2010: A bad year for incumbents

The past election wasn't only a tough year for Democrats, it was tough for incumbents in general, in Montana and in the nation.

Many high-level incumbents across the nation, including Republicans, lost in primaries and many, many incumbents lost in the November general election.

The same was true on the local level. Even having been an incumbent previously may have been a detriment.

That was not true for Denny Rehberg, both an incumbent and a Republican. He handily won his sixth term to the U.S. House both statewide and in Hill, Blaine, Chouteau and Liberty counties.

It also was not true in...