A Tsunami in the House

While my predictions were a little off in the Senate, they were much closer in House. So far, Republicans gained 61 Seats, eclipsing their gains in 1994. As of this writing, there are still 12 seats where a winner has not been declared.

Americans spoke loudly in this House Election. They repudiated the heavy-handed tactics of Nancy Pelosi's Congress and the bills they passed, choosing to "hand back the keys" to the Republicans. We can go through race-by-race, but that honestly would be really tedious. Instead, I'm going to analyze major states and then some themes we observed in this election.

Florida: Voters in Florida spoke loudly in this election! They may have voted for Obama in 2008, but in the Midterm Election, Republicans prevailed. Republicans had big wins in the 8th with Daniel Webster handily defeating Alan Grayson. Grayson's disgusting tactics have been covered here and by the large pluarality by which Webster won, voters in the 8th had enough and would rather he be an MSNBC host (which may likely be the case) than their Congressman. One district over in the 24th, Sandy Adams defeated Suzanne Kosmas also handily. Voters in the 24th saw through the phoniness of Kosmas's "Blue Dog Democrat" positions as in the end, she supported the Obama agenda. These two districts fall within the I-4 Corridor and as I previously expressed, this swing region is not only important to Florida politics, but to American politics because of its nature to be a bellwether in American politics. Further down the Florida's Turnpike, Allen West had a big win in the 22nd, prevailing against incumbent Ron Klein. Voters in the 22nd were tired of the effects of the Obama agenda on their district and found a strong alternative to the status-quo. I covered the Lt-Col in this cycle and find him to be an inspiring speaker, strong Conservative and rising star in the Republican Party. Florida also had big wins in the 25th and 2nd!

New York: Obama's coat tails were key in many Congressional Races within the Empire State. He apparently lost his luster in many districts. In NY-19 John Hall apparently isn't "still the one" as he was defeated by Dr. Nan Hayworth. The 19th trends Republican and Hall, former frontman of Orleans, rode that wave. Voters in the 19th had enough and I closely followed this race as it was heavily advertised on radio based in New York City. In the the seat of former Congressman Eric "tickle-fight" Massa, Tom Reed won, the Republican-leaning district now having a Republican Congressman. Republicans also had big wins in the 20th and 24th.

Pennsylvania: With big statewide wins in the Senate and Governor's Office, fortunes for Republicans continued down ticket in Congress. Suburban voters in the Philadelphia Metro Area had big wins in the 8th (Bucks County) and the 7th (the seat formerly held by Joe Sestak). Republicans also fared well in Northeast Pennsylvania in the 10th, 11th and 15th. PA-3 in the Northwest portion of the state also is Republican again.

Ohio: In a state that went for Obama in 2008, that also saw the president visit a record number of times, had five GOP pickups in Congress. This state also has suffered from unemployment and has not benefited from the Stimulus as the president said it would. Further symbolic, the Cincinnati and Columbus regions are Republican again and this is also the home of presumptive Speaker John Boehner, Congressman in the 8th.

It should also be noted that in the next Congress, the GOP will be more diverse, containing more women and African-Americans than ever before!

In the end, this was truly a tsunami election and the Republicans who were sent to Washington to represent their respective Congressional Districts must remember why they were sent there, and that reason was to stop the Obama agenda. They must fare well in this and stand up to the President. Voters do not want compromise! Remember, they are not obligated to legislatively meet the president, the president has now been electorally mandated to legislatively meet Congress. I hope to see Speaker Boeher have a backbone in this matter and if they do not, Republicans could pay the price they did in 2006 for turning their back on principle. The ball is in their court now.