Another Incumbent Down

The Election Year blood is now bipartisan, as the first House member was bounced in a primary last night, with the defeat of Rep. Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, as incumbents in both parties are now all officially on notice.

Mollohan was first elected in 1982 to succeed his father, who also represented many of the same West Virginia counties.

The Congressman was a powerful subcommittee chair on the Appropriations Committee, able to steer pork barrel money back to his district and state.

Yes, he had some ethics questions in recent years - but he was cleared by the Justice Department.

In the end, there was way too much baggage, and Mollohan was thumped by State Sen. Mike Oliverio, who ran a campaign that was actually to the right - more conservative - than Mollohan.

Oliverio has even talked about not voting for Nancy Pelosi as the leader of House Democrats.

Mollohan had all the advantages in this race - he was the incumbent, he had strong ties to his district and state, and he held a more than 2-to-1 fundraising advantage over Olivieri.

But none of that mattered, as now both parties have seen one incumbent go down in the Election Year Drain in just the past four days.

Meanwhile, if Mollohan's party already didn't have enough to worry about, just across the border in Pennsylvania, Democratic leaders were growing increasingly worried about incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA), who has been slipping in recent polls behind Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA).

Specter shrugged off the poll results yesterday, acting confident about his chances next Tuesday.  One of his new weapons, an advertisement with President Obama, who has endorsed Specter, saying he wants Specter "on his team."

Remember, Democrats tried their best to keep Sestak out of the race, and clear the way for the Republican-turned-Democrat.  So that means a loss for Specter can be treated as a loss for the White House and the President as well.

Also in next Tuesday's Pennsylvania Primary is a special election for the House seat of the late Rep. John Murtha (D-PA).  As the crow flies, Murtha's district isn't very far from the territory where Mollohan lost last night in West Virginia.  The voters probably watch a lot of the same Pittsburgh TV stations.

In other words, the same dynamic could be in play there as well.

Meanwhile, out in Hawaii, national Democrats have pulled out of a special election set for May 22 to fill the seat of former Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI).  Two Democrats and one Republican are running the race, and the Democrats have refused to give way to one another.

At this point, it looks like they could split their party's support, and make it easier for the Republican candidate to win.

That's all on the menu next week.  If things roll for the Republicans, it could give them even more election year momentum.

The Election Year blood is now bipartisan, as the first House member was bounced in a primary last night, with the defeat of Rep. Alan Mollohan of West Virginia, as incumbents in both parties are now all officially on notice. Mollohan was first elected in 1982 to succeed his father, ...