Races to Watch in ’14

[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]