Updated November 2, 1998

With history and scandal as their guide, most political pundits have predicted that Republicans will add to their 228-seat majority in the House of Representatives. A carefully hedged forecast by the staff of Congressional Quarterly seems to be the only analysis predicting any Democratic gains. Below are some leading observers' predictions. Single-click on linked names for the exact prediction.

Predicted Party Gains

Congressional Quarterly
	2 seats

Ken Rudin, washingtonpost.com
		2-3 seats

Democratic Gains Low Guess High Guess

Mark Shields, Capitol Gang host
		0-5 seats

Republican Gains Low Guess High Guess

Gwen Ifill, NBC News reporter
	5 seats

Bill Maher, "Politically Incorrect" host
	5 seats

Stuart Rothenberg, newsletter editor
		0-6 seats

Whit Ayers, GOP pollster
	6 seats

Jodie Allen, "Slate" Washington editor
	6 seats

Ron Lester, Democratic pollster
	7 seats

Linda DiVall, Republican pollster
	7 seats

Robert Novak, columnist
	8 seats

Bill Schneider, CNN analyst
		1-9 seats

Charlie Cook, newsletter editor
		1-9 seats

George Stephanopoulos, former Clinton advisor
	9 seats

Merle Black, Emory University political scientist
	9 seats

Sam Donaldson, ABC White House corespondent
	9 seats

Mary Matalin, GOP consultant
		8-10 seats

Gerard Baker, Financial Times's Washington bureau chief
	11 seats

Norah O'Donnell, Roll Call political reporter
	11 seats

Christopher Matthews, "Hardball" host
	11 seats

Paul Weyrich, Free Congress Foundation president
	11 seats

Cokie Roberts, "This Week" co-host
		2-12 seats

Bill McInturff, GOP pollster
		10-12 seats

Ed Rollins, GOP consultant
		10-12 seats

Ed Goeas, GOP pollster
	13 seats

Laura Ingraham, "Watch It," host
	13 seats

Tony Blankley, George magazine writer
		8-15 seats

Morton Kondracke, Roll Call editor
	15 seats

William Kristol, Weekly Standard editor
	15 seats

George F. Will, conservative columnist
		6-20 seats

Dick Morris, political consultant
		20-30seats

Conventional Wisdom Watch, Newsweek
	30 seats