CNN has called IN-08 for Ellsworth. John Hostettler was elected in 1994 and since has been a perennial target for Democrats. It took a Democratic year -- and a conservative Democrat (Ellsworth is a sheriff) -- for him to lose.
"This is the first of 15 pickups that Democrats would need if they're to take a majority in the House of Representatives," says Wolf Blitzer.
Several of the vulnerable House Republicans were members of the historic Class of 1994.
Alan Greenblatt is a former editor of Governing.