2014 Senate Midterm Elections - I don't see any big races in this one

[LynneSin]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_elections,_2014

I think the riskiest 2 democratic seats will be Mark Begich out of Alaska and Mark Warner in Virginia.

Any race out of Virginia is risky since it's a swing state and unlike 2008 when Warner was on the same ticket with Obama, this time Warner is the top name on the race - will we get enough voter turnout to re-elect Warner?

Alaska has always been a solid red state, Obama only got 41% this past election. Begich really lucked out in 2008 because Ted Stevens was under a big scandal and Mark pretty much was the only option left for Alaskan voters. I mean in 2010 when they had a nut job running as the Republican, Alaskan voters actually wrote in Lisa Murkowski's name instead of voting for the democrat. I suspect this seat will be on top of the list for the GOP to win back.

I'm also thinking that North Carolina, Louisiana and Minnesota might be big targets for the GOP. North Carolina did flip back to Obama in 2012 so that might spell trouble for Kay Hagan's re-election. Al Franken of Minnesota barely squeaked by in his election after a 200+ day recount drama so I could see the GOP targeting him. And the GOP is always going after Mary Landieu of Louisiana but since Mary is pro-big Oil she tends to win again and again.

As for Republicans the ONLY blue state that could be playable is Maine but only if Susan Collins were to throw in the towel like Olympia Snowe did. If Collins runs then the GOP keeps that seat. But the rest of the states are some pretty solid blue ones.

[texanwitch]

1. The midterms will be so important.

I hope we have the same voter turnout.

I have worked to many mid terms with low voter turn out.

[ChangeUp106]

2. Important or not right now...

They are ALL important. We need to fight for every seat even though some we obviously won't get and some we clearly will keep. Go for them all!

[meadowlark5]

3. I heard Mitch McConnell is up for re-election in 2014

Heard it on Tweety's show in passing. If it's true, that would be one to activate the Obama campaign machine and vote the republican tortoise OUT!

[libinnyandia]

5. Please don't insult tortoises ;o)

[BlueMan Votes]

4. depending on how things go between now and then- Dick Durbin could be a rough election.

we already have one repug in mark kirk.
if the repukes find a strong candidate to challenge Durbin- it couod be a problem.
then again- maybe they'll end up with joe walsh as their senate candidate.(it's fun to vote in republican primaries).

[MrBig]

6. There will be surprises

There are always races that don't look like they'll be competitive now yet find a way to become so, whether because a sitting Senator chooses to retire or someone says something stupid.

Who would have thought that Richard Lugar would have lost in the primary, leading to the Democratic pickup in Indiana? Or that Olympia Snowe would suddenly announce she will not be seeking re-election, leading to the Independent (and hopefully Democratic caucus) pickup in Maine?

There's a lot of time between now and then for things to happen.

[PuppyBismark]

7. Wrong! We Must Take Back the State Governments!

The Democrats have had their eye off the ball for all elections except the national elections. The 2010 election results are exactly why we have had so much trouble this time and why we lost the House again. Even this election, the only Democrat on the Ohio Supreme court lost by a big margin to the first OSC justice candidate who was found "not qualified" by the Ohio Bar. Clearly the Ohio Democratic Party and all the unions were not paying attention to what else was going on in Ohio beside the senate and presidential election. With all that money in the state, a few million to keep the Democratic Supreme Court justice should have been spent.

Politics is all about the details and not only the high visibility contests. If we fail to really do a good job in 2014 we will have even more GOP secretaries of states and even more state legislatures that will legislate abortion and voter ID laws. In fact, we lost the democratic majority in Wisconsin for the same reasons that we did not have the big picture in mind.

So no, the 2014 election is just as important as the 2012 was and we must improve how we do in the down ballot state elections if progress is to continue.

This is where Rethugs are far ahead of the Democratic party.

[hfojvt]

8. dammit, why does it always look so easy for them

Red (or swing) states with a Democratic Senator up in 2014

Alaska
Arkansas
Colorado
Louisiana
Montana
New Mexico
North Carolina
South Dakota
Virginia
West Virginia

all of those states are vulnerable for us

Red states with a Republican Senator up in 2014

Idaho
Wyoming
Nebraska
Kansas
Oklahoma
Texas
Kentucky
Tennessee
Alabama
Mississippi
Georgia
South Carolina

all of those states look pretty safe for them

Maine should be vulnerable for their Republican incumbent, but you think it is not

Then there are the other states with Democratic Senators

Rhode Island
Massachusetts
Delaware
New Jersey
New Hampshire
Illinois
Michigan
Minnesota
Iowa

Only the top three really seem totally safe. In New Jersey, Lautenberg will be 90 by 2014. I think Franken will be tough to beat, and I suppose Harkin will get re-elected to his 15th term, but both of those states are really swing states too. They are not nearly as blue as Kansas, Nebraska, Alabama, etc. are red.

It just looks like they have a much better chance of taking control of the Senate than we do of making any gains. Especially given the cost of a Senate race.