To continue our earlier post, a few other freshman Democrats who won districts carried by President Bush in 2004 are worth mentioning:

-- Chris Carney, in Pennsylvania's 10th District, was given some serious help in 2006 by the incumbent, who had been sued by his alleged mistress for physically assaulting her. That put the district in play for Democrats, and with Bush winning 60% here in 2004 and ethically-dogged former Rep. Don Sherwood out of the picture, the district is back in play for Republicans. Carney reported having some $763,000 cash on hand at the end of 2007, after raising $232,000 in the 4th quarter. He will need to keep up his fundraising, as two Republicans -- wheelchair manufacturing executive Dan Meuser and businessman Chris Hackett -- each reported having close to $400,000 cash on hand.

-- Jerry McNerney, in California's 11th District, came back from a 2004 defeat to upset incumbent Richard Pombo, the former Resources Committee chairman, in 2006. Bush won 54% in 2004 in this district positioned east of the Bay Area. Republicans are targeting this district; an assemblyman dropped out last year so the party's nominee would not need to go through a costly primary. Former Assemblyman Dean Andal appears he will be the nominee, and had a healthy fundraising year, finishing 2007 with close to $500,000 cash on hand. McNerney nearly doubled that amount, reporting $925,000 cash on hand.

-- Zack Space, in Ohio's 18th District, was also helped out in 2006 by a scandal-plagued incumbent. Former House Administration Committee chairman Bob Ney dropped out of the race in August, but did not resign his seat until days before the November election, keeping his scandal fresh in the minds of voters. Space topped Bush's 57% take in 2004, defeating Republican Joy Padgett 62%-38%. He reported having some $756,000 cash on hand, after raising close to $300,000 in the 4th quarter. He has three Republican challengers with at least $20,000 cash on hand, but none have yet to total $100,000 in receipts.

-- Kyle Trygstad