September 29, 2006

That Was Fast

Multiple national news outlets are reporting that Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL 16) is going to announce that he will not seek re-election. Just 24 hours ago, news leaked out of private emails Foley sent to an underage former Congressional page that the Page believed was inappropriate.

Foley was in a modestly competitive race with Democrat Tim Mahoney. Bush won 54% of the district's vote in '04, comparable to AZ 08 -- another top open seat pickup opportunity for Dems.

It's hard to imagine that this doesn't put FL 16 in the Dem column as Mahoney was self-funding and had also raised a decent chunk of change. While the Foley decision not to run again might give the FL GOP time to find another candidate, it's unclear. We're checking with the state right now to clarify the law. If Foley's name can't be replaced, it's probably safe to say the Democrats would need just 14 seats to win Congress as this one would go to the Dems almost uncontested.

Stay tuned to On Call for more on this breaking news.

Posted at 03:05 PM

Comments

14 seats? I think Dems are only looking at 13 after you add in TX-22 as well.

Scott | 09.30.06 01:22 PM

Post a comment