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Look at Key Senate 2002 Races
(AP) ^

Posted on 06/07/2002 4:19:17 AM PDT by Dallas

A look at 10 states that could be critical in deciding whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate after the 2002 elections.

TOP DEMOCRATIC TARGETS

ARKANSAS: Incumbent Republican Sen. Tim Hutchinson against Democrat Mark Pryor, state attorney general. Both sides think this race could be very close -- partly because of the strong Democratic presence in the state.

COLORADO: Incumbent Republican Sen. Wayne Allard faces Democrat Tom Strickland, a former U.S. attorney, in a rematch of their close 1996 Senate race.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Incumbent Republican Sen. Bob Smith is considered vulnerable and faces Rep. John Sununu in the GOP primary. Democrats hope the GOP primary will leave that party's nominee in poor shape to face Democratic candidate Jeanne Shaheen, currently governor.

TEXAS: Open seat now held by retiring GOP Sen. Phil Gramm. Democrat Ron Kirk, former mayor of Dallas, has been running even in the polls with the Republican nominee, Attorney General John Cornyn. Kirk's bid to become a black senator from a conservative Southern state should bring him plenty of party contributions and plenty of attention.

NORTH CAROLINA: Open seat currently held by retiring GOP incumbent Jesse Helms. Elizabeth Dole, a former transportation secretary, is the favorite for the GOP nomination and Erskine Bowles, a former Clinton chief of staff, has the edge for the Democrats. But the primary has been delayed indefinitely by legal battles over redistricting.

Democrats also are eyeing GOP Sen. Gordon Smith in OREGON and think they could have a chance for open seats in SOUTH CAROLINA and TENNESSEE.

TOP GOP TARGETS

IOWA: Incumbent Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin faces GOP Rep. Greg Ganske. Harkin has a double-digit lead, but could be vulnerable if Ganske cuts into his base in more urban areas.

MINNESOTA: Incumbent Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone faces Republican nominee Norm Coleman, former mayor of St. Paul who has run for governor. Both sides expect this race to be very close.

MISSOURI: Incumbent Democratic Sen. Jean Carnahan faces Republican nominee Jim Talent, a former member of Congress who narrowly lost the governor's race in 2000. Both sides expect this race to be very close.

SOUTH DAKOTA: Incumbent Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson faces GOP Rep. John Thune. Both sides expect this race to be very close.

GEORGIA: Incumbent Democratic Sen. Max Cleland could get a strong challenge from the eventual GOP nominee. Rep. Saxby Chambliss will face state lawmaker Bob Irvin in an Aug. 20 primary.

Republicans also are eyeing Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli in NEW JERSEY and think they have the upper hand in all four open seats currently held by the GOP.

Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press


TOPICS: Front Page News; Politics/Elections
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1 posted on 06/07/2002 4:19:17 AM PDT by Dallas
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To: Dallas
Click here to sign petition asking Sen. Leheay to step down.....

FReegards,

David C. Osborne

2 posted on 06/07/2002 4:21:51 AM PDT by davidosborne
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To: Dallas
Democrats also are eyeing GOP Sen. Gordon Smith in OREGON and think they could have a chance for open seats in SOUTH CAROLINA and TENNESSEE.

Forget about SC, Dems. And I think Gordon Smith became pretty safe when Kitzhaber turned down the Dems.

In addition to the races listed above, I think the GOP has an outside shot at stealing Illinois from Durbin. And I'm quite surprised Baucus in Montana didn't make this target list. True, Baucus is loaded and the GOP didn't get Racicot to run, but the numbers in MT favor the Pubbies. I think the race closes up considerably now that the primary is over, though I still make Baucus the favorite.

3 posted on 06/07/2002 4:43:05 AM PDT by Coop
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To: Dallas
What is your opinion on whether Cornyn will beat Kirk?Thanks.
4 posted on 06/07/2002 5:05:56 AM PDT by madrastex
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To: madrastex
As you know, the media is going all out for Kirk... Cornyn is not at all charismatic, and is a very weak campaigner.

What do you think ?

5 posted on 06/07/2002 5:15:53 AM PDT by Dallas
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To: jmaroneps37
PING!
6 posted on 06/07/2002 5:23:33 AM PDT by Constitution Day
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To: Dallas
Unfortunately, a lot of politicos like RNSC, Bush, and Grassley decided to stick their noses in our primary and we are stuck with Ganske in Iowa.

The superior candidate, Bill Salier, lost.

This man is phenomenol. Spent about $200,000and got 41% of the vote. He was a total unknown.

The last days former governor, Terry Branstad used the old trick of calling old people and telling them Bill Salier wanted to take away their SS.

There is a terrible taste left in the mouth of conservative Republicans in Iowa.

It remains to be seen if they will support RINO Ganske who is a clone of McCain.

7 posted on 06/07/2002 5:30:51 AM PDT by Conservativegreatgrandma
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To: Dallas
I am not very optimistic about the GOP in general.The National leadership has been very weak, with Lott a major disappointment.The RINO's sure do not help. Fortunately, we have folks like the Hammer(Thank God!) to support the Texas GOP. I feel the DEms are going to be galvanized due to Jumping Jeffords and the "attractiveness" of Kirk, and blow rhe lid off any budgets to assist him. Incidentally, I only (financially) support the Texas Republicans bucause the RNC has been rudderless for so long.Wes Pruden of the Washington Times wrote that this is the only country where the majority can act like the minority.Too bad he is right!
8 posted on 06/07/2002 5:35:28 AM PDT by madrastex
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To: Dallas
My take:

John Sununu was the best thing about the first Bush administration. I hope he wins.

I am so ecstatic you like you wouldn't believe that the corrupt demagogues Phil Gramm and Jesse Helms are finally leaving. It's far past time. What makes it even better is that Democrats didn't have to beat them to get them out (as if they ever would have let that happen).

I don't know much about the rest, but it would be nice to see Tom Harkin out too.

9 posted on 06/07/2002 5:39:14 AM PDT by Quila
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To: Quila
John Sununu was the best thing about the first Bush administration. I hope he wins.

Good grief. Have you ever heard of an individual by the name of David Souter?

10 posted on 06/07/2002 7:56:12 AM PDT by Stingray51
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To: Stingray51
Good grief. Have you ever heard of an individual by the name of David Souter?

Of course. I just like Sununu because of his no-nonsense, get it done attitude. Like Patton, he was so good he was an embarrassment.

11 posted on 06/07/2002 8:01:15 AM PDT by Quila
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To: Dallas
This is truely an evil donkey's dream! Almost none of this pile of shiite has any fact behind it. In Oregon the barn dwellers thought they a candidate but they don't. In Arkansas Hutchinson was supposed to be wounded and the primary would show it because his base would not come out for him - he won with around 75%. I could go on and on, but the real tip off that this is just psy-ops from a Rat friendly skunk in the media, is that there is no mention of New Jersey. If they think the torch is well on his way to an easy race, they'd better think again. No one know jon corzine at this point in his race either. This story has got to be read along side of the bull shiite story that Shelby will switch back.
12 posted on 06/07/2002 8:50:55 AM PDT by jmaroneps37
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To: Quila
John Sununu (father) was in Bush 41 administration.his son a congressman is running against Bob Smith in the primary for the senate seat.I hope this clears things up a bit.Samantha.
13 posted on 06/07/2002 8:54:22 AM PDT by samantha
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To: Coop
A new poll by Research 2000 has Harkin with only 53% of the vote against Ganske and the general election campaign has only begun. I think Ganske will give Harkin a very good race. At least some of that Harkin support is soft, and they'll look at Ganske once they know who he is. I don't see Harkin breaking 53%-- who in the state doesn't know who he is and hasn't a firm opinion already?
14 posted on 06/07/2002 9:28:01 AM PDT by GraniteStateConservative
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To: Conservativegreatgrandma
First, Salier does oppose Social Security. Second, that trick would have been used by Harkin 10-fold. Salier would have been slaughtered. Iowa is not as conservative as Salier is. He's a great guy, but should move to some place that has actually supported the GOP candidate for president more recently than 1984 (unlike Iowa).
15 posted on 06/07/2002 9:30:22 AM PDT by GraniteStateConservative
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To: jmaroneps37
In Arkansas Hutchinson was supposed to be wounded and the primary would show it because his base would not come out for him - he won with around 75%. I could go on and on, but the real tip off that this is just psy-ops from a Rat friendly skunk in the media, is that there is no mention of New Jersey.

Don't kid yourself. Hutchinson has some momentum, but he's still vulnerable. And the article did mention New Jersey, but ever so briefly. His re-elect numbers are lousy.

16 posted on 06/07/2002 9:37:05 AM PDT by Coop
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To: GraniteStateConservative
Yeah, I saw the Harkin/Ganske poll today. It's the best of the three polls I've seen, and the incumbent is under the magic 55%. But he's still got a comfortable lead right now. I just really wish the White House would have stayed out of the primary race. I'm not sure what effects that will have on Ganske's chances.
17 posted on 06/07/2002 9:38:44 AM PDT by Coop
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To: Dallas; Constitution Day
NORTH CAROLINA: Open seat currently held by retiring GOP incumbent Jesse Helms. Elizabeth Dole, a former transportation secretary, is the favorite for the GOP nomination and Erskine Bowles, a former Clinton chief of staff, has the edge for the Democrats. But the primary has been delayed indefinitely by legal battles over redistricting.

Favorite heck!! The RNC has already nominated her even before the primaries. And liberal? She is as liberal as the day is long. I still haven't seen Giddy Dolt and Erskine Bowles in the same place at the same time. Coincidence?

18 posted on 06/07/2002 9:41:14 AM PDT by billbears
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To: billbears
We will hold SC, NC and Texas, NH only if Sununu is the nominee. TN is yet unclear.

Johnson (SD) and Wellstone (MN) are toast. Talent can beat fatass Carnahan (MO) if he handles the race properly. Ganske can defeat Harkin (IA) if people pull together. Cleland (GA) is in more trouble than he realizes.

If we get some luck from the economy and the stock market, I am very optimistic. Remember in 1970, just two years into Nixon's first term, with an unpopular war and unemployment on the rise, GOP actually gained two Senate seats.

19 posted on 06/07/2002 11:09:00 AM PDT by mwl1
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To: Quila
John Sunnunu is showing he is neither conservative nor a republican, by challenging a sitting GOP conservative senator with a lot of miles to go before he's done. He was responsible along with Richard Darman with persuading GHWB to go along with new taxes and break his campaign pledge. He was responsible for the appointment of David Souter and covering up his highly leftist proclivities from public scrutiny, and now we have the spectacle of a GOP-appointed radical atheist on the high court who joins with the two Clinton-appointees and rules peremptorily against ANY conservative interpretation of law.

Sunnunu is on the short list of those among professed GOPers who most deserve: Horse-whipping, Keel-Hauling, and then Tar & Feathering. Since the Bush administration has been not-so-subtly pushing for Sunnunu, despite his proven unworthiness for even being dog-catcher, and your cheering this guy on over and against all courtesy and decency...that means just one thing about you:


20 posted on 06/07/2002 11:51:01 AM PDT by Paul Ross
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