Right now, we're at 43 uncontested Republicans, from my count. Here's the outline for all of you.
First i'll go over the states with deadlines in the next 30 days (Until the 23rd of March).
Then, I'll go over the other states.
I'll also list the Republicans who were not contested by Democrats in 2004 who will be contested by Democrats in 2006.
Ok then, let's start moving.
The info starts under the fold.
The first two states of concern we have are North Carolina and Mississippi.
North Carolina
Filing Deadline: Noon on February 28th, 2006
Requirements: $1652 filing fee (Source)
Yeah, that filing fee probably hurts a bit. That's the unintentional effect of all those Congressional pay raises.
Right now, we have three seats of concern and three different situations.
The 10th is considered a concern since nobody has filed there. Although it's not considered a huge problem because the odds of somebody filing there are good, since someone filed with the FEC to run there. Granted, anything can happen.
The 5th is probably due to be filled. At least one guy put a site up saying he's running for the seat. So, all it'll take is him filing.
The 6th is concerned worse than both. The 6th is held by 11 term incumbent Howard Coble. That sentence should give you a reason why business is slow. Although, even with the 1% filing fee, I would hope that somebody is in the woodwork.
Mississippi
Filing Deadline: March 1st, 2006
Requirements: $200 filing fee (Source)
In 2004, Roger Wicker faced a guy from the largely dead Reform Party, because that part of the Reform party was more willing to run than the Democratic Party in that district.
In 2004, Chip Pickering faced a guy from the reform party and a white supremacist third-party candidate. If that doesn't motivate you to not vote, nothing will.
In 2006, both Pickering and Wicker are unopposed. Although, this is tough to totally figure since the Mississippi Secretary of State site is pretty hard to comprehend. But right now, I would say that the seats are uncontested. I heard some claims of people considering running the race. But, those are just claims.
Sure, neither district is particularly bright. But then again, somebody should run.
Pennsylvania
Filing Deadline: March 7th, 2006
Filing Requirements: $150 and 1000 signatures (Source)
Right now, the only seat I am concerned about is the 5th. Pennsylvania doesn't have much of anything for interactive filed candidate tracking. But, I've heard some things suggesting a candidate in the 5th. But not enough yet. I'd also like to be reassured about the 9th.
Although I will admit that the signatures thing does make things slightly harder. But I guess there's pros who can get that job done.
California
Filing Deadline: March 10th, 2006
Filing Requirements: $1621 or 3000 signatures (submitted by February 23rd, 2006)
Unless you have a magic power to get 3000 signatures by Thursday, you would be better off to just pay the money and find volunteers another way.
The three seats of concern are CA-3 (Lungren), CA-21 (Nunes) and CA-44 (Calvert).
I've heard rumblings of candidates in the 3rd and 44th, but no activity yet. I haven't heard much for the hat-shaped 21st.
So please please please fill me in a bit more there. But California does have a pretty useful thing to show you who has filed so far.
Iowa
Filing Deadline: March 17th, 2006
Filing Requirements: 1484 signatures in a manner detailed in the source link (Source)
The signature thing is probably a pain for anybody considering running.
But the only uncontested Republican so far is Latham, who is a 6 term incumbent in a swing district. The 4th district barely went for Bush.
Although, it's apparently different with long-time incumbents.
Maybe there's some news in Iowa.
Utah
Filing Deadline: March 17th, 2006
Filing Requirements: $387 (Source)
Considering the circumstances, i'm sorta thankful that only the 3rd is uncontested (so far). The fee is pretty managable too. Plus, i'm sure there's some attractive scenary in the district too.
and now on to the other states, in alphabetical order
Alabama
Filing Deadline: April 7th, 2006
Filing Requirements: $3,242 filing fee, subject to change by the Alabama Democratic Party before the filing period, make sure to check into this (Source)
Unopposed Republican Seats: AL-1 (Bonner), AL-2 (Everett), AL-3 (Rogers), AL-4 (Aderholt), and AL-6 (Bachus)
[Commentary: "There's probably quiet Democrats in Alabama, right? Even those Dems would do. But right now, this is a pretty big hole."]
Arkansas
Filing Deadline: April 4th, 2006
Filing Requirements: Unsure
Unopposed Republican Seats: AR-3 (Boozman)
[Commentary: "Jan Judy did pretty well in 2004, and hopefully somebody like her runs this time. Bush is not a popular man in Arkansas, and that might even be true in Northwest Arkansas too."]
Florida
Filing Deadline: May 12th, 2006
Filing Requirements: Unsure on specifics, please fill me in.
Unopposed Republican Seats: FL-10 (Young) and FL-12 (Putnam)
[Commentary: "This is a state of tremendous improvement, and I hope that we can actually see candidates against Crenshaw, Mica, and both Diaz-Balarts. Young's district is going to get really competitive when he retires."]
Georgia
Filing Deadline: April 28th, 2006
Filing Requirements: Unsure about that
Unopposed Republican Seats: GA-09 (Deal), GA-10 (Norwood), and GA-11 (Gingrey)
[Commentary: "We're doing well in Georgia too. We have a good shot of keeping our seats even with normal district maps. Although Gingrey has a tougher seat. Deal would be the hardest seat to find a candidate for."]
Louisiana
Filing Deadline: August 11th, 2006
Filing Requirements: $600 to the state and $300 (which goes to the party), or 1000 signatures
Unopposed Republican Seats: LA-4 (McCrery), LA-5 (Alexander), LA-6 (Baker), and LA-7 (Boustany)
[Commentary: "Hopefully I won't be making 'find a guy in Louisiana' posts in August. Right now, it's a long away until the deadline. But I would hope for candidates to show up here. Louisiana appears to be shaken-up a bit politically. But, I don't know what that includes."]
Michigan
Filing Deadline: May 16th, 2006
Filing Requirements: 1000 to 2000 signatures on a petition (Source)
Unopposed Republican Seats: MI-3 (Ehlers)
[Commentary: "Ehlers is the last uncontested guy, and I would hope that somebody is in the woodwork there. I don't pretend that he will lose. But I would prefer going 1.000 in Michigan too."]
Missouri
Filing Deadline: March 28th, 2006
Filing Requirements: $100 (Source)
Unopposed Republican Seats: MO-7 (Blunt) and MO-8 (Emerson)
[Commentary: "If I had to pick between facing Blunt or Emerson, I would pick Emerson. Not for strategic reasons, but because there's more Democrats in Emerson's safe district. Although I would prefer making sure that the House Majority Whip has an opponent, so he can't totally focus on sending money to other candidates."]
New Jersey
Filing Deadline: April 10th, 2006
Filing Requirements: 200 signatures
Unopposed Republican Seats: NJ-4 (Smith) and NJ-11 (Frelinghuysen)
[Commentary: "Both seats would be tough, but then again, Chris Smith won in a fluke, so for all we know, he's due to lose in a fluke."]
New York
Filing Deadline: July 13th, 2006
Filing Requirements: Unsure
Unopposed Republican Seats: NY-3 (King)
[Commentary: "I really really hope this changes soon."]
Oklahoma
Filing Deadline: June 7th, 2006
Filing Requirements: $750 (as of 2004) or "In lieu of a fee, a candidate may file a petition supporting his candidacy which is signed by five percent (5%) of the registered voters eligible to vote for him in the first election wherein his name could appear on the ballot." (Source, your Mileage may vary.)
Unopposed Republican Seats: OK-1 (Sullivan) and OK-4 (Cole)
[Commentary: "I would really like to scratch Oklahoma off the list too. It would be a bit of a challenge, but I think that it can be done. Oklahoma has enough Democrats to find at least two more candidates. Although, we may not be totally in love with the Democrats involved. But, Oklahoma has Democrats, somewhere."]
South Carolina
Filing Deadline: Noon on March 30th, 2006
Filing Requirements: $1621 (1% of the salary, Source)
Unopposed Republican Seats: SC-2 (Wilson) and SC-4 (Inglis)
[Commentary: "Getting an opponent for Ballenger and Brown is pretty good. And I hope that somebody can step up against the other two South Carolina Republicans."]
Tennessee
Filing Deadline: Noon on April 6th, 2006
Filing Requirements: 25 Signatures on a Petition (Source)
Unopposed Republican Seats: TN-1 (Open) and TN-2 (Duncan)
[Commentary: "The 1st will probably be contested, well I hope it is. The 2nd will be tougher to find a candidate in. But if somebody can be found with scarier eyebrows than Duncan, then that would be a feat."]
Virginia
Filing Deadline: 5PM on April 14th, 2006
Filing Requirements: $3304 filing fee and 1000 signatures (Source)
Unopposed Republican Seats: VA-4 (Forbes), VA-6 (Goodlatte), and VA-7 (Cantor)
[Commentary: "Can anybody clarify the Aaron Lyles D/Write-in thing? I don't think that counts as a candidate. But, if somebody would run against Goodlatte, it would be the first time that happened since 1998. As well, do you really want a cash machine like Cantor totally free to give money to at-risk Republicans?"]
Washington
Filing Deadline: July 28th, 2006
Filing Requirements: Unsure, check here for more information.
Unopposed Republican Seats: WA-5 (McMorris)
[Commentary: "McMorris represents Spokane and Eastern Washington. So surely somebody is in the area. Right? Well, they better be."]
Wisconsin
Filing Deadline: July 11th, 2006
Filing Requirements: 1,000 to 2,000 signatures (Source)
Unopposed Republican Seats: WI-6 (Petri)
[Commentary: "Petri is the Republican representing the 'birth place' of the GOP. Although I would hope that somebody could use the months ahead to actually run here."]
Republicans who faced no Democrat in 2004, but who are facing one in 2006-
John Shadegg (AZ-3), Jeff Flake (AZ-6), Bill Thomas (CA-22), Jerry Lewis (CA-41), Ander Crenshaw (FL-4), John Mica (FL-7), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL-21), Tom Feeney (FL-24), Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25), Jack Kingston (GA-1), Tom Price (GA-6), John Linder (GA-7), Jerry Moran (KS-1), Hal Rogers (KY-5), Jim Walsh (NY-25), Frank Lucas (OK-3), Don Sherwood (PA-10), Todd Platts (PA-19), Henry Brown (SC-1), Gresham Barrett (SC-3), Marsha Blackburn (TN-7), Sam Johnson (TX-3), Mike McCaul (TX-10), Mac Thornberry (TX-13), Ron Paul (TX-14), and Jo Ann Davis (VA-1)
26 Republicans are on that list.
The number of seats contested by Democrats
- 392 (by my count)
- 399
- 386
- 404
- 383
Right now, we're on a pretty good pace.
This is where you come into play
Do you have any new news about candidates? Any rumors or tips? Anything useful to getting a candidate in almost every district?
Then share it here.
Ok, that's all for now.