting.
From over 100 miles outside the district, I was skeptical because of the Hahn family juggernaut and getting no sense 'the GOP' believed outsider Huey could win.
They didn't pour money into a GOTV and left him to his own devices signalling a win was probably unlikely and local press were bored and playing games.
A single-digit margin for a local titan vs. a nobody should give Dems some concern but I don't expect admissions in the press. At the end of the day it's still a "win" for Dems and they'll spin accordingly.
I am disappointed. A win would've been a huge morale boost for us in CA. I'm more disappointed because my skepticism, leading me not to travel north for precinct walking, proved accurate.
The 9% margin is slightly better than I figured and about where the polls put him. The story is still Hahn's failure to blow him away. With Obama on the 2012 ballot and as an incumbent, she'll be reelected by greater margins.
I'm tired of my cynicism and skepticism being reinforced by reality.
Too bad. Just what America needed - another dumb, nasty, union-backed marxist c**t in Congress.
Bump!
Don’t be too hard on yourself.
I’m in Delaware, where we are terminally stuck on stupid—always electing Dems to DC.
I’m in the southern part of the state, where folks are very conservative. Unfortunately, we are outnumbered by the folks in the liberal northern part of the state. As you travel from north to south the color of the state changes from all blue to purple to all red.
Last year, we had to fight the corrupt GOP here as well as the Dems for Christine O’Donnell. The media and the GOP was in the tank for her Dem opponent, as we upset their plans to have uber-RINO Mike Castle coast to a Senate seat.
The media campaign against her was unbelievable. I worked hard for her, and saw her speak to all kinds of folks. An excellent candidate, but vilified to the Sarah Palin level and then some.
Again, we had enough registered Republicans in the state to over come the number of Dems who actually voted, but hey, why not once again snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Unlike others who have the privilege to live in red states, we get to see first hand the subversive left and the moronic Dems daily.
The GOP is going the way of the Whigs—2012 is the last gasp. If they nominate another McCain type candidate, we will have to go third party to try to save the country.
This election shows that in CA with no backing or help from the GOP, the Republican came within 9 points of winning in a predominately Democratic district.
Dems NEVER let a seat go without a fight. The GOP always doesn’t care about special elections, or backs the wrong candidate.
The problem isn’t you. It is the GOP leadership, from McConnell on down.
The Dems must get up every morning and pray thanks to their god that all they standing in the way of their goals is the feckless GOP.
First of all, you cannot blame people for staying home when the candidate is not good. It is up to the GOP to put forth good conservative candidates.The GOP keeps serving up a plateful of crap and tells us to eat a crap sandwich. Case in point, John McCain, a Democrat running as the GOP standard bearer in 2008.
Second of all, the only crappy candidate in last year’s DE Senate race was Chris Coons. We could have won that seat, whch was Joe Biden’s old Senate seat for 40 years.
We haven’t had a winning GOP Senator in DE in about 20 years. O’Donnell lost to Biden in ‘08 by 35 points. That was a miracle here in DE that it was only 35 points. They thought she would lose by 60 points!
Had the GOP and Karl Rove not ACTIVELY sabotaged her, she would have won the Senate race. As a result the head of the DE GOP was forced to resign by the rank and file in 2011 because he actively sought to defeat O’Donnell in the primary when it was his job just to oversee the primary.
O’Donnell espoused every conservative principle articulately. Coons was a lying, tax hiking, abortion loving moron.
O’Donnell would never have voted for Start II or the repeal of DADT. Coons followed his Dem masters and voted for both.
Coons even voted for the DREAM Act.
None of those three were even on the tablke as issues in the election. No, the debate was whether Christine O’Donnell was a witch or if she masturbated much.
I agree.
Almost 67,000 voted Republican in the district back in November 2010, more than enough to have put Huey over the top but they just didn't show up despite a month to cast their ballots.
Yep - a measly 20% turnout. :-(
This is not a rabid liberal district. I think Obama winning by such a wide margin was due more to the prune he ran against than Obama and his policies.
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