Not only did Rep. Jim Himes keep his seat in a bad year for Democrats, but he also was one of only eight of his party’s incumbent House members to win by a larger margin than in 2008. Two years ago he squeezed out longtime GOP Rep. Chris Shays by a narrow 3.8 percentage point margin; this year, his edge over challenger Dan Debicella was 6.2 points.
Himes still had the slimmest margin among the eight, according to an analysis by Smart Politics. Most of the rest represent safe Democratic seats, including the 8th Congressional District in California, where House Speaker Nancy Pelosi beat her Republican opponent by more than 65 percentage points.