by Bob Jones
Cover Story Sidebar | OVERVIEW: Although 34 states have Senate contests this year, fewer than one-third of those are truly competitive. The late entry of former Sen. Frank Lautenberg into the New Jersey race has tilted that state in favor of the Democrats, and the GOP looks good in the Southeast. That leaves most of the close contests in the Central Time Zone. Nine races, including five with incumbent Democrats and four with incumbent Republicans, look like nail-biters, and if the GOP is to gain control of the Senate, it will probably need a net gain of one seat from those nine close races.
