51.   Geren, the Democratic incumbent, downplayed the impact of the contract signing.

52.   He also wanted to concentrate on protecting the one Bronx Assembly district where a Democratic incumbent actually faces a real contest.

53.   He charged that the Democratic incumbent had displayed feckless, inept leadership from Somalia to Northern Ireland, from North Korea to Bosnia.

54.   He is the first elected Democratic incumbent since Franklin Roosevelt to go unchallenged in his own party.

55.   He is up for re-election this fall and is generally considered one of the four most vulnerable Democratic incumbents.

56.   He essentially then inherited a conservative vote without a fight and focused on the Democratic incumbent, Gov. Ann Richards, whose sassy social liberalism incensed the Texas right.

57.   He said Republicans also have a good shot at seats in Houston and Austin, where Democratic incumbents are not seeking re-election.

58.   He faces the Democratic incumbent, Charles Robb, and J. Marshall Coleman, another Republican who is running as an independent.

59.   He served three terms, switched to the Republican Party and then became Texas agriculture commissioner in a stunning upset of the popular Democratic incumbent, Jim Hightower.

60.   He said Democratic incumbents have low poll ratings because voters are unaware of their accomplishments in Congress and of what Republicans have proposed.