House Republicans have lost one of their top recruits to take on a freshman Democrat, with businessman Andrew Saul dropping out of the race to go up against Congressman John Hall (D-NY). Saul had raised $800,000, but cited "personal reasons" in dropping out.

This district went to President Bush by a 53%-45% margin in 2004, but even one of the prospective new GOP candidates, state Assemblyman Greg Ball, says Bush's newfound unpopularity changes things. "George Bush has not only hurt the Republican Party, he's left the nation without leadership," said Ball. "It’s going to be a tough year to run as a Republican at the national level."