Iowa House Democrats Eye to Expand Advantage in '08

 Iowa Democrats seek to retain control of the House of
Representatives in back-to-back elections for the first time since
1988/1990. Democrats won control of the House in 2006 with a 5-seat
gain (as projected by Smart Politics), ending a 14-year reign by the GOP.

In 2008, Democrats take a 53 to 47-seat advantage into November's
elections. While third party candidates and those nominated by petition
can still file for a few more days with the Secretary of State, the
major party candidates have already been determined.

There are several reasons to expect Democrats will expand their lead in the state's lower legislative chamber:

* Democrats will run 49 incumbents, compared to just 38 for the
Republicans. That means Republicans will be defending 9 open seats
compared to just 4 for the Democrats.

* Republicans will also have to defend 11 of the 19 districts that were
competitive in 2006 – those decided by 10 points or less.

* Democrats also enjoy the advantage of running twice as many
candidates in districts unchallenged by the GOP (20) as Republicans
running in districts without Democratic candidates (10).