Pelosi took 80 percent of the vote in her midterm contest. Pelosi actually ran better in 2010

Nancy Pelosi was one of only eight House Democrats who won by a larger margin last Tuesday than in 2008, according to an analysis from the University of Minnesota’s Center for the Study of Politics and Governance.

While at least 49 of her colleagues lost their seats last week, the outgoing House speaker actually outpaced her 2008 performance, easily knocking off Republican John Dennis 80 percent to 15 percent. Dennis’s long-shot challenge to the San Francisco congresswoman attracted widespread media attention after he ran an ad comparing Pelosi to the Wicked Witch of the West — he even outraised her in the third quarter of the year — but in the end her constituents rallied around her at a time when she was being pilloried by the national GOP.


In 2008 Pelosi defeated anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan by 72 percent to 16 percent.

Two other Democrats who managed to surpass their 2008 performances were freshmen thought to be in tight contests. In Maine’s 1st District, Rep. Chellie Pingree defeated Republican Dean Scontras by more than 13 percentage points — despite a survey just a week before the election that showed her trailing by 4 percentage points, triggering the nonpartisan Cook Political Report to move her status into the tossup category. Her winning margin turned out to be even wider than the 10-point advantage she racked up when she won the open seat in 2008.

In Connecticut, freshman Jim Himes also improved his performance, besting Republican Dean Debicella, 53 percent to 47 percent — a 6-point margin that exceeded his 51 percent to 48 percent win in 2008. One public poll released the week before the election had shown Himes trailing Debicella by 2 percentage points.

Two Philadelphia-based congressman also fared well despite weathering the GOP tide that swept through Pennsylvania: Reps. Bob Brady and Chaka Fattah both ran better in 2010 than two years ago.

So did Georgia Rep. David Scott, California Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard and New York Rep. Nydia Velazquez.

Massachusetts Rep. Michael Capuano had an easy go-round in both cycles — he ran unopposed in both 2008 and 2010.

According to the analysis, 221 Democrats had a smaller margin of victory this year than two years ago. Nearly one in five Democrats lost ground from 2008 by more than 10 percentage points.

Other key points: Three in 10 incumbents (67 Democrats) saw their margin fall by 10 points to 19 points — and 15 of them were defeated. One in four incumbents (53 Democrats) saw a drop between 20 points and 29 points, sending 14 of them to defeat. And one in three incumbents (51 Democrats) saw a slide of 30 points or more — 17 of them lost on Tuesday.

Two Democrats went from having no ballot opposition in 2008 to defeat this year. Both Virginia Rep. Rick Boucher and Illinois Rep. Phil Hare ran unopposed in 2008, but the 14-term Boucher suffered a 5-percentage-point loss, while Hare, in his second term, lost by 10 points.