In a fell swoop, the once-powerful Blue Dog caucus of conservative House Democrats was reduced from 54 members to 26 in Tuesday’s midterm election.
The caucus lost two members to retirement and two others who ran for higher office, and out of the remaining 50 members, 24 Blue Dogs lost.
There were still a few Blue Dogs in tight races that had yet to be called early on Wednesday morning. There is the potential for more losses, though most of them look likely to hold on.
Two members of the leadership – Rep. Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin of South Dakota and Rep. Baron Hill of Indiana – both lost to Republican challengers.
Two other leaders of the group – Rep. Heath Shuler of North Carolina and Rep. Jim Matheson of Utah – survived the bloodbath election. Both Shuler and Matheson voted against President Obama’s health care bill in March.
It was harder to spot a clear trend regarding the impact of the health care vote. Of the 24 members who lost their races, 13 of them had voted for Obama’s health care overhaul, while 11 voted against it.
Similarly, of the 34 Democrats who voted against the health care bill in March – 24 of them were Blue Dogs – only 12 won reelection.
Here are the Blue Dogs that remain:
Altmire, Jason (PA4)
Baca, Joe (CA43)*
Barrow, John (GA12)*
Bishop, Sanford (GA2)
Boren, Dan (OK2)
Boswell, Leonard (IA3)*
Cardoza, Dennis (CA18)*
Chandler, Ben (KY06)
Cooper, Jim (TN5)*
Costa, Jim (CA20)*
Cuellar, Henry (TX28)*
Donnelly, Joe (IN2)*
Giffords, Gabrielle (AZ8)*
Harman, Jane (CA36)*
Holden, Tim (PA17)
McIntyre, Mike (NC7)
Matheson, Jim (UT2)
Michaud, Mike (ME2)*
Peterson, Collin (MN7)
Ross, Mike (AR4)
Sanchez, Loretta (CA47)*
Schiff, Adam (CA29)*
Schrader, Kurt (OR5)*
Scott, David (GA13)*
Shuler, Heath (NC11)
Here are the Blue Dogs who lost:
Arcuri, Mike (NY24)
Boyd, Allen (FL2)*
Bright, Bobby (AL2)
Carney, Chris (PA10)*
Childers, Travis (MS1)
Dahlkemper, Kathy (PA3)*
Davis, Lincoln (TN4)
Gordon, Bart (TN6)*
Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie (SD)
Hill, Baron (IN9)*
Kratovil, Frank (MD1)
Markey, Betsy (CO4)*
Marshall, Jim (GA8)
Minnick, Walt (ID1)
Mitchell, Harry (AZ5)*
Moore, Dennis (KS3)*
Murphy, Patrick (PA8)*
Murphy, Scott (NY20)*
Nye, Glenn (VA2)
Pomeroy, Earl (ND)*
Salazar, John (CO3)*
Space, Zack (OH18)
Taylor, Gene (MS4)
Wilson, Charles (0H6)*
*indicates a vote for President Obama’s health care bill in March