New Member Office Lottery  ...back >

Nov. 19, 2014 -- Bill Weidemeyer, Superintendent of House Office Buildings, after the conclusion of the lottery.  Members-elect went off to scout offices and were to return at 2 p.m. for the process of assigning suites.
(Above) District director Laurel Price reviews office possibilities with Rep.-elect Mia Love (R-UT).  Love, mayor of Saratoga Springs, is seen as a Republican rising star.  She very narrowly lost to Rep. Jim Matheson (D) in 2012.  Matheson opted not to run for re-election in 2014 and Love defeated Doug Owens (D).
Rep.-elect Rick Allen (R-GA), who defeated Rep. John Barrow (D) in Georgia's 12 CD, does an interview.  Allen, a small businessman, runs a construction company in Augusta.  (Barrow, first elected in 2004, was a Blue Dog Democrat and was the last white Democrat from a Southern state in the House).
Before she drew a number, Rep.-elect Gwen Graham (D-FL) had Paul Woodward, the husband of an aide, perform a standing backflip for good luck.  (Above, Woodward, an experienced gymnast, repeated the flip for reporters several times after the lottery).  The ploy seemed to work; Graham drew number 6.  Graham was one of only two Democrats who ousted a Republican incumbent.
Rep.-elect Barbara Comstock (R-VA) noted that the drawing of the last number, 57, won her some free media.  She succeeds retiring Rep. Frank Wolf (R) in the 10th CD in Northern Virginia.
A lot of work goes into the transition.  Some of the suites get new drapes.
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