| Gauging reelection chances by the amount of money a candidate is raising isn’t a sure-fire predictor of election returns, but it’s way ahead of whatever is in second place. The latest financial reports suggest that there will be a number of highly competitive US House races in the South this fall, with a number of Republican freshmen elected in the 2010 GOP landslide facing well-financed Democratic challengers and an equal or larger number of Democrats who had close calls last time attracting Republicans who are raising serious money. The numbers are from the reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) for the 4th Quarter of 2011, made public on January 31, 2012. |