NH Senate Rematch a Likely Bellwether Race

Dems could pick up 8 seats; GOP could oust Landrieu in La.

(NEWSER) - With 35 Senate seats up for grabs Tuesday, Chris Cillizza, in the Washington Post, predicts Democrats will flip eight. Two more are close calls for the Dems, while the GOP has one hope for a pickup. Starting with the most likely:

1. Virginia is in the bag for Mark Warner; he might even get 60% of the vote.
2. New Mexico will fall easily to Tom Udall...
3. ...while his cousin, Mark Udall, has pulled away in Colorado.

Sununu in hotly fought battle as Granite State turns on GOP

(NEWSER) - One of this year's most bitterly contested Senate races is in New Hampshire, where the Republican John Sununu is facing a rematch with Jeanne Shaheen, whom he defeated in 2002. In the famously independent Granite State, Sununu was counting on the popularity of John McCain to propel him to victory. But as the top of the GOP ticket has faltered, Sununu is now facing an uphill battle to retain his seat, reports the New York Times. More»

Ex-governor will challenge newly weakened Republican incumbent in rematch

(NEWSER) - Democrat Jeanne Shaheen will run again for US Senate from New Hampshire, hoping to set up a rematch against Republican rival John Sununu. The ex-governor lost to Sununu in a tight, bitter race in 2002, and the freshman senator’s tireless support of the war has eroded his support and makes him vulnerable in 2008, the Union Leader says. More»

Franken picks Senate staffers as rival refuses to concede

(NEWSER) - Embattled former senator Norm Coleman is keeping alive the last fight of Election 2008 with an appeal to Minnesota's Supreme Court, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Coleman is arguing that a lower court that awarded Al Franken a 312-vote victory denied constituents their constitutional rights by rejecting some absentee ballots. Franken, meanwhile, has started picking his Senate staffers. More»

Decision to re-examine rejected absentee ballots raises challenger's hopes

(NEWSER) - The momentum went Al Franken's way in the Minnesota recount yesterday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The Democrat—trailing incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman by 303 votes with 93% of the ballots counted—picked up 37 more votes than his rival out of a pile of 171 uncounted ballots found in one county. Also yesterday, Minnesota's secretary of state ordered officials to re-examine 12,000 rejected absentee ballots, a move Franken supporters believe will help their guy. More»