Stevens Concedes

Via the ADN:

Senator Stevens' Statement on Recent Vote Tallies

ANCHORAGE, AK -- Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) today released the following statement regarding his campaign and the most recent vote tallies in Alaska:

"Given the number of ballots that remain to be counted, it is apparent the election has been decided and Mayor Begich has been elected.

"My family and I wish to thank the thousands of Alaskans who stood by us and who supported my re-election. It was a tough fight that would not have been possible without the help of so many Alaskans -- people who I am honored to call my friends. I will always remember their thoughts, prayers, and encouragement.

"I am proud of the campaign we ran and regret that the outcome was not what we had hoped for. I am deeply grateful to Alaskans for allowing me to serve them for 40 years in the U.S. Senate. It has been the greatest honor of my life to work with Alaskans of all political persuasions to make this state that we all love a better place.

"I wish Mayor Begich and his family well. My staff and I stand willing to help him prepare for his new position."

3:59 PM ET | 11-19-2008 | permalink

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Begich Increases Lead In AK Senate Race

The Anchorage Daily News reports that challenger Mark Begich has increased his lead over embattled incumbent Ted Stevens in the as-yet unresolved Alaska Senate race:

The latest numbers, issued just before 1 p.m., show Begich up by 2,374 votes.

The state has counted over 16,000 absentee and questioned ballots so far today from Southeast Alaska, Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula and Kodiak. Elections officials expect to count nearly 8,000 more this afternoon.

The ADN notes that the remaining 8,000 votes to be counted today are absentee ballots from Anchorage. Since Begich is the current (and popular) mayor of Anchorage, Stevens is unlikely to make up ground in the remaining part of the tally.

Today's pile of votes was the last remaining sizeable chunk of uncounted ballots. Only a few overseas votes remain to be tallied before the election's result can be finalized. And given the small margin between the contenders, a recount is a distinct possibility. But at this point Alaska seems poised to have a Democratic Senator for the first time since Mike Gravel's re-election defeat in 1980.

-- Evie Stone

5:52 PM ET | 11-18-2008 | permalink

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Begich Takes Lead in Alaska Senate Race

Mark Begich (D) 47% 132,196
Ted Stevens (R) 47% 131,382

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich has taken a small lead -- 814 votes -- in the Alaska Senate race. Before Alaskan officials resumed counting of early and absentee ballots yesterday Begich trailed Incumbent Ted Stevens by more than 3,000 votes. Most of the newly counted votes were cast before Stevens was found guilty by a federal jury in Washington for failing to report approximately $250,000 in gifts he received. In total, the Anchorage Daily News reports, Alaskan election officials have counted 60,000 early, absentee and questioned ballots that "broke heavily in the Democrat's favor."

But don't count Uncle Ted out just yet. There are an additional 40,000 votes yet to be counted. The ADN also notes that this is shaping up to be "one of the biggest turnouts, if not the biggest in terms of ballots cast, the state has ever seen."

If Begich hangs on to his lead and is declared the winner, he will be the first Democratic Senator to serve Alaska since the '70s. Stevens, who has held the seat since 1968, is the longest serving GOP Senator in history.

The Alaska House race also remains undetermined. The state's sole member of congress, Rupublican Incumbent Don Young, is still holding onto a comfortable lead over Democratic challenger Ethan Berkowitz.

Don Young (R) 50% 140,269
Ethan Berkowitz (D) 44% 125,184

-- Michael Olson

10:40 AM ET | 11-13-2008 | permalink

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MN Senate Race Stays Tight

Democrat Al Franken now trails Republican incumbent Norm Coleman by a mere 239 votes -- about one one-hundredth of a percent -- in the Minnesota Senate race. (Independent contender Dean Barkley trails both front-runners by 27%.) Coleman's lead had crept up near 600 votes, but further results and discoveries of human error whittled Coleman's advantage as local election districts double-checked their numbers.

Minnesota state law mandates a recount if the margin of victory is less than .5%, and this result certainly fits into that category. Coleman has called for Franken to concede and waive the recount. But with the numbers continuing to tighten, that appears unlikely. Franken said yesterday that "this election will be decided by the voters, not by the candidates."

-- Evie Stone

1:04 PM ET | 11- 7-2008 | permalink

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Oregon SEN: Merkley

... and then there were six.

NPR projects that Democrat Jeff Merkley is the winner in the Oregon Senate race. Merkley defeats two-term Republican Gordon Smith. Smith's re-election campaign focused on casting the junior Senator as a moderate. The Republican incumbent even aligned himself with the Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama in this ad where the narrator asks, "Who says Gordon Smith helped lead the fight for better gas mileage and a cleaner environment? Barack Obama."

Obama then went to bat for Merkley in this ad where he told Oregonians that "with Jeff Merkley in the U.S. Senate, we can get our country back on track."

The Merkley win increases the Democratic net gain in the Senate to six. Three more Senate races -- all held by Republicans -- have yet to be called: Alaska (some votes still being tallied), Minnesota (automatic recount), and Georgia (where a Dec. 2 runoff is possible).

-- Michael Olson

12:58 PM ET | 11- 6-2008 | permalink

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Begich Not Giving Up

Via NPR's Martin Kaste, Alaska Democrat Mark Begich says 60,000 uncounted votes and suspicious numbers in at least one precinct are preventing him from conceding the Senate race to incumbent (and recently-convicted felon) Ted Stevens. Stevens, who has held his Senate seat since 1968, currently holds a 4,500-vote advantage in the vote tally. He claims that it's mathematically impossible for Begich to win.

The state's deadline to settle on a result is November 21st.

-- Evie Stone

5:49 PM ET | 11- 5-2008 | permalink

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Holy Ad War Continues In NC Senate Race

North Carolina Republican Senator Liddy Dole is up with a response ad answering challenger Kay Hagan's ad that accused her of dirty politics after she aired a spot that suggested Hagan doesn't believe in God. (Got all that?) Hagan -- who is an elder at her church -- has also filed a defamation suit against Dole over the attacks on her faith.

Let's take them from the top:

Dole 1:

Hagan:

Dole 2:

A newly-released CNN/Time/Opinion research poll, taken before the Godless ad kerfuffle, shows Hagan nine points ahead.

-- Evie Stone

3:39 PM ET | 10-31-2008 | permalink

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McCain To Stevens: Time To Step Down

In statement released this morning, John McCain called on US Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) to step down. Stevens was convicted yesterday on seven counts of fraud after failing to disclose free home renovations and other gifts he received from an Alaska oil company. Here's an excerpt from McCain's statement:

Yesterday, Senator Ted Stevens was found guilty of corruption. It is a sign of the health of our democracy that the people continue to hold their representatives to account for improper or illegal conduct, but this verdict is also a sign of the corruption and insider-dealing that has become so pervasive in our nation's capital.

It is clear that Senator Stevens has broken his trust with the people and that he should now step down. I hope that my colleagues in the Senate will be spurred by these events to redouble their efforts to end this kind of corruption once and for all.

AK Governor and VP nominee Sarah Palin did not immediately echo McCain's call. Stevens is currently locked in a tight race for re-election with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. As NPR's David Welna noted last week, if Stevens wins, his fate as a Senator is unclear. Stevens plans to appeal his conviction, and the Senate traditionally delays action in such matters until the appeals process is fully exhausted.

-- Sean Bowditch

UPDATE: MSNBC's First Read is reporting that Palin has now joined McCain in asking Stevens to step down.

10:13 AM ET | 10-28-2008 | permalink

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Stevens Found Guilty On All Counts

AP reports:

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has been convicted of lying about free home renovations and other gifts he received from a wealthy oil contractor.

The Senate's longest-serving Republican, Stevens was found guilty on all seven counts of making false statements on Senate financial documents.

The verdict throws the upcoming election into disarray. Stevens is fighting off a challenge from Democrat Mark Begich and must now either drop out or continue campaigning as a convicted felon.

The trial hinged on the testimony of Stevens' longtime friend, who testified that his employees dramatically remodeled the senator's home.

Stevens faces up to five years in prison on each count but, under federal sentencing guidelines, will likely receive much less prison time, if any.

As our David Welna has noted, if Stevens is re-elected despite the conviction, the Senate's rules about whether he can continue serving are murky.

-- Evie Stone

4:02 PM ET | 10-27-2008 | permalink

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Stevens Trial Raises Senate Eligibility Questions

Can a U.S. senator continue to be a member of the upper chamber of Congress if he or she has been convicted of a felony?

The question arises because a federal jury is weighing a verdict in the trial of Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens. The Senate's longest-serving Republican is being tried on seven felony charges of lying about alleged gifts on financial disclosure forms. Stevens is also trying to get re-elected to an eighth term Nov. 4.

The answer, it seems, is a definite "maybe". US Senate Associate Historian Donald Ritchie says there have been only eleven U.S. senators in more than two centuries who've been indicted while serving. Of those, not one was expelled by fellow senators. An expulsion requires the backing of at least a two-thirds majority in the Senate. Most either resigned to avoid expulsion or were acquitted of the charges against them before the Senate took action.

According to Ritchie, the Senate can essentially do anything it wants to about indicted or convicted members. "The US Constitution gives the Senate tremendous latitude to judge the qualifications of its members," says Ritchie, "and historically the Senate's been very reluctant to expel such members."

Instead, the Senate has generally preferred to wait for the appeals process to play out for a member convicted of a felony. A member such as Stevens, even if he is convicted and then re-elected, would likely be "seated without prejudice" -- that is, allowed to be sworn in once again, but subject to further action by the Senate if an appeal is rejected. If that were to happen, the matter would likely be dealt with by either the Rules or Ethics committee before being taken up by the full Senate.

-- David Welna

6:22 PM ET | 10-22-2008 | permalink

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Stevens: Maybe a Fine, Maybe Some Jail

APRN reports: Jurors in the trial of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens heard audio recordings of conversations between Stevens and former Veco CEO Bill Allen. Allen was put on the stand by government prosecutors to build a case against Stevens for allegedly accepting more than $250,000 in gifts. One of the recorded calls, made in October 2006, Stevens told Allen:

The worst that can happen to us is we run up a bunch of legal fees, and might lose and we might have to pay a fine, might have to serve some time in jail. I hope to Christ it never gets to that. ... I don't think we have done anything wrong.

Stevens is up for re-election next month. Alaska Governor and VP nominee Sarah Palin has thus far declined to make an endorsement in the race. NPR's Ken Rudin currently predicts that Democrat Mark Begich will win the seat that Stevens has held since 1968.

-- Michael Olson

7:23 AM ET | 10- 7-2008 | permalink

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Judge in Stevens Case: No Mistrial

Reuters is now reporting that the judge presiding over the corruption case involving US Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) has rejected a bid for a mistrial. This morning, defense lawyers had persuaded the judge to suspend proceedings for the day and consider tossing out the charges. They accused the prosecution of sabotaging Stevens' case by withholding key evidence. And for the second time this week, the government's legal team has drawn the ire of the judge, leading to a number of heated exchanges. Stevens is accused of failing to disclose $250,000 in gifts he received from the oil company VECO.

-- Sean Bowditch

5:58 PM ET | 10- 2-2008 | permalink

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Dem Takes Lead In CO Sen, MN Sen Gets More Competitive

Democratic Rep. Mark Udall is gaining ground in the Colorado Senate race against Bob Schaffer (R), according to a new Quinnipiac poll. In July that poll had the race even at 44-44. Now Udall has pulled ahead of Schaffer 48-40%.

Incumbent Republican Norm Coleman appears to be slipping in the Minnesota Senate race against Al Franken (D). Coleman remains ahead by 49-42%. That is slightly less than his lead (53-38%) over Franken in July. The poll doesn't indicate what role Dean Barkley's (I) July entry into the race has played. Quinnipiac shows that Democratic support for Coleman has decreased as the campaign has worn on.

-- Michael Olson

4:39 PM ET | 09-23-2008 | permalink

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Ted Stevens in Court

Jury selection got underway today in the trial of US Senator Ted Stevens, as Thomas mentioned and Morning Edition reported. The Republican from Alaska is accused of failing to disclose $250,000 in gifts he received from the oil company VECO. The judge presiding over the case also read a list of the more than 200 potential witnesses, something of a who's who of Washington: Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), as well as former Secretary of State Colin Powell. A few of the other names on the list were, well, unexpected: a Fairbanks strip club manager, the underage ex-mistress of former VECO chief Bill Allen, and the Anchorage police detective who is looking into that relationship. Opening statements are scheduled for Wednesday.

h/t Anchorage Daily News

-- Sean Bowditch

9:10 PM ET | 09-22-2008 | permalink

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Missed It By ThatMuch!

It's two seconds too short! That is what lawyers for Minnesota Senate hopeful Al Franken are saying about the disclaimer on a Norm Coleman for Senate ad. The Franken lawyers sent a letter to station managers airing this ad.

In order to get the lowest cost for political ad time candidates need to have their likeness displayed for four seconds and in their own voices say who they are and indicate they approve of the ad. Coleman's written disclaimer is there for four seconds, but his image only appears for two. The letter asks stations to act on their own.

"Your station should refuse to run additional advertisements from Coleman or his campaign or his political committee unless paid at the rate your station charges for comparable use by other non-political advertisers."

NPR's Peter Overby tells me that the FCC doesn't have a reputation for acting on these types of claims, especially if it isn't a pervasive problem. The Coleman camp emailed the following statement:

"There's no question about who sponsored and approved this ad. This is yet another desperate attempt by Al Franken to distract from his breaking of tax law in 18 states, his breaking of workers' compensation law in New York, his degrading humor, and his pornographic writings."

Follow up questions to the Coleman camp asking if they plan to take down the ad or modify it have gone unanswered.

-- Michael Olson

4:44 PM ET | 09-11-2008 | permalink

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The Count: Franken, Barry Win

Senate Updates:
MN SEN (GOP): Comedian and activist Al Franken defeated six opponents to win the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota. Franken faces incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman in November. Franken was designated as his party's candidate months ago, but the primary made it official.

NH SEN (GOP): Sen.John Sununu (R) and ex-Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D) breezed to victory in their primaries and continue their intensive rematch of 2002, which Sununu won by just four percentage points.

House Updates:
NH-01 (DEM): Ex-Rep. Jeb Bradley (R) narrowly won his party's nomination and set the stage for a rematch in November with Carol Shea-Porter (D), who ousted him in an upset two years ago.

NH-02 (DEM): Columnist and talk-show host Jennifer Horn (R) who won her party's nomination will face freshman Democratic incumbent Paul Hodes (D).

NY-10 (DEM): Ex-MTV "Real World" celeb Kevin Powell was handed an old school Brooklyn smack down by longtime Rep. Ed Towns. Towns was in a bit of a political pickle last year when he endorsed Clinton over Obama, but he still managed to beat Powell by a 2-1 margin.

NY-13 (GOP): Robert Straniere (R) will face Michael McMahon (D) for the seat being vacated by Republican incumbent Vito Fossella, whose political career came to a screeching end when, following his arrest for drunk driving in Virginia, it was revealed he had fathered a child with another woman. This was most probably a surprise to his own wife and children back on Staten Island, and it was enough to end any thoughts of running for re-election. Fossella is the only Republican member of Congress from New York City.

NY-26 (GOP): In what was a major upset -- and a stinging defeat for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee -- Alice Kryzan, an attorney, won a hotly contested three-way Democratic battle for her party's nomination for the seat being vacated by Rep. Tom Reynolds (R). The Dem establishment had put its money on Jon Powers, an Iraqi war veteran. Kryzan faces businessman Chris Lee (R) in November.

Marion Barry Watch:
Former DC Mayor Marion Barry held onto his Ward 8 city council seat.

-- Michael Olson

12:35 AM ET | 09-10-2008 | permalink

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Ain't No Party Like A Primary Party

Polls will close tonight in seven states and the District of Columbia. It's the largest one-day primary left before the general election. NPR's Ken Rudin and Vox Politics will be keeping tabs on the returns tonight.

We're watching:
MN SEN: Al Franken, the comedian and activist who is seeking the Democratic nomination for the Senate in Minnesota against six lesser-known rivals. The winner takes on Republican incumbent Norm Coleman in November.
NH SEN: Today's primary in New Hampshire is expected to set up a rematch between Republican Senator John Sununu and the person he defeated six years ago, former Democratic Governor Jeanne Shaheen.
DE SEN: In Delaware, Democratic Senator Joe Biden is unopposed for renomination -- state law allows him to run for re-election and vice president at the same time.
New York, Wisconsin, Vermont and Rhode Island are also holding primaries today.
And in Washington, DC, former mayor Marion Barry is defending his city council seat against several fellow Democrats.

-- Michael Olson

5:47 PM ET | 09- 9-2008 | permalink

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Ted Stevens Cruises

The Anchorage Daily News reports today that embattled Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) cleaned up in yesterday's primary with 63 percent of the vote, easily defeating six challengers. Stevens was indicted on federal felony charges last month for failing to disclose more than $250,000 in gifts from the an oil field services company. He's pleaded not guilty. But his tangle with the law clearly didn't phase many voters. After his victory, Stevens told the AP the November election would be a "piece of cake". He'll now face off against Anchorage Mayor and Democrat Mark Begich, who captured 84 percent of the vote in his primary race. Check out NPR's Election Map for more info on this race.

-- Sean Bowditch

10:20 AM ET | 08-27-2008 | permalink

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Ensign Sounds Alarm On NRSC Budget

On the eve of the conventions, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) emailed the following desperate statement saying that GOPers aren't taking the Senate races seriously.

"I recently challenged my colleagues to step up to the plate and help me provide the resources our candidates need to compete in races across the country -- to match the DSCC [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee] expenditures in targeted races. It has become clear that my call has gone largely unanswered. I have no control over the timing or content of IE [Independent Expenditure] ads, but I have had no choice but to decrease the total budget of our IE Unit. It is still my hope that my Republican colleagues will engage in this election and help match what the Democrats are doing. If they do, I will adjust our budget accordingly." (Release)
Hat Tip: KUT

Senate Republicans have little to be happy about these days. A new poll by our friends at MPR indicates that with the entry of Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley and a high number of undecided voters that Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken neck and neck. Previous polls have show Franken trailing by double digits.

Republicans are looking weak and could lose their seats in Colorado, New Mexico, Mississippi's (Special), Virginia and Alaska. Republican's best hopes for a pick up at this point remains Louisiana.

-- Michael Olson

11:23 AM ET | 08-22-2008 | permalink

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What Would Miss Manners Do?

MN Sen. Norm Coleman would love to join the other 8+ GOP Sens skipping the RNC, but it just wouldn't be very Minnesota-nice of him. Coleman told MPR; "I think those who come here will have an extraordinary time. But the colleagues who don't come are staying at home only because they have tough races. If the convention wasn't in St. Paul, I wouldn't be at the convention."

-- Michael Olson

10:45 AM ET | 08-18-2008 | permalink

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Lord Faris Goes Negative On Franken

It won't be remembered as the best-produced ad of the 2008 election, but it is a painful reminder for Democrats that the once toss-up status of the Minnesota Senate race now appears to be a race that is GOP Sen. Norm Coleman's to lose. Priscilla Lord Faris entered the Democratic race after the Minnesota Democratic Party (DFL) endorsed Al Franken. Franken looked strong in January, but a recent Quinnipiac poll has Coleman enjoying a double digit lead.

MPR reports the Lord Faris campaign intends to spend $100k on the ad and that the Franken campaign will stay "focused on defeating" Coleman.

-- Michael Olson

UPDATE: Franken is up with his own ad today that addresses his nonpayment of out-of-state taxes and blasts Coleman's DC apartment rental agreement.

10:54 AM ET | 08- 7-2008 | permalink

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Blurring Party Lines

Oregon's Gordon Smith, a Republican Senator facing a tough re-election batle, is up with another ad touting his legislative collaboration with...Barack Obama (you can watch the earlier one here).

The new ad also cites Sen. Smith's work with -- wait for it -- John Kerry on a housing bill. And it notes that Smith opposed President Bush on cuts to health care funding.

NPR's Ken Rudin gives Smith an edge in November, but this election won't be a gimme for a GOP incumbent in an enthusiastically blue state. Oregon has voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 1988, and Obama drummed up an estimated 72,000-person audience at a rally in Portland in May -- his biggest turnout yet other than Berlin. So we can see why pragmatism would drive Smith to align himself with a rockstar Democrat and disassociate from the unpopular President.

But still. John Kerry? He still needs Republicans to vote for him, right??

-- Evie Stone

11:53 AM ET | 08- 1-2008 | permalink

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That Was Quick

NPR's Martin Kaste -- currently in Alaska covering the Sen. Ted Stevens imbroglio -- reports that one of Stevens' opponents in the seven-way August 26th Republican primary didn't waste any time exploiting the incumbent's indictment on corruption charges.

Long-shot Vic Vickers moved to Alaska earlier this year from Florida, where he was a registered Democrat. In a new ad, he stands in front of Stevens' Girdwood, AK home (which allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars in in free renovations in return for political favors), calling for an end to political corruption. Click on the thumbnail to watch the ad.

Stevens, the longest-serving Republican Senator in history, maintains his innocence and is still favored in the primary (though the general election matchup against popular Anchorage mayor Mark Begich is another story).

He will be arraigned at 1pm today.

-- Evie Stone

11:44 AM ET | 07-31-2008 | permalink

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Stevens Gives Up Leadership Posts, Maintains Innocence

Statement from Alaska Senator Ted Stevens

I have proudly served this nation and Alaska for over 50 years. My public service began when I served in World War II. It saddens me to learn that these charges have been brought against me. I have never knowingly submitted a false disclosure form required by law as a U.S. Senator.

In accordance with Senate Republican Conference rules, I have temporarily relinquished my vice-chairmanship and ranking positions until I am absolved of these charges.

The impact of these charges on my family disturbs me greatly.

I am innocent of these charges and intend to prove that.

-- Evie Stone

4:53 PM ET | 07-29-2008 | permalink

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Stevens Update

Ted Stevens (R-AK) has been charged with seven counts of making false statements on his Senate financial disclosure forms from 1999 to 2006. The indictments allege he accepted $250,000 in gifts and renovations on his house in Girdwood, AK from oilfield service company VECO Corp. That house was raided by the FBI last year in an earlier phase of the investigation.

Stevens is the first Senator to be indicted since 1993. He is the longest-serving GOP Senator in U.S. history and is up for re-election this year.

You can read more here.

-- Michael Olson

2:13 PM ET | 07-29-2008 | permalink

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Sen. Stevens Indicted

NPR's Ari Shapiro confirms that Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) is about to be indicted. The DOJ is holding a press conference at 1:40 PM.

Reuters reports that there are 7 criminal counts against Stevens related to his holding of office.

Stevens is up for re-election this year.

-- Michael Olson

12:50 PM ET | 07-29-2008 | permalink

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Larry vs. Larry

Attention campaign button collectors: An Obama for President campaign button in Idaho was supposed to feature the Illinois Senator and Democratic nominee alongside the Idaho Democratic Senate hopeful Larry LaRocco. The AP reports that the button instead features the other Larry from Idaho: the alleged-bathroom -cruising Republican Senator Larry Craig. Get your button now... and if you come across any extras, I'm sure Ken Rudin will pay handsomely for any that would come his way.

--Michael Olson

10:16 AM ET | 07-28-2008 | permalink

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The Expectations Game

Setting expectations is a tricky business for politicians. You want to appear confident, because it makes you look strong and intimidating...but not TOO confident because then you seem cocky and risk publicly falling short of your goals.

So at a press briefing today, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), the respective heads of the committees working to elect (and re-elect) Democrats to the Senate and the House, were endeavoring to toe that line. While they touted their party's unprecedented field operations, vastly improved early voter contact strategy, solid fundraising, and progress in the polls, Van Hollen warned against "irrational exuberance" among House candidates and Schumer cautioned that the Senate map is one of the "reddest...in a very long time" -- i.e. many of the contested seats are in majority-Republican states.

Nonetheless, Schumer's assessment of the Dems' chances were pretty darn optimistic. He repeatedly speculated that while it would be "very hard," Democrats have a chance of achieving a filibuster-proof majority of 60 Senators. (They currently hold a slim majority of 51, including two Independents who caucus with them.) It's a pie-in-the sky idea that Schumer cast as being about as likely as picking up 6 Senate seats was in 2006. Which, you'll recall, they did.

Schumer also gave a remarkably candid breakdown of where those pickups might come from (of the 35 Senate seats at stake this year, 23 are currently held by Republicans). His calls:

Likely Dem Pickups: Virginia, New Hampshire, Colorado, New Mexico, Alaska
Close/Even Contests: Oregon, Minnesota, Mississippi, Kentucky, Maine, North Carolina
Possible Pickups Under The Right Conditions: Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Georgia

You can compare Schumer's assessments with those of NPR's political soothsayer Ken Rudin on our interactive Senate map.

-- Evie Stone

3:10 PM ET | 07-23-2008 | permalink

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MN SEN: The Land of 10,000 Candidates

After failing to convince Jesse Ventura to enter the Minnesota Senate fray, Dean Barkley told MPR "I plan on going down and filing [for the race] this afternoon."

Gov. Ventura sent Barkley to Washington in 2002 to serve the final two months of Senator Paul Wellstone's term after Wellstone was killed in a plane crash shortly before the midterm elections. Barkley will run as a candidate with the Independence Party against Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and presumptive Democratic nominee Al Franken.

The Barkley bid, which could cut into Franken's anti-incumbent support, is the second batch of bad news this week for the author/comedian and talk show host. Although Franken has been endorsed by the DFL (Minnesota's Democratic Party), on Monday he received a new challenger for the state's September Primary: Priscilla Lord Faris, a personal-injury lawyer from St. Paul. Faris told the StarTribune "I've been a (Franken) supporter; I think he's a great guy, but I don't see much changed in the polls, and my passion is to see that we have a new Senator who represents all Minnesotans."

NPR's Ken Rudin says that even though Coleman is "very vulnerable" he classifies the race as leaning Republican.

--Michael Olson

11:59 AM ET | 07-15-2008 | permalink

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