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A Republican-led Senate still within graspFormer Wisconsin governor and now U.S. Senate candidate Tommy Thompson By: John Gizzi  Follow @johngizzi10/22/2012 05:00 AMRESIZE: AAA Print Amid recent reports in the New York Times and other liberal publications that Republican efforts to regain the Senate in November are diminishing, the GOP is still on track to gain the four necessary seats to have control of the upper chamber beginning in January. The GOP could wind up with 52 seats.The New York Times cited contests in Arizona and Florida as getting out of reach for Republicans. But few in the punditocracy expect that...

If things were different, Wendy Long would be a household name. She'd be a heroine, and she'd be driving the election season. But Long is the Republican running for Senate in New York, where calculations were made long ago to ensure that Republicans don't win Hillary Clinton's old spot, the old Daniel Patrick Moynihan seat. But such plans don't have to pan out. Long is exactly the kind of woman the Senate needs. A former Supreme Court law clerk, she left private practice at an esteemed firm to build the Judicial Confirmation Network, a conservative advocacy group. This campaign is...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A conservative super PAC has jumped back into the Indiana Senate race with a nearly $1 million ad buy highlighting Democratic nominee Joe Donnelly's support for two of President Barack Obama's policies. The Indiana buy is part of more than $6.4 million worth of air time that Crossroads GPS and American Crossroads bought this week in six Senate contests, according to Federal Election Commission records. The money also was dedicated to races in Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Nevada and Wisconsin.

A new poll shows Massachusetts’ closely-watched U.S. Senate race remains tight. The Suffolk University and WHDH-TV poll released Monday shows Democrat Elizabeth Warren is the choice of 48 percent of likely general election voters compared to 44 percent for incumbent Republican Sen. Scott Brown.

MARYVILLE, Mo. — Three weeks after Republican Rep. Todd Akin upended the national political landscape by claiming that pregnancies rarely result from “legitimate rape,” the race for Senate in this increasingly conservative state — and in many ways the battle for control of Congress’s upper chamber — has settled into a waiting game. A Sept. 25 deadline looms. That’s the last day Akin can petition Missouri courts to remove his name from the ballot — and comply with the near-universal calls from party leaders who think his comments have made unwinnable a seat they need for an easier path to...

RT @meredithshiner: Blunt, Ashcroft, Bond, Danforth, Talent issue joint statement calling on @ToddAkin to get out of the race. #MOSen

Since the GOP is likely to lose Maine (Olympia Snowe’s seat) and have competitive races to defend seats in Massachusetts (Scott Brown) and Nevada (Dean Heller), they better hope to pickup five or six Democratic seats. Here are 10 seats currently held by the opposition that Republicans can win. 1. Nebraska (Open) With the retirement of Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson in a solid red state, Nebraska is ripe for a Republican pick-up. The GOP nominated a relatively fresh face in Deb Fischer, a rancher and state senator since 2004, while Democrats reached back to the far past and are recycling...

Since the GOP is likely to lose Maine (Olympia Snowe’s seat) and have competitive races to defend seats in Massachusetts (Scott Brown) and Nevada (Dean Heller), they better hope to pickup five or six Democratic seats. Here are 10 seats currently held by the opposition that Republicans can win...

FARGO – A new independent poll released today indicates North Dakota’s U.S. Senate race is a dead heat between Republican Rep. Rick Berg and Democrat Heidi Heitkamp. Fargo-based Valley News Live and Bismarck-based KFYR-TV commissioned a poll of 625 likely North Dakota voters this week, just days before the statewide primary election. The poll found Heitkamp with 47 percent of the support from likely general election voters, while Berg had 46 percent. Seven percent remain undecided in the race, with about five months left until November. Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, of Washington, D.C., conducted the telephone survey June 4-6. The...

Richard E. Mourdock, who last week defeated Senator Richard G. Lugar, a six-term incumbent, promises to bring an uncompromising ideology to Capitol Hill if he prevails in November. And he is not the only Senate candidate who contends that Senate Republicans are badly in need of new blood. In Arizona, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas, Republican Senate candidates are vying for the mantle of Tea Party outsider. A number of them say that they would seek to press an agenda that is generally to the right of the minority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and that they would demand a...

Link to an oversize Senatorial map in a new window Less than 200 days before the November elections, Republicans are brimming with confidence about gaining at least the four seats they need to put the U.S. Senate in their column. With 47 Republican senators and 53 Democrats, the number of seats up for election clearly point to the much-desired GOP net gain of four and then some. There are 35 Senate seats are up for grabs this fall, with 10 held by Republicans and 25 by the Democrats. Of that 25, six Democratic senators are retiring: Akaka (Hawaii), Nelson (Neb.),...

Big business and the Tea Party are at swords' points once again, with GOP Senate primaries for the second straight election becoming proxy battles in the war over the soul of the Republican Party. Conservative insurgents pose serious threats this year to establishment Republicans in at least three open-seat Senate races. In every case, political action committees and lobbyists have hugely favored the establishment pick with contributions. One reason: The GOP establishment rallies industry donors behind the Republican seen as stronger in November. A deeper reason: The revolving-door clique of K Street and Capitol Hill operatives needs Republicans elected to...

To understand the full dimensions of the coming Republican landslide, one needs look no further than the Senate races around the country. Because the presidential race is obscured by the heat of the Republican primary, the scale of the coming upheaval is less evident in presidential polling. But a survey of the key Senate races suggests not just a GOP victory, but a total rout. According to the usually very reliable polling by Scott Rasmussen, Republican candidates are currently leading their Democratic opponents in seven races for seats currently held by Democrats. (Florida, Missouri, Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, and...

Oh, no! Another Democratic senator in possible election trouble for 2012. And from California already? A new Field Poll just released this morning brings news that California's Sen. Dianne Feinstein is -- how can we put this in a liberal kind of way? -- approved by 41% of voters who want to see her reelected next year. Unfortunately for her, more voters (fully 44%) disapprove of her continued employment in the U.S. Senate after 2012. In blue California that makes for about a magnitude 5.2 quake. The same poll finds that only 41% approve of Feinstein's job in Washington, while...

WASHINGTON – Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia announced plans to retire at the end of his term, deepening the challenge to his party as it struggles to maintain a majority in 2012 elections. In an e-mail announcement, Webb said he would return to the private sector, but offered no additional details of his plans.

This GOP Senator Is Ready To Take Down The Tea Party Grace Wyler Feb. 3, 2011, 4:20 PM Image: scriptingnews via Flikr Veteran GOP Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana has thumbed his nose at Tea Party threats. The Hoosier State Republican knows they are coming after his Senate seat in 2012 but he is not going down without a fight. Lugar, who has served six terms in the Senate, has $2.3 million in his campaign war chest, which likely puts him far ahead of any potential primary challengers. But the 78-year old says he is kicking his fundraising up a...

Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) will announce Saturday he is challenging Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.). “It’s happening Saturday,” said a knowledgeable Montana GOP political operative. “He’s running. There is a lot of support and enthusiasm back home, and Denny knows he can win.”

North Dakota Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad plans to announce his retirement today, according to two informed Democratic sources, creating a potentially prime pickup opportunity for Republicans in a GOP-leaning state. Conrad, who currently chairs the Senate Budget Committee, has been in office since 1986 and risen to become one of the most influential -- and intellectual -- policy makers operating in the nation's capital. Conrad had been open about his ambivalence about running for another term and those doubts almost certainly increased following a 2010 election that decimated the Democratic party. Former Sen. Byron Dorgan retired in the face of...

Senator Snowe has recently come under criticism from conservatives, who say she's not conservative enough. LePage, who's a favorite among the die-hard conservatives in Maine, says he'll continue to support Snowe, who -- along with her late husband Peter Snowe -- helped a young LePage get into Husson College. Growing up, LePage only spoke French and not much English, so Peter Snowe helped LePage take Husson's entrance exams in French, opening the door to his education that put him on the track leading him to business success, and now the Blaine House.

Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) appears to be daring the Tea Party to challenge him in the 2012 Senate primary. While most of his GOP colleagues are heeding the advice of their Senate campaign chiefs and preparing for conservative primary challengers, Lugar is bucking his party on several high-profile issues. Last week, he split with Senate Republicans, rejecting a voluntary, two-year ban on congressional earmarks.