GOP battles blues after election reduces ranks in Legislature

Massachusetts can be a lonely place if you're a Republican. On Tuesday, it got even lonelier.

The number of Republicans in the House of Representatives - already a measly 19 out of 160 seats - dropped to 16. It was quite a blow to party stalwarts who thought that the ranks in the Legislature had already hit rock bottom in 2006.

"It's really difficult," said Richard R. Tisei of Wakefield, the Senate minority leader. The remaining Republicans in office "are really the survivors. I guess we're just a resilient bunch."

Republicans in Massachusetts are no strangers to the blue state blues. A 16-year string of Republican governorships ended two years ago with the election of Deval Patrick.

Even some of the state's few conservative strongholds that voted for President Bush in 2004 - places like Longmeadow, Dover, and West Brookfield - threw their support to Barack Obama. And while the Massachusetts Senate Republican Caucus could be pleased that it did not lose traction in this election, it is unclear whether it had any traction in the first place.

With only five Republican senators in the state, the group is so small that images of the entire membership fit on the masthead of the caucus's website.

Aaron Margolis, co-editor in chief of the conservative political blog hubpolitics.com, called the imbalance "absurd."

"It's frustrating when there's that imbalance of power because one party is constantly being reinforced and [can become] power hungry," he said. "Me and other Republicans feel disenfranchised and a little depressed about the whole situation."

While many Republicans draw on a deep well of optimism that the tide will someday turn, some also worry that the state party could spiral into deeper irrelevance. On Tuesday, Democrats were able to grab the seats left by retiring House members Mary S. Rogeness, a Longmeadow Republican who had served 18 years, and John A. Lepper, an Attleboro Republican who served 14 years. Both had been minority party leaders.

Democrats also won the seat vacated by Paul J.P. Loscocco, a Holliston Republican who did not seek reelection.

Tisei, currently the longest-serving Republican in the Legislature (he has been in office 24 years), said the losses compound the difficulties Massachusetts Republicans already face.

"If the track record is every time you're out [running for office] and you get blown out of the water, how do you convince someone who is a viable candidate to get out there?" he asked. "Success breeds success."

Sometimes.

The one ray of hope for Republicans was Senator Scott Brown's victory in the face of a well-funded challenge from first-time candidate Sara Orozco, a psychotherapist from Needham. Prior to Brown's election in 2004, the seat had been held for more than a decade by Cheryl Jacques, a Needham Democrat.

Matt Grew, Brown's campaign manager, called the win "really affirming" and downplayed Brown's party affiliation.

Republican Arthur Vigeant of Marlborough, who lost his second bid for state representative Tuesday, blamed Obama, saying he "got caught up in the tsunami" of support for the nation's first black president-elect.

"There's nothing we could have done about it," he said. "I wasn't going to change parties just to get elected."

But some have held out hope that the Democratic Party, with its burgeoning political scandals, could become a victim of its own success. Many Republicans recalled the early 1990s, when Republicans came close to winning a Senate majority.

"It's no pity party, but it would be great to have more numbers, that's for sure," Senator Michael R. Knapik, a Westfield Republican, said. "We're eternally hopeful."

Megan Woolhouse can be reached at mwoolhouse@globe.com.