In the newly-elected Congress, 83 House Democrats will be sitting in districts that President Bush won in 2004. Of those members, 42 were elected or re-elected in 2004, 23 more in the next cycle (including three special-election switches in early 2008), and an additional 22 in last week's election (pending incomplete results in several districts), in which four of the previous freshmen were defeated.

Many of these Democrats surely will be prime Republican targets in the 2010 campaign, as they attempt to balance pressure to support the agenda of President-elect Obama and congressional Democrats with the more conservative leaning of their districts. By contrast, the shrinking number of House Republicans will have a much smaller problem with their local base: For now, only five House GOP members remain of the 18 who were elected in 2004 in districts won that year by Democratic nominee John Kerry; the remaining 13 retired or lost their seats.

The map shows recent Democratic gains in districts Bush won in 2004. The chart below lists the 83 Democrats and 5 Republicans in districts won by the opposite party in the 2004 presidential election, plus that presidential vote and the winning vote share this year in districts of the winning Democrats. It also lists Kerry-won districts where Republicans won the House seat in 2004, but no longer retain control.

The chart initially show only the Democratic pick-ups from 2004. Click the 2006 button to add 2006 pick-ups, and click the 2008 button to add 2008 pick-ups.