<p>Democrats have some new opportunities to pick up Senate seats this year, but the Republicans still are favored to make net gains in the South, where President Bush and his party draw their strongest support.</p>
<p>Entering 2004, Republicans appeared to have a slam-dunk shot at strengthening their tenuous 51-seat hold on the Senate with a bonanza of five open Democratic seats in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina. But their lopsided Southern advantage has been offset to some degree by unexpected Republican retirements in Colorado and Oklahoma that have enlarged the Democrats' targeted-for-takeover list.</p>