[Look for the Tea Party to shake up gop stalwarts]
A LAST HURRAH?
KENTUCKY, U.S. SENATE
Normally it would be nuts to bet against Mitch McConnell. But after nearly 30 years in the Senate, the Republican leader is looking at challenges from right and left: a primary fight against Tea Party hero Matt Bevin in May and, if he survives that test, a fall matchup against Kentucky secretary of state Alison Lundergan Grimes, a Democrat.
VOTE 4
VOTE MITCH FOR SENATE
OZARK SHOWDOWN
ARKANSAS, U.S. SENATE
Mark Pryor was last elected to the Senate in 2008 with nearly 80% of the vote. Now he trails in polls behind Representative Tom Cotton, a Harvard-trained lawyer, Army veteran and rising Republican star. Pryor, whose father was a Senator and governor, is the most vulnerable of three southern Democrats facing tough re-election fights in November.
VOTE MARK PRYOR
VOTE TOM COTTON
NORTHERN REFERENDUM
ALASKA, U.S. SENATE
First-term Senator Mark Begich, a Democrat, should be an easy target for Republicans in the 49th state. But the party must first come out in one piece after a bruising primary with at least two challengers, Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell and Tea Party activist Joe Miller. Begich isn’t on friendly ground: Barack Obama lost the state by 14 points in 2012.
VOTE MARK BEGICH FOR SENATE
VOTE FOR MEAD TREADWELL [X]
Joe Miller SENATE
A HIGH-DESERT DUSTUP
ARIZONA, 1ST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
If the midterm elections were held today, surveys suggest, Republicans would gain five to 10 seats in the House, including one held by Arizona Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick. She’s the rare moderate from the President’s party in the lower chamber.
KIRKPATRICK FOR CONGRESS
VOTE ANN KIRKPATRICK
THE GULF-STATE FEUD
MISSISSIPPI, U.S. SENATE
Thad Cochran, 76, may be the last of the great Republican appropriators, a six-termer who still proudly sends millions in federal spending home. That makes him a prime Tea Party target in a deep red state. Coming up on his right: state senator Chris McDaniel. The race is deadlocked, and the must-watch primary is set for June 3.
THAD COCHRAN SENATE
VOTE CHRIS MCDANIEL [X]
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