Recounts lead to awkward first days

When incumbent members of the House returned to work yesterday, some may have been annoyed to see an all-too-familiar face: their midterm opponent at new member orientation.

Winners have not been declared in at least 10 close congressional races and votes are still being tallied in several other contests around the country.

Although the winners of these elections are yet to be determined, several candidates in these contests were invited and are attending new member class orientation this week, creating an awkward situation for incumbents and newcomers alike.

The House Administration Committee collaborates with bipartisan House leadership to decide just who to invite to the orientation. While members of the committee work closely with each other during new member orientation, Republicans, who occupy the current majority on the panel, largely handle Republican invitees and Democrats on the committee manage the Democratic members of the 110th Congress.

House Administration spokeswoman Salley Collins said the committee extended invitations to all of the GOP candidates in contentious races because freshman orientation is considered to be such an important part of the new member program.

Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), said candidates in contentious races who are ahead in the recounts were extended invitations. 

Florida Democrat Christine Jennings was the only exception to the Democratic rule, Hammill said, because she is involved in an automatic recount in her race against Republican Vern Buchanan for the seat vacated by Rep. Katherine Harris (R).

Neither side of the House Administration Committee received complaints from candidates who were not invited to attend the orientation, according to Collins and Denise Mixon, a spokeswoman for Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-Calif.), the ranking member on the committee.

While Jennings and Buchanan are the only two competitors participating in the new member orientation, they may not be the only two in the unusual position of having to confront their opponent on Capitol Hill during the lame-duck session.

Reps. Sue Kelly (R-N.Y.), J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) and Rob Simmons (R-Conn.) have not conceded their races to their challengers and are awaiting the full tally of provisional and absentee ballots. Their opponents, John Hall (N.Y.), Harry Mitchell (Ariz.) and Joe Courtney  (Conn.), are all attending orientation this week.

While several media outlets have proclaimed Hall and Mitchell as the winners, Courtney’s race remains in a recanvass because of his razor-thin lead over Simmons.

“We are confident that Joe Courtney is the congressman-elect and will be inaugurated in January,” said Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Members who did not make the orientation invite list include: Democrats Victoria Wulsin (Ohio), Larry Kissell (N.C.), Patricia Madrid (N.M.), Mary Jo Kilroy (Ohio), Darcy Burner (Wash.) and Gary Trauner (Wyo.).

Most of the campaigns contacted for this article said the candidate was not concerned about the possibility of missing freshman orientation because he or she was focused exclusively on counting or recounting votes.

“She’ll be in the district making sure every vote is counted,” said Wulsin spokesman Ady Barkan.

Kissell spokesman Steve Hudson said Kissell is also focused on counting votes and is confident results will favor her. 

“We will have plenty of time to catch up once he is in [Congress],” he said.

It is unclear how the uncertainty would impact the office lottery that is scheduled to take place on Friday.

The decision to invite members who have not been certified winners could also impact leadership elections, which will occur on Thursday and Friday of this week.

Democratic Caucus spokeswoman Kristie Greco said each party will have to decide whether to allow the candidates in contested races to vote in leadership elections. 

“The caucus will have to vote to allow new members with contested races to vote,” she said. 

Greco added that in the past, new members had been permitted to vote in the elections.

“A lot can change by Thursday,” she said. 

Kevin Madden, a spokesman for Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), said the conference would decide on Friday by a unanimous-consent vote whether Republican members who are currently leading in their elections would be allowed to vote in leadership elections.