These are my links for July 13th from 10:43 to 10:47:

• Republicans Fail to Pick up Democratic Seat in 200th Consecutive California U.S. House Race – The California GOP has not picked up a Democratic held U.S. House seat in general or special elections since 1998

  Democrat Janice Hahn's special election victory over Craig Huey in California's 36th Congressional District Tuesday evening continues a more than decade long string of futility on the part of California Republicans in their attempt to pick up a Democratic held U.S. House seat.

  A Smart Politics historical review of California election returns finds that Democrats have now successfully held 200 consecutive seats in general and special elections conducted after the Election of 1998.

  Although Hahn was criticized by some for running a traditional campaign in a non-traditional election year and matchup, she was able to notch a 9.1-point victory over the conservative businessman who surprised many by eking out a second place finish in May in the heavily Democratic district.

  The 36th CD has been vacant since late February when nine-term Democrat Jane Harman resigned to head the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

  Democrats have now held their California U.S. House seats in 192 consecutive general election races over the last the last six cycles plus eight seats in special election races they have had to defend since 1999.

  But while the Republicans are currently suffering through a 0-200 stretch in pick up attempts, Democrats have won seven GOP-held seats in the Golden State out of 125 general and special election matchups during this 13-year period, or a 6 percent pick-up rate.

  Democrats won five Republican seats in 2000 (CA-15, 27, 31, 36, and 49), one in 2002 (CA-39) and one in 2006 (CA-11).

  Californians are now making up a larger and larger percentage of the Democratic caucus in Congress – currently resting at 18 percent (34 of 193 members), which marks the largest percentage in the history of the state.

  ======

  California is deeply blue like New York and Massachusetts.

• President 2012: Tim Pawlenty says there’s no scientific conclusion that being gay is genetic – Pawlenty said "there's no scientific conclusion that (being gay) is genetic." On that specific question, we found broad agreement that Pawlenty was correct. Scientists told us that genetics may play a role in determining sexual orientation, but the current evidence suggests that it’s not the dominant factor and may ultimately be shown to play just a modest role.

  But a modest role is still different from no role. And we also think that viewers of the interview might be led to believe that because homosexuality is not primarily caused by genes, there’s no biological cause. In reality, most scientists do believe that sexual orientation is caused by biology, rather than by choice. On balance, we rate Pawlenty’s statement Mostly True.

These are my links for July 13th from 10:43 to 10:47:

• Republicans Fail to Pick up Democratic Seat in 200th Consecutive California U.S. House Race – The California GOP has not picked up a Democratic held U.S. House seat in general or special elections since 1998

  Democrat Janice Hahn's special election victory over Craig Huey in California's 36th Congressional District Tuesday evening continues a more than decade long string of futility on the part of California Republicans in their attempt to pick up a Democratic held U.S. House seat.

  A Smart Politics historical review of California election returns finds that Democrats have now successfully held 200 consecutive seats in general and special elections conducted after the Election of 1998.

  Although Hahn was criticized by some for running a traditional campaign in a non-traditional election year and matchup, she was able to notch a 9.1-point victory over the conservative businessman who surprised many by eking out a second place finish in May in the heavily Democratic district.

  The 36th CD has been vacant since late February when nine-term Democrat Jane Harman resigned to head the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

  Democrats have now held their California U.S. House seats in 192 consecutive general election races over the last the last six cycles plus eight seats in special election races they have had to defend since 1999.

  But while the Republicans are currently suffering through a 0-200 stretch in pick up attempts, Democrats have won seven GOP-held seats in the Golden State out of 125 general and special election matchups during this 13-year period, or a 6 percent pick-up rate.

  Democrats won five Republican seats in 2000 (CA-15, 27, 31, 36, and 49), one in 2002 (CA-39) and one in 2006 (CA-11).

  Californians are now making up a larger and larger percentage of the Democratic caucus in Congress – currently resting at 18 percent (34 of 193 members), which marks the largest percentage in the history of the state.

  ======

  California is deeply blue like New York and Massachusetts.

• President 2012: Tim Pawlenty says there’s no scientific conclusion that being gay is genetic – Pawlenty said "there's no scientific conclusion that (being gay) is genetic." On that specific question, we found broad agreement that Pawlenty was correct. Scientists told us that genetics may play a role in determining sexual orientation, but the current evidence suggests that it’s not the dominant factor and may ultimately be shown to play just a modest role.

  But a modest role is still different from no role. And we also think that viewers of the interview might be led to believe that because homosexuality is not primarily caused by genes, there’s no biological cause. In reality, most scientists do believe that sexual orientation is caused by biology, rather than by choice. On balance, we rate Pawlenty’s statement Mostly True.