At a little after 9 p.m., the major news nets were
calling the House for Republicans, with CNN predicting a gain of at least 50
seats.
NBC was first to project the win, with Nightly
News anchor Brian Williams opening the 9 p.m. ET newscast with the announcement.
The Republicans' reclaiming of the House had been
predicted for several weeks now. The party is predicted to pick up six to eight
Senate seats, short of the 10 they needed to relclaim the majority on that
side of the chamber.
Ohio Republican Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), described as a free-market
reformer, will almost certainly become the next Speaker of the House, replacing
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).
A Republican House will make it tougher for the FCC
to push through a network neutrality agenda, and will mean muscular oversight
of FCC issues including privacy, broadband deployment and stimulus projects.
Joe Barton, who has been campaigning hard to becomethe next chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, has telegraphed
that he plans to keep a close eye on those issues, including holding hearings.
The other leading candidate is Rep. Fred Upton, who has been even more
vocal about his desire to rein in the FCC's effort to expand and codify network
openness regs.
