Dems Pick Up Last U.S. House Seat

The victory of corrupt incumbent Democratic Rep. William Jefferson over his also Democratic challenger in the recent Louisiana runoff was a pyrrhic victory at best. Jefferson's campaign included gay bashing and support from the white sheriff who blocked African Americans from crossing into Jefferson Parish from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I'm sure Speaker-Elect Pelosi wishes she didn't have to figure out what to do with a Democrat who had $90,000 hidden in his freezer.

Last night's victory of former Democratic Rep. Ciro Rodriquez over incumbent Republican Rep. Henry Bonilla in a Texas runoff was far more satisfying. The result was made possible because of the Democratic lawsuit challenging the DeLay-directed re-redistricting. Although the lawsuit as a whole was not as successful as Democrats hoped, it did force the redrawing of this district to protect Latino voting rights.

To be frank, Rodriguez will be no great light in the House. However, I think he is bound to do a far better job than Bonilla at representing Latinos and, more broadly, support the Democratic agenda. While Bonilla is also Latino, Bonilla lost the Latino vote by overwhelming margins. Rodriguez's victory means that Texas no longer has a single Latino Republican in Congress.

The result wasn't nearly as close as expected. Bonilla is on track to receive 3 percent less than the 49 percent he won in November. Rodriguez's victory also raises the number of Democratic pickups in 2006 to 31 seats, if one includes the seat in Vermont formerly held by left-leaning independent Senator-Elect Bernie Sanders. Indeed, the And that is something Pelosi, and all Democrats, will surely want to celebrate.