Links
Veteran House Democrat loses seat in primary
Representative Alan B. Mollohan of West Virginia, a veteran Democrat, on Tuesday became the first House incumbent to lose his seat this year when he was handily defeated in a hard-hitting primary by State Senator Mike Oliverio.
The defeat comes just days after Senator Robert F. Bennett, a Utah Republican and three-term incumbent, was turned out of office by his party at a state convention and just a week before a handful of high-profile primaries next Tuesday, including Senate races in Arkansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
The Mollohan loss is certain to intensify the political anxiety among lawmakers and heighten the perception that incumbents of both parties face a real risk of being rejected this year by a disgruntled and hostile electorate.