Democrat Charlie Brown made a hard fought attempt to unseat eight term incumbent Republican John Doolittle. Election results show the first time candidate won-over large numbers of GOP voters in the heavily Republican district, losing by only five percentage points. Not since Doolittle was elected to congress in 1990 has he faced such a difficult challenge. He was weakened in this election by his connections to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.  For the past four years, Doolittle has been secretary of the Republican Caucus, the sixth-ranking GOP leadership slot in the House. That, combined with his seat on the Appropriations Committee, makes Doolittle an influential presence on Capitol Hill.