U.S. House

2004 Vote | The Democrats have little chance of gaining ground in this year's election | The Editors

Compared to the trench warfare for the presidency and the Senate, House races seem relatively quiet this year. The lack of excitement on the part of national Democrats is due largely to cold mathematical realities: 218 lawmakers make up a majority in the 435-member body, and Republicans figure they have 214 safe seats. That means they need to win just four competitive races to maintain their majority.

For Democrats, the math is much tougher. They have to win most, if not all, of the 10 open seats in addition to ousting several Republican incumbents. In all, they need a net gain of 13 seats—the sort of turnover that hasn't been seen since the Republican Revolution of 1994. Their task is made even harder by redistricting in Texas, which could dislodge up to five Democratic incumbents.