Senate and Gubernatorial Rankings – September

Rankings are ‘Tilt’ (less than 5 point race), ‘Lean’ (5-10 point race) and ‘Favored ‘(10-20 point race). Anything beyond that is ‘Solid’ for either party.

August rankings at link.

http://www.swingstateproject.c…

SENATE

Dem Tilt

IL (Which matters more, state or year? I think the latter but only just.)

NV (Rasmussen’s latest has Reid up three with leaners which is probably about right.)

WI (Basically a tie in most polling. I think the DSCC will have to bail Feingold out here.)

WA (Same deal as WI and IL.)

Rep Tilt

CO (Very few post-primary polls but looks like Buck is up. Bennet has a chance because his opponent says crazy things.)

KY (Best chance of a pickup but only because of Rand Paul.)

FL (Rubio ahead thanks to the exposure of the Dem primary but Crist still well in the game.)

Rep Lean

MO (I don’t expect Blunt to win by much but I now expect him to win.)

PA (I really hope Sestak hasn’t left it too late to try and define Toomey.)

NH (Still a chance that Ayotte isn’t the nominee.)

OH (Fisher doesn’t have the money to compete.)

Dem Lean

CA (Very close to only a tilt but CA is more Dem than WA and WI.)

CT (Maybe should be favored still but the last two polls were a worry.)

Rep Lean

NC (Unless the DSCC gets involved I don’t see Marshall getting close. Unfortunately I doubt they can afford it.)

Dem Favored

WV (Need to see more polling before moving this to leans but suspect may need to.)

Rep Favored

DE (Castle probably wins the primary but it is damaging him. I think Coons will surprise people.)

IN (Like Castle, Coats never seems to poll much above 50 but the year looks to much to overcome.)

LA (Vitter doesn’t deserve his easy ride. A Dem would be toast in an equivalent state.)

AR (I seriously doubt that Lincoln loses as she polls but she is certain to lose.)

AK (Not as hopeful as some about this but I guess you never know.)

ND safely in the GOP column.

GOVERNORS

Dem Tilt

OR (Kitzhaber goes negative and not a moment too soon.)

MN (Would be leans if not for the latest poll.)

MD (O’Malley consistently leads if by a small amount.)

FL (Exit of Chiles is a boost to Sink but this is no slam dunk despite Scott’s negatives.)

MA (I suspect Cahill’s support will start to bleed away but Patrick should still squeeze past Baker.)

Rep Tilt

GA (Deal was probably the best opponent for Barnes but still tough this year.)

IL (Hopefully Quinn continues to close but he is still behind for now.)

ME (Not much polling here so anything could happen as in the primaries.)

VT (The primary may have been civil but overtime is hurting.)

NM (Denish has work to do but all is not lost.)

WI (Walker missteps mean I’m more bullish here than I was.)

CA (Whitman barrage finally takes a toll in the polls. I still think Brown can turn it around.)

Dem Lean

CT (Malloy has the advantage but I wonder if Foley’s money will yet tighten things up.)

Rep Lean

AZ (Brewer’s debate mess gives Goddard a chance.)

MI (Snyder has appeal to Dems but hopefully Bernero can yet catch fire.)

PA (Probably ends up closer than the polls suggest but not much chance of an Onorato win.)

TX (Polling seems to be moving this out of grasp which is a damn shame.)

OH (Can’t quite believe Kasich is doing this but believe we must.)

Dem Favored

CO (Governor Hickenlooper I presume!)

HI (Abercrombie likely wins primary and then the general.)

RI (Either Chafee wins or Caprio wins, neither is a Republican so we can safely count this as a Dem pickup.)

Rep Favored

SC (If any of this category tighten it will be here. Pushback in the base to Haley gives Sheheen an opening. Possibly.)

OK (Askins may yet make this competitive but probably not enough.)

IA (Ugly numbers for the incumbent means defeat.)

NV (Rory needs to avoid a blowout to help his dad.)

AL (Sparks is good but Bentley is better and this is Alabama in a heavily GOP year.)

ID (Not as big a lead for the GOP as one would expect but it is still Idaho.)

KS (Theoretically Holland may be able to exploit the state moderate/conservative split but I doubt he gets close.)

SD (Daugaaurd is popular and in 2010 that is more than enough for a Republican in a red state.)

TN (Haslam has some moderate credentials so could be worse I guess.)

AK (Parnell should be safe but Berkowitz will make him work for it.)

WY (No Freudenthal means no Dem governor.)

UT (This is Utah.)

Projection

SENATE – GOP +6

GOVERNORS – GOP +7

39 thoughts on “Senate and Gubernatorial Rankings – September”

  1. Gone:

    ND, AR, IN

    Almost Gone:

    DE, PA

    Tossup/Tilt R

    WI

    Tossup/Tilt D

    CO, NV, CA, IL

    Lean D

    WA, CT

    GOP held seats:

    Tossup/Tilt R

    KY

    Lean R:

    FL, AK (could be moved up)

    Almost Safe:

    NH, OH, MO, NC, LA  

  2.  Finally has released his first campaign ad. At least he decided that Labor Day was the time to start airing ads. NWOTSB and the ad is actually a positive one. It is pretty good as it talks about his high points as Governor and mentions 1.9 million jobs created while he was there. Here is the link:

    https://salsa.wiredforchange.c

  3. Like you, I’m curious about WV and wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it come into play.  I was watching the GOP guy’s ads over the weekend and they are really good.  Manchin might be a popular governor, but if WV votes for the other guy, it’s a win-win as they can still keep him as Gov.  PPP is supposed to poll them this week.  Since they are now using a LV screen, I’m really curious to see their numbers.  I’m starting to regret locking Manchin in Slate’s Lean/Lock game (where I am currently sitting in the top ten scores!).

    I’m not at all surprised about Kasich.  I said early on that he was being WAY underestimated.  He has one of the best records for balancing a budget in a year when that’s one of the main issues.  Plus, he looks like an overgrown schoolboy; sort of like the neighbor’s kid who you want to see do well.  Now way were the Dems going to be able to stick him with an image of a sleazy Wall Street type; the optics were all wrong.

    Here’s a funny thought – the GOP could take over the house and still not knock off Reid – would he be Minority Leader or would the Dems revolt anyway?

  4. With my current projections in parentheses.

    1. North Dakota (Hoeven +52)

    2. Arkansas (Boozman + 28)

    3. Indiana (Coats +20)

    4. Delaware (Castle +20)

    5. Pennsylvania (Toomey +8)

    6. Colorado (Buck +6)

    7. Nevada (Angle +1)

    8. Illinois (tie)

    9. Wisconsin (Feingold +2)

    10. Washington (Murray +2)

    11. California (Boxer +3)

    12. Connecticut (Blumenthal +8)

    13. West Virginia (Manchin +12)

    14. New York – B (Gillibrand +18)

    With every other Dem incumbent up 20%+.

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