The 2006 midterm elections include a number of congressional jocks (and would-bes), including:

• Four-time Super Bowl champ and former Pittsburgh Steeler Lynn Swann, a Republican, is eyeing the governorship in Pennsylvania. Despite his finesse on the football field, however, Swann appears to be an easy win for Democratic incumbent Ed Rendell-- as of Election Day eve, polls showed Swann to be lagging by as many as 20 yards, er, percentage points.
He's known as being one of the University of Tennessee's best players of all time, became a national name as one of the Southeastern Conference's top quarterbacks, and was second in balloting for the prestigious Heisman Trophy, but Heath Shuler didn't succeed as a pro on the gridiron. He's hoping to parlay that experience to a career in politics, where he's running a competitive race as a Democrat against incumbent Charles Taylor for North Carolina's 11th Congressional District seat in the House.
On July 27, 1966, he broke the world mile record at 3:51.3, but the five-term Republican Jim Ryun of Kansas is running the race of his life. Ryun is one of the House's staunchest conservatives, and anti-GOP sentiments narrowed his once large margin against Democratic challenger Nancy Boyda for Kansas's Second District.
Former Stanford women's basketball standout Angela Paccione, a Democrat, is taking aim at Colorado's Fourth Congressional District House seat, currently held by Republican two-term incumbent Marilyn Musgrave.
A former University of Virginia quarterback and the son of the Washington Redskins' famed coach of the same name, incumbent Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia peppers his speeches with football and sports analogies. He compared Democrats' criticism of the Iraq war as "Monday-morning quarterbacking" and noted that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's critics have used some "bump-and-run defenses and tactics" against her. However, it was his use of a racial slur, among other gaffes, that has resulted in a "third and long and trapped in the shadow of his own end zone" kind of situation in his race against Democratic challenger Jim Webb. A former Navy secretary, Webb boxed as a midshipman at the Naval Academy and was infamously defeated in the welterweight final of the 1967 Brigade Boxing Championship -- second only in academy stature to the annual Army-Navy football game -- by fellow midshipman Oliver North.

Some of this year's campaign advertisements also featured sports figures, most notably World Series Most Valuable Player David Eckstein of the St. Louis Cardinals, Cardinals pitcher Jeff Suppan, Kansas City Royals first baseman Mike Sweeney, and former Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner, who spoke out against Missouri's proposed constitutional amendment allowing for the use of any federally approved stem cell research.

Although he won his 2004 bid for Illinois's 14th Congressional District by an overwhelming majority, the GOP backlash may not bode well for Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert of Illinois, a former wrestler and high school wrestling coach, who was inducted as an Outstanding American in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2000. Pundits suggest that he may get pinned, forcing him to concede as the speaker to a new generation of Republicans.

Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2651493