first Democratic presidential candidate to win the 8th District since 1964 and then-Governor Evan Bayh carried all of the district's counties in his re-election bid, was partly attributed to McCloskey's 65 overdrafts at the House bank. McCloskey's efforts to save jobs at the district's Crane Naval Surface Weapons Warfare Center helped secure his re-election. During his tenure in Congress, McCloskey made many trips to Bosnia, and spent his post-congressional years working to bring peace and stability to Bosnia and the Balkans. Samantha Power recounted these efforts in her 2002 book, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. 1994 election defeat In 1994, McCloskey's Republican opponent was John Hostettler, an engineer from the Evansville suburbs who claimed the Republican nomination on the strength of strong support from area churches. Ultimately, McCloskey lost to Hostettler, 48% to 52%. He was one of 34 Democratic incumbents unseated that year. During the 103rd Congress, McCloskey supported the assault weapons ban, a vote which undermined his blue-collar labor and rural support. Hostettler sought to tie McCloskey to Clinton, referring to the Congressman as "Frank McClinton". Unlike in previous elections, where he ran up large margins, he only carried Vanderburgh County by a very small margin. McCloskey narrowly lost Martin County, home to the Crane NSW center he had spent his congressional career fighting to keep open. Election history ! style="background:#ccc;"|Year ! style="background:#ccc;"|Office ! style="background:#ccc;"|Election ! ! style="background:#ccc;"|Subject ! style="background:#ccc;"|Party ! style="background:#ccc;"|Votes ! style="background:#ccc;"|Pct ! ! style="background:#ccc;"|Opponent ! style="background:#ccc;"|Party ! style="background:#ccc;"|Votes ! style="background:#ccc;"|Pct |- |1994 |Congress, 8th district |General | | style="background:#def;"|Frank McCloskey (Inc.) | style="background:#def;"|Democratic | style="background:#def; text-align:right;"|84,857 | style="background:#def;"|47.6% | | style="background:#ffe8e8;"|John Hostettler | style="background:#ffe8e8;"|Republican | style="background:#ffe8e8; text-align:right;"|93,529 | style="background:#ffe8e8;"|52.4% |- |1992 |Congress, 8th district |General | | style="background:#def;"|Frank McCloskey (Inc.) | style="background:#def;"|Democratic | style="background:#def;"|125,244 | style="background:#def;"|53.0% | | style="background:#ffe8e8;"|Richard Mourdock | style="background:#ffe8e8;"|Republican | style="background:#ffe8e8;"|108,054 | style="background:#ffe8e8;"|45.7% |- |1990 |Congress, 8th district |General | | style="background:#def;"|Frank McCloskey (Inc.) | style="background:#def;"|Democratic | style="background:#def; text-align:right;"|97,465 | style="background:#def;"|54.7% | | style="background:#ffe8e8;"|Richard Mourdock | style="background:#ffe8e8;"|Republican | style="background:#ffe8e8; text-align:right;"|80,645 | style="background:#ffe8e8;"|45.3% |- |1988 |Congress, 8th district |General | | style="background:#def;"|Frank McCloskey (Inc.) | style="background:#def;"|Democratic | style="background:#def;"|141,355 | style="background:#def;"|61.8% | | style="background:#ffe8e8;"|John L. Myers | style="background:#ffe8e8;"|Republican | style="background:#ffe8e8; text-align:right;"|87,321 | style="background:#ffe8e8;"|38.2% |- |1986 |Congress, 8th district |General | | style="background:#def;"|Frank McCloskey (Inc.) | style="background:#def;"|Democratic | style="background:#def;"|106,662 | style="background:#def;"|53.3% | | style="background:#ffe8e8;"|Rick McIntyre | style="background:#ffe8e8;"|Republican | style="background:#ffe8e8; text-align:right;"|93,586 | style="background:#ffe8e8;"|46.7% |- |1984 |Congress, 8th district |General | |