Smooth Criminal

Many times in House races, independents garner more headlines than votes. But this cycle, several made an impact.

-- And none may be bigger than in LA-06. Don Cazayoux (D) would've had a hard enough time holding onto this GOP-leaning CD without African-American state Rep. Michael Jackson (I). But on 11/4, Jackson stole 12% of the vote, most of which was likely African-American votes siphoned from Cazayoux. That was more than enough to make up for Cazayoux's 8% loss to Rep-elect Bill Cassidy (R).

-- Several others also made a difference. In MN-06, little-known businessman Bob Anderson (IP) took 10%, splintering the anti-Michele Bachmann (R) vote and enabling her to win with 46%. And in OH-15, conservative pro-life activist Don Elkhart (I) took 12K votes. If those votes went to moderate state Sen. Steve Stivers (R), who is clinging to a 390-vote lead over '06 nominee Mary Jo Kilroy (D), he wouldn't be worried about provisional ballots in Franklin Co. right now.

-- Of course, other indies struck out. Most notably, Bridgewater Councilor/ex-GOPer Michael Hsing (I) failed to keep state Sen. Leonard Lance (R) from taking NJ-07. But for the most part, third-party candidates played a big role 11/4 in aiding both major parties.