Bad news for the GOP

A special election in Illinois on Saturday portends serious difficulty for Republicans this fall when it comes to Congress.

In a suburban Chicago district held by former House Speaker Dennis Hastert for almost 21 years, Democrat Bill Foster beat GOP candidate Jim Oberweis 52 percent to 48 percent.

Mr. Hastert had announced his retirement in November and left office mid-term.

This was considered a safe Republican seat. President Bush carried the district with 55 percent of the vote in 2004.

Mr. Foster's win "gave the clearest sign yet that the anti-GOP wave that swept Republicans from control of Congress in 2006 may still be rolling," noted The Washington Post.

Indeed, there's no way Republican officials can spin this to their advantage -- although they certainly tried. A spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee argued that "one election in one state does not prove a trend."

Perhaps. But when you spend $1.3 million -- which is what the NRCC put into this race -- and still a lose a seat that should have been an afterthought, you've got serious problems.

In Nevada, voter registration figures show that the 3rd Congressional District is now home to more Democrats than Republicans. You'd better believe that Rep. Jon Porter, the Republican who has held the seat since it was created after the 2000 census, will experience a few sleepless nights in the wake of the Illinois result.