Three of four dealer candidates wrest House seats from incumbents

WASHINGTON -- Three of the four current and former dealers bidding to unseat Democratic incumbents in the House of Representatives swept into office on a national wave of Republican votes.

Their election will increase the number of dealers or former dealers in the House to six – a record, and twice as many as ever before, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association. All six are Republicans.

Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, James Renacci of Ohio and Scott Rigell of Virginia won their races by at least 10 percentage points, the Washington Post said today.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, all three candidates got at least 52 percent of the vote, according to the Post.

They will join the Republican majority, likely to be led by John Boehner of Ohio, that is to take control of the House.

House Republicans held a 240-183 margin, with 12 races undecided, as of this morning, the Post reported.

Democrats will retain control of the Senate.

The only dealer who lost is Tom Ganley of Ohio, also a Republican, a NADA board member who lost by 10 percentage points to Democratic incumbent Betty Sutton.

Sutton wrote the cash-for-clunkers bill and was an early sponsor of the arbitration legislation that allowed some dealers to win back their stores after being terminated by Chrysler Group and General Motors Co..

The three current and former dealers now in the House won by large margins.

Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., won with 73 percent of the vote; Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., took 69 percent; and John Campbell, R. Calif., had 60 percent, the Post said today.