Two States So far have passed the filing deadlines for Congressional nominations: Illinois and Maryland

I detailed the candidates on Daily Kos:
Illinois: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1 1/6/10117/8454
Maryland: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1 2/4/174550/710

I didn't notice this at first, but I thought it was pretty incredible once I saw it.

Excluding the incumbents, 19 Republican candidates are running for the Republican U.S House nominations in Illinois.  This is the gender breakdown - men: 19 women: 0

Excluding the incumbents, 28 Republican candidates are running for the Republican U.S House nominations in Maryland.  This is the gender breakdown -  men: 28 women: 0

Total candidates: men: 47 women: 0

Now in case you are wondering, the Democrats are far from great either, but at least you know women exist when looking at the Democratics .

Democrats, same deal
Illinois: 23 candidates, 19 men, 4 women
Maryland: 19 candidates, 14 men, 5 women

Virginia State Delegate Rob Wittman overcame a lead by arch economic conservative Paul Jost on the final ballot to win the Republican nomination.

He is likely the strongest candidate for the Republicans.  In addition to having a somewhat higher profile due to being a State Delegate (State Representative) he has what is an increasingly unusual profile for the Republicans.  He is a scientist (Bachelor of Science in biology and Masters in Public Health) who works for the State Government as the Health Department Shellfish Sanitation Field Director.  (to the purists, he may not be precisely a scientist as his PHD may not be in science, I don't know).

Since being elected a State Delegate in 2005 according to his website listing he has mainly promoted environmental issues.  He was also backed by candidate Sherwood Bowditch, the Executive Director of the Virginia Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs, on the final ballot. Bowditch based on his issues positions seemed to be slightly more of a moderate, as does Wittman.  

According to this story, http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-now-go pwinner-1110,0,5848674.story ideoglogy was a major reason in the end behind Wittman winning ""We've lost a number of elections because the candidates were too far to the right," he said. "The forces that won here were the forces of moderation."

These are the compiled from the figures on the Virginia Board of Elections website.  I compiled them myself.

The results obviously are still unofficial, but I wouldn't expect major changes.  These results come from after every precinct total came in.

State Senate
Total Votes: 1,236,134
Democrats 589,674 47.7% (30 candidates)
Republicans 591,253 47.8% (27 candidates)
Independent 25,905
Indpendent Green 10,091 (2 candidates)
Libertarian 8,311 (2 candidates)
Write In 10,900

State House (or whatever it's called)
Total Votes: 1,213,702
Democrats 521,334 43.0% (67 candidates)
Republicans 622,877 51.3% (65 candidates)
Independents 53,247
Independent Green 4,339
Write In 11,905

This is my view of the top 40 Democratic challengers for the House. There are other districts Democrats can win in 2008, but we need credible candidates.  This is in order of my perception of their ability to win.  I'm not an insider, so my perception could be wrong.  

Additions? Corrections? Disagreements? Comments?

Several of these candidates are facing primary challengers.  The name mentioned is the one I think would make the strongest candidate.

I know some of you here are down on the Congressional Democrats right now, but as much as we patriotically criticize the party leaders when we disagree with them, we shouldn't lose sight that we are far better off with more Democrats and less Republicans in Congress.

Anyway, here are 2 (maybe 3) more Democratic candidates who are running for Congress to possibly get excited by.

These are the Democratic candidates for the 22 Republican held U.S Senate seats up for election in 2008.  Included is the declared candidates and the prospective candidates.  Ages given are the ages the candidates will be on election day 2008.  Comments, corrections, disagreements?

This is from politics1.com, so if any dates are wrong, don't blame me!

This is my view of the top 40 Democratic challengers for the House.    There are other districts Democrats can win in 2008, but we need credible candidates.
This is in order of my perception of their ability to win.  I'm not an insider, so my perception could be wrong.  

Additions? Corrections? Disagreements? Comments?

Several of these candidates are facing primary challengers.  The name mentioned is the one I think would make the strongest candidate.