The Senate Races Are Moving Too

The race for president is not the only election come November.  There is a big battle for control of the senate and also a struggle for control of the House.  It is most likely that the GOP will maintain control of the House barring a major move towards the Democrats which doesn't seem to be materializing.  The senate races, however, have been much less clear.  Today we got polls from Quinipiac that indicate a measure of clarity not seen previously.  In Florida, Rubio is up over his Dem challenger by 50 to 43%.  In Ohio, Portman is up over his Dem challenger by 51 to 40%.  The numbers in Pennsylvania are closer with Toomey at 46% and the Dem challenger at 45%.  In North Carolina, Burr is leading by 49 to 43% over his Dem challenger.  These are four of the races in the group that the Democrats have to win if they are to gain control of the senate.  With the exception of Pennsylvania, however, these results should be very discouraging for the Democrats.  First, Quinipiac is a respected pollster, so these results are likely not aberrations.  Second, it is not just that the GOP candidate is ahead, but rather that the GOP candidate is at 50% of the vote.  That is a very strong signal that the race is moving towards a final resolution in which the GOP senator is re-elected. 

On top of this news, we heard today that the Democrat in Ohio just cancelled half a million dollars in ads that he was buying in some of the secondary media markets in the state.  Earlier this week, some of the outside groups that fund ads for Democrats also pulled out of Ohio.  It seems that the Dems are just writing off their chances in Ohio.