Shaw (R - FL) appears to have lost seat in Congress

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Longtime Fort Lauderdale Congressman Clay Shaw appeared to have been swept out of office Tuesday, caught up in an anti-incumbent wave that connected Republican leaders with an unpopular president and an even less popular war.

Voters in the coastal Broward and Palm Beach congressional district appeared to be choosing Shaw's Democratic challenger, state Sen. Ron Klein, whose money-raising skills meant he had nearly as much campaign cash as his deep-pocketed Republican opponent.

With heavy television advertising in two expensive media markets, the race proved one of the most costly congressional contests in the country. Klein raised $4.1 million to Shaw's $4.4 million, a near-match that pushed the Boca Raton lawyer to victory over the 26-year Republican incumbent.

Money was a major factor in the race, but so was the national mood, which coalesced around dissatisfaction with President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq. In the days before the election, two-thirds of the 401 voters polled by The Miami Herald said the president's handling of the war would influence their vote in the Shaw-Klein race.

Klein said Tuesday there was ''no question'' he was successfully capitalizing on the anti-incumbent mood, defined by his apt but simple and oft-repeated catchphrase: "It's time for a change."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15954200.htm

U.S. House - District 22 - 381 of 422 Precincts Reporting
Name Party Votes Pct
Klein, Ron Dem 98,353 51.04
Shaw, Clay (i) GOP 90,490 46.96
Evangelista, Neil Ind 3,872 2.01

[Skarbrowe]

1. Finally! Someone I voted for wins! Too bad Davis couldn't beat Crist.

I'm glad to see Shaw finally gone. He was extremely popular for a long time in the Ft. Lauderdale area. Glad a Dem finally has that Senate seat.

edited to say YEY! My 700th post is on a positive note. I had a Davis sign in my window and now I wish it could have been a Klein sign. Just once I would like to have a winning sign in the window. No matter. It's a good night so far! I've heard Davis is still hanging in there for the last precincts and I still don't trust all the voting machines here...but..I think we've got the House back now, so I will celebrate the good.

[Scurrilous]

2. Democrat Tim Mahoney wins race to replace Mark Foley

<snip>

"Democrat Tim Mahoney beat Republican state Rep. Joe Negron in Tuesday's race to replace disgraced former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, after a bruising campaign capped with scandal.

Negron conceded to Mahoney, whose victory bolstered Democrats' hopes of regaining control of the House by taking a seat that had been seen as securely in GOP hands before Foley's troubles.

"We knew that when the Republican Party put in over $2 million that they were going to do a good job at getting out their base," Mahoney told The Associated Press after speaking with Negron by telephone. "They picked a good candidate in Joe Negron."

Negron then gave his concession speech to supporters in Stuart."

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15953319.htm