Voters in 37 US states will go to the polls on November to elect members of the US Senate.
In 34 states, senators will be elected for full six-year terms, replacing those senators elected in 2004.
In three other states, special elections will be held to elect senators to serve the remainder of terms after seats previously fell vacant and were temporarily filled by appointments by each state’s governor. Seats in New York (last elected 2006) and Delaware (last elected 2008) were vacated by Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden upon their appointment to positions in the Obama administration. Robert Byrd’s seat in West Virginia, last filled in 2006, was vacated in June on Byrd’s death.
Overall, the Democrats hold fifty-seven seats in the Senate, the Republicans hold fourty-one, and there are two independents: Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, who identifies as a socialist and caucuses with the Democrats, and Connecticut’s Joe Lieberman, a former Democrat who was defeated in the party’s primary in 2006 after his strong support of the Iraq war. He also caucuses with the Democrats, but often has supported Republican positions.
The Democrats turned around a 55-45 Republican majority in 2006, winning a 51-49 majority, including Lieberman and Sanders. Another big result in 2008 saw the Democrats win a 59-41 majority. In April 2009, Republican Senator Arlen Specter defected to the Democrats, giving them a fillibuster-proof 60-40 majority.
After a difficult first year of the Obama administration in 2009, the Democrats lost their fillibuster-proof majority in the Senate in January 2010 when Republican candidate Scott Brown won a special election in Massachusetts following the death of Senator Ted Kennedy.
In 2010, the Democrats are defending 16 seats, and the Republicans are defending 18, as well as the three special elections, which are all being held in Democratic seats.
Key Senate races of interest in 2010 include:
- Delaware – Previously held by Vice President Joe Biden from 1972 to 2008, he won re-election on the same day that he was elected Vice President, and immediately resigned his Senate seat. Held by Biden’s former chief of staff Ted Kaufman, who is not running for re-election in 2010. Primaries will be held on September 14, but former Governor Mike Castle is expected to win the Republican nomination, and is the favourite to win the seat.
- North Dakota – Held by retiring Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan since 1992, it is expected to fall to the Republicans, who are running John Hoeven, who has been Governor of North Dakota since 2000.
- Arkansas – Sitting Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln is running for re-election, but is expected to lose by a large margin to US Representative John Boozman, who is well ahead in the polls.
- Indiana – Sitting Democratic Senator Evan Bayh is retiring. Republican Dan Coats is running well ahead of Democrat Brad Ellsworth.
- Pennsylvania – Held by Senator Arlen Specter, who was a Republican Senator from 1980 until 2009, when he defected to the Democrats under the threat of a primary challenge from the right. Instead, he faced a primary challenge from the left, losing the Democratic primary in May to Joe Sestak. Sestak is currently trailing Republican candidate Pat Toomey.
- Colorado – This seat was held by Democrat Ken Salazar until 2008, when he resigned to serve as President Obama’s Secretary of the Interior. Michael Bennet (Dem) was appointed to fill the seat. He is running for re-election against Ken Buck (Rep).
- Nevada – Held since 1987 by Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader (Dem). Reid is being challenged by Sharron Angle (Rep), and is slightly leading in recent polls.
- Florida – Previously held by Republican Mel Martinez, who won a close race in 2004. Martinez retired in 2009, and was replaced by George LeMieux, former chief of staff to Florida Governor Charlie Crist. LaMieux is not running for re-election. Crist originally planned to run as a Republican, but was trailing in the Republican primary behind Marco Rubio, and withdrew from the primary to run as an independent. The Democrats are running Kendrick Meek.
- Illinois – Held by Barack Obama from 2004 until his election as President in 2008. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was caught out attempting to sell the Senate seat, and after that appointed former state Attorney-General Roland Burris, before he was impeached and removed as Governor. The Democratic primary was won by Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias in a contested race, with Burris not contesting. The Republican primary was won by US Representative Mark Kirk. Giannoulias is holding a slim lead in polling.
- Washington – Held by Democrat Patty Murray since 1993. Washington held a “top two primary”, with all Democrats and Republicans running in a single primary, with Patty and Republican state senator Dino Rossi going through to the general election. Murray has led in most polls, but not by much.
- California – Senator Barbara Boxer (Dem) is running for a fourth term. While California usually leans Democrat, Boxer had tough contests in 1992 and 1998, and is being challenged by Republican businesswoman Carly Fiorina. Boxer has led in most polls, but not by much.
- Wisconsin – Held by Democrat Russ Feingold. The Republican primary in September is expected to be won by businessman Ron Johnson, who is running neck-and-neck with Feingold.
- Kentucky – Normally a safe Republican seat, Kentucky is held by the retiring Jim Bunning. The Republican primary was won by Tea Party activist Rand Paul, son of former presidential candidate Ron Paul. Paul has proven a controversial candidate, with extreme views on some issues causing him problems. While this has given Jack Conway (Dem) a fighting chance, Paul still leads by a slim margin in all recent polls.
