Friday House Cleaning: It's Quigley, In A Relative Chicago Walk

House Race Hotline editor Tim Sahd will take a look each Friday at the top five House stories of the week. Here are this week's big newsmakers, brought to you by Friday House Cleaning:

5. GOV Love
Just this week, two Members -- Reps. Mary Fallin (R-OK 05) and Gresham Barrett (R-SC 03) -- announced GOV bids, and a third, Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI 01) is expected to formally declare his intentions this weekend. All three sit in relatively safe CDs (although GOPers appear have a credible challenger in Abercrombie's seat), so the party that holds the seat looks to begin with strong advantages.

But we're seeing a trend developing: six of the 12 House retirees so far have decided to make GOV bids. And several more (like Reps. Steve King (R-IA 05) and Jim Gerlach (R-PA 06) may take the plunge, too. You'd think with the mess state's are in, the House -- even in the minority -- would be an attractive place. Guess not.

4. Trying To Steal Their Sunshine
Dems were able to land Polk Co. Elections Supv. Lori Edwards (D) in retiring Rep. Adam Putnam's (R) CD this week. This news doesn't mean this race will suddenly move to the top of the target list (McCain won a comfortable victory here despite losing statewide), it does indicate that Dems are still serious about playing offense in unfriendly territory. CORRECTION: SwingStateProject's numbers indicate a very close, 50-49% McCain victory in the CD. In '00 and '04, Pres. Bush fared significantly better, however.

In '08, Dems contested safe-GOP open seats in places like MD-01, AL-02, CA-04, LA-04, MO-09. They may not have been successful in all of them, but they forced the GOP to spend precious resources in defending their home turf. If they're able to do this again in '10, it'll be good news, again, for Dems.

3. If At First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again
The line of repeat candidates grew longer this week, as '08 MD-01 nominee/state Sen. Andy Harris (R) announced he would run against Rep. Frank Kratovil (D) again next year. Although there are exceptions, rerun candidacies are rarely any more successful on the second try than they were on their first.

In this instance, Dems may be particularly happy that Harris pulled the trigger on another bid. He ran an unspectacular campaign in '08, and managed to blow a large lead (despite the fact John McCain won a large victory in the CD). To top it off, he very likely will face a primary challenge, and although it may not be as bloody as his fight against then-Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), it won't help his cause against Kratovil.

2. On The Air In the NY-20 Special
Prior to this week, the only nat'l cmte ads in this race were on the radio. But that ended 3/5, when the NRCC went up with a new TV ad attacking businessman Scott Murphy (D) for approving bonuses for executives of a company that was losing money ("Let's get a steak" may go down as one of the more memorable lines of this cycle's TV advertising).

Shortly after this, the DCCC responded, and bought airtime for ads beginning this weekend and airing through election day. This should come as no surprise, as polls are showing a tightening, but still comfortable, Tedisco lead. But despite the CD's heavy GOP registration, it gave Pres. Obama a slight win, and then-Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) won a significant victory in '08.

The decisions by the cmte's aren't surprises, but it shows that these next three-and-a-half weeks are going to get very ugly in Upstate NY.

1. Think Quigley
Cook Co. Commis. Mike Quigley's (D) victory in the 3/3 IL-05 special election primary almost guarantees that he'll be the next Congressman (he'll face a nominal GOP challenger in a 4/7 general in the Dem-heavy CD). But while the victory by the reform candidate doesn't mean much nationally, several local news outlets, including the Chicago Tribune, are heralding Quigley's victory as the beginning of the end of politics as usual in IL.

While Quigley was never technically an underdog (he released a poll at the beginning of the race that showed him in the lead), he did trail several other Dems in fundraising and machine endorsements. But he ran a targeted campaign, and even though the low turnout should've favored a machine-backed candidate like state Rep. John Fritchey (D), Quigley defeated Fritchey and 11 others in a relative walk.