November 8, 2006 2:59PM 

# This Incumbent Was Protected from the Wave 

By [John Samples](https://www.cato.org/people/john-samples) 

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Last week I [wrote](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/opinion/nyregionopinions/29CT-Samples.html?ex=1163134800&en=d3d7a9374cc98e9c&ei=5070) about the ways the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 made Christopher Shays’ re-election bid more likely.

Yesterday, Chris Shays bucked the national trend and won re-election despite having trailed in the polls for some time. He won by 3 percentage points of the vote. In 2004, a better year for Republicans, Shays won by 4 points.

Perhaps he should send a thank you note to the sponsors of the law, Senators John McCain and Russell Feingold as well as Rep. Martin Meehan and … Rep. Christopher Shays.

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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