For defense geeks... AFA's Daily Report provides a summary of election results and how they impact the House and Senate Armed Services committees and the defense subcommittees on the respective Appropriations committees:
Winds of Change: The Republican takeover of the House in Tuesday's Congressional midterm election brings with it the departure of some long-serving Democrats who played key roles in defense oversight. In fact, pending the results of one contest in Texas that was still too close to call as of midday Wednesday, it's possible that the top four ranking Democrats on the House Armed Services Committee will not return to the halls of Congress come January. Already known is that Missouri voters ousted Rep. Ike Skelton (D), current HASC chairman, after 33 years in office. Skelton's district includes Whiteman Air Force Base, home of the Air Force's B-2 bomber fleet. Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.), second ranking Democrat on the HASC, also lost his seat after 28 years. The fate of Rep. Solomon Ortiz (Tex.), current HASC readiness panel chair and No. 3 Democrat on the committee, remains unresolved, as Texas state officials have not yet determined the winner of his race against Republican challenger Blake Farenthold. Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), current HASC seapower subcommittee chair, and the No. 4 Democrat, lost his re-election bid, ending his 21 years in office. Continue
So much for the conventional wisdom concerning incumbents, eh? It really IS a sea-change when 33- and 28-year members get the boot. Good on those Mizzou and Carolina voters... Mrs. Hippy and (mebbe) Tejas, too.
Ya' know...I think the Gene Taylor loss was one of the most surprising to me. Along with Skelton.
ReplyDeleteI think it was in Mary Landrieu's second Senate run that she was probably re-elected because she was on the SASC...and Barksdale/Ft. Polk are vital to Louisiana's economy. Of course, the miserable bitch (excuse my French), yielded her seat to the freshman Hillary Clinton right after the election (it's a loooooooong story as to why).
Regardless, you are right. When big-time local interest influence is voted out of office, there really is something going on.
I mean, when Tom Foley, or Tom Daschle, or ANYBODY holding DC purse strings gets involuntarily retired...well...folks are ticked.
Until I was an adult, our Congressman in LA-4 was Joe Waggoner, who served for about 120 years. Nobody was even stupid enough to run against him because he had become the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee (or whatever they called it back then...it was the guys that spend the money).
When you see voters throwing Congressional seniority out in favor of candidates with a "message," you know they are fed up.
...you know they are fed up.
ReplyDeleteYup, and about time, too. This may just be a blip on the radar screen, but the ol' "he may be a bastard, but he's MY bastard" didn't work THIS time.