Two special elections to fill the House seats of deceased members were held in Ohio and Virginia yesterday and, despite stiff challenges from Democrats, both Republicans emerged as big winners:

Republicans retained two House seats in special elections Tuesday, including a hotly contested Ohio race that the two parties spent nearly $700,000 trying to win. ...

State legislator Bob Latta decisively defeated Democrat Robin Weirauch in Ohio’s 5th District, leading by 56 to 43 percent with 90 percent of the vote in. The special election was held to replace the late Rep. Paul Gillmor (R).

In Virginia’s 1st District, GOP state Del. Rob Wittman won a landslide victory over Iraq war veteran Phil Forgit (D) in the race to succeed the late Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R). With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Wittman had 61 percent of the vote, while Forgit had only tallied 37 percent.

The Ohio race was expected to be very close, and both parties poured money in from national committees. GOP candidate Bob Latta in Ohio 5 won by same margin as the late Congressman Gillmor had in 2006. In Virginia, GOP candidate Bob Wittman won easily as well, by about the same margin achieved by the late Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis in 2006. Both states are regarded as in play in the 2008 Presidential race, though won by the GOP in 2000 and 2004, and are essential for a GOP victory in the Electoral College.