Yesterday, we posted an article called "The Sky is Really Falling." In it we pointed out that the Republicans were within striking distance of regaining control of both Houses of Congress. That is no longer the case. Thanks to President Obama, they know should actually regain control of the Senate as well as the House. Yesterday, the Republicans were ahead in nine Senate races which is held by a Democrat. Well, today make that 10 Senate races. Since the Republicans now hold 41 seats since the election of Scott Brown, adding 10 more gives them control of the Senate 51-49 if the election were held today.
What has happened since yesterday is that Rasmussen Polling has released a new poll for the Illinois Senate now that the primary election is over and the candidates have been determined. Lo and behold, the Republican candidate Kirk is ahead of the Democrat candidate Giannoulias 46 to 40. Now there is a caveat here in that in three of these races the Republican who is leading the Democrat have not promised to run yet even though control of the Senate is at stake. This means that Pataki in New York, Thompson in Wisconsin and Rossi in Washington have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the race.
Finally the President has an accomplishment he can point to with pride. What? This was not the accomplishment you had in mind, Mr. President? Bummer. Here are the races with the poll results and the links to them:
| State | Name | Polling Results | Takeover Probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | Open | Hoeven 55, Heitkamp 34 | #89.5% |
| Delaware | Open | Castle 56, Coons 27 | #86.3% |
| Colorado | Michael Bennet | Norton 46, Bennet 37 | #73.0% |
| Pennsylvania | Arlen Specter | Toomey 46, Specter 38.3 | 71.6% |
| Massachusetts | Open | Brown 51, Coakley 46 | #66.1% |
| Washington | Patty Murray | Rossi 45, Murray 43 | 61.9% |
| Illinois | Open | Kirk 46, Giannoulias 40 | #61.2% |
| Wisconsin | Russ Feingold | Thompson 47, Feingold 43 | 60.4% |
| Nevada | Harry Reid | Tarkanian 52, Reid 41 | #60.3% |
| Arkansas | Blanche Lincoln | Boozman 56, Lincoln 33 | 59.0% |
| New York | Kirsten Gillibrand | Pataki 43.3, Gillibrand 42.8 | #58.4% |