Analyst: Hooley retirement 'huge'

U.S. House race observers are beginning to weigh in on the implications of the Hooley retirement.

“This is a hugely significant retirement,” says David Wasserman, who monitors races for the non-partisan Cook Political Report.

The opportunities for the GOP to pick up a Democratic seat had been few and far between, Wasserman says. Now Republicans have a real shot of landing a seat that has been in Democratic control since 1996.

Says Wasserman: “You can’t even quantify how much an opportunity this is for Republicans.”

Wasserman argues the GOP should be able to put the seat in play. Mike Erickson, the Republican who is running for the seat, will have a head-start in fundraising and developing his name recognition in the district.

That’s an advantageous dynamic, Wasserman says, that GOP candidates running for the seat in previous cycles did not have.