Election Watch 2006
Top House Races
Below are two charts. The first chart is a listing of the 44 seats considered to be the most competitive by the Cook Political Report. They are listed in order of Congressional District with the name of the incumbent and that person’s political party affiliation. If the Representative column lists the race as ‘Open’, then the current seat holder’s name is listed in parenthesis. The race is then rated as either ‘Lean’ or ‘Toss-Up’. A ‘Lean’ rating means the race is considered competitive, but one party has the advantage. If the race has a ‘Toss-Up’ rating, it means either party has a good chance of winning.
The second chart lists an additional 32 seats that are not considered competitive at this time. However, these seats have the potential to become so at any time.
These 44 Seats are rated as either lean or toss-up by the Cook Political Report as of 9/7/06. They are considered competitive races.
| District | Representative | Party | Race Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| AZ-5 | J.D. Hayworth | R | Lean R |
| AZ-8 | Open (Kolbe) | Toss-Up | |
| CO-7 | Open (Beauprez) | Toss-Up | |
| CT-2 | Rob Simmons | R | Toss-Up |
| CT-4 | Chris Shays | R | Toss-Up |
| CT-5 | Nancy Johnson | R | Lean R |
| GA-8 | Jim Marshall | D | Lean D |
| GA-12 | John Barrow | D | Lean D |
| IA-1 | Open (Nussle) | Toss-Up | |
| IA-3 | Leonard Boswell | D | Lean D |
| IL-6 | Open (Hyde) | Toss-Up | |
| IL-8 | Melissa Bean | D | Lean D |
| IN-2 | Chris Chocola | R | Toss-Up |
| IN-8 | John Hostettler | R | Toss-Up |
| IN-9 | Mike Sodrel | R | Toss-Up |
| KY-3 | Anne Northrup | R | Lean R |
| KY-4 | Geoff Davis | R | Toss-Up |
| LA-3 | Charlie Melancon | D | Lean D |
| MN-6 | Open (Kennedy) | Lean R | |
| NC-11 | Charles Taylor | R | Toss-Up |
| NH-2 | Charlie Porter | R | Lean R |
| NJ-7 | Mike Ferguson | R | Lean R |
| NM-1 | Heather Wilson | R | Toss-Up |
| NV-3 | John Porter | R | Lean R |
| NY-20 | John Sweeney | R | Lean R |
| NY-24 | Open (Boehlert) | Toss-Up | |
| NY-29 | Randy Kuhl | R | Lean R |
| OH-1 | Steve Chabot | R | Toss-Up |
| OH-15 | Deborah Pryce | R | Toss-Up |
| OH-18 | Open (Ney) | Toss-Up | |
| PA-6 | Jim Gerlach | R | Toss-Up |
| PA-7 | Curt Weldon | R | Lean R |
| PA-8 | Mike Fitzpatrick | R | Lean R |
| PA-10 | Don Sherwood | R | Lean R |
| SC-5 | John Spratt | D | Lean D |
| TX-17 | Chet Edwards | D | Lean D |
| TX-22 | Open (DeLay) | Lean D | |
| TX-23 | Henry Bonilla | R | Lean R |
| VA-2 | Thelma Drake | R | Toss-Up |
| VT-AL | Open (Sanders) | Lean D | |
| WA-8 | Dave Reichert | R | Lean R |
| WI-8 | Open (Green) | Lean R | |
| WV-1 | Alan Mollohan | D | Lean D |
| Source: Cook Political Report 9/7/06 | |||
These 32 seats are not considered competitive at this time, but have the potential to become so.
| District | Representative | Party | Race Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA-4 | John Doolittle | R | Likely R |
| CA-11 | Richard Pombo | R | Likely R |
| CO-3 | John Salazar | D | Likely D |
| CO-4 | Marilyn Musgrave | R | Likely R |
| FL-8 | Ric Keller | R | Likely R |
| FL-9 | Open (Bilirakis) | Likely R | |
| FL-13 | Open (Harris) | Likely R | |
| FL-16 | Mark Foley | R | Likely R |
| IA-2 | Jim Leach | R | Likely R |
| ID-1 | Open (Otter) | Likely R | |
| IL-10 | Mark Kirk | R | Likely R |
| IL-11 | Jerry Weller | R | Likely R |
| IL-17 | Open (Evans) | D | Likely D |
| KS-3 | Dennis Moore | D | Likely D |
| KY-2 | Ron Lewis | R | Likely R |
| LA-2 | Bill Jefferson | D | Likely D |
| MN-1 | Gil Gutknecht | R | Likely R |
| ND-AL | Earl Pomeroy | D | Likely D |
| NH-1 | Jeb Bradley | R | Likely R |
| NV-2 | Open (Gibbons) | Likely R | |
| NY-3 | Peter King | R | Likely R |
| NY19 | Sue Kelly | R | Likely R |
| NY-25 | James Walsh | R | Likely R |
| OH-2 | Jean Schmidt | R | Likely R |
| OH-6 | Open (Strickland) | Likely D | |
| OH-13 | Open (Brown) | Likely D | |
| OR-5 | Darlene Hooley | D | Likely D |
| SD-AL | Stephanie Herseth | D | Likely D |
| UT-2 | Jim Matheson | D | Likely D |
| WA-2 | Rick Larsen | D | Likely D |
| WY-AL | Barbara Cubin | R | Likely R |
| Source: Cook Political Report 9/7/06 | |||
