National Memo: The 5 Races That Will Decide Who Controls The Senate
The seats currently held by retiring senators Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) will — barring some great miracle — be won by Republicans. That leaves Democrats with five seats to defend in order to preserve their majority. And if you think Republicans are successful now at obstructing the president’s agenda and nominations, just imagine what they’d do if Mitch McConnell (R-KY) were running the upper house of Congress.
Montana
With Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) retiring, Republicans should have a good shot of picking up this reliably red state. But with popular former Democratic governor Brian Schweitzer appearing ready to get into the race, Democrats have a decent chance of keeping this seat, even though President Obama lost the state’s three electoral votes by about 13 percent.
Louisiana
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) actually voted to expand background checks, along with good chunks of the president’s agenda — including Obamacare — since she was last elected in 2008. Still, she held a narrow lead over her likely opponent Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) in a recent poll. And things could get very interesting if Governor Bobby Jindal (R-LA) decides to get in this race.
Arkansas
Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) enraged national Democrats when he voted against the Manchin-Toomey background check amendment. Mayor Michael Bloomberg followed up that vote with ads inside Arkansas attacking Pryor for not standing up for the majority of his constituents, who support checks. But those ads may have been a campaign donation for the senator. Nothing is better for a southern Democrat than the personification of the “nanny state” attacking him on the TV.
http://www.nationalmemo.com/the-5-races-that-will-decide-who-controls-the-senate/
The other 'battleground' seats are in North Carolina (Kay Hagan) and Alaska (Mark Begich).
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