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Elections 2012: Despite Costly GOP Efforts, Incumbent Defeats Still Relatively Rare

Free | 23/6 Posted: 5/31/2012

WASHINGTON -- Anti-incumbent fever is scarcely in evidence in the 2012 congressional primaries, despite costly efforts by conservatives to remake the Republican Party and this week's defeat of a Texas Democrat ousted after eight terms in office.Rep. Silvestre Reyes' loss Tuesday night in an El Paso-centered district made him the seventh lawmaker of either party to fall in a primary for re-election this year. Three of the defeats were inevitable cases of one incumbent running against another after congressional boundaries were shifted to conform with 2010 Census results.In the most notable defeat of an incumbent, Republican Sen. Richard Lugar lost to tea party-backed challenger Richard Mourdock in Indiana, although the impact of the upset on the fall campaign remains uncertain.But hundreds of incumbents have won in the 32 states that have held primaries to date, most of them with ease.With relatively few forced retirements at the polls so far, officials in outside groups cite other evidence of electoral success.They cheered when tea party-backed Ted Cruz qualified for a runoff against heavily favored Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in a Senate Republican campaign in Texas, claimed credit for holding veteran Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., to a narrow win even though he gained nearly 60 percent of the vote in a multi-candidate race and cited the decision of longtime Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., to retire as evidence of their impact.'Congress has a disapproval rating of close to 90 percent in poll after poll. There's an anti-incumbent statement right there,' said Curtis Ellis of the Campaign for Primary Accountability, an organization that has been involved in races against about 10 incumbents of both party.Ellis said his organization seeks to act as an equalizer against the built-in fundraising and other advantages held by incumbents. It spent $240,000 to help Reyes' challenger, Beto O'Rourke, but a $165,000 investment elsewhere in Texas fail