Cook: "Retirements Key To Holding House"

"For House Democrats, the difference between a bad election night and a horrific election night is probably the number of open seats in marginal or GOP-leaning districts."

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"If Democrats can keep that number to a single digit, they will have impressively and significantly limited their exposure. If the number ends up between 10 and 15, Democrats will still have kept their retirements within expectations and would be favored to keep their majority. But if that number balloons past 15, Democratic open seats would present House Republicans with a real opportunity to hit one out of the park."