Defeat in Hastert's District a Republican Disaster or Republican Incumbents Falling Down

For 20 years Dennis Hastert held a congressional seat in the 14th district, a solid Republican stronghold in the otherwise blue state of Illinois. As speaker of the House he was one of the best known Republicans in the Senate. And as an incumbent, he recently lost his seat to a Democrat.

“Put it this way: if I told you in the middle of 2006 that Democrats would control Tom DeLay AND Dennis Hastert’s seats in Congress within two years, would you believe me?” -Dday

Bill Foster, a physicist and Democrat, won a special election on Saturday.

Mr. Foster’s success deeply disappointed Republicans, in part for its broader implications: the victory in this early race may buoy Democrats as they look ahead to a string of Republican retirements this fall.

A senior Republican official last night called the loss a disaster.

The NRCC, after a year of fundraising struggles, spent 20% of its cash on hand to win this race. And lost.

They spent lots of money, ran a well-known candidate, took on a Democratic rookie, all in a district that’s backed Republicans consistently for decades.

If the GOP doesn’t look at these results and feel awfully nervous, the party just isn’t paying attention.