Kentucky
Bunning Tries to Avoid Late Collapse in Kentucky Senate race
AP, October 25
This time, the Kentucky Republican's problem has been a series of embarrassing gaffes that have eroded his lead over Democratic long-shot challenger Daniel Mongiardo to 6 percentage points and produced editorials questioning whether Bunning, at 73, is mentally fit. First, he compared Mongiardo's appearance to one of Saddam Hussein's sons. Then he made an unsubstantiated claim that opposition staffers beat his wife "black and blue" at a political picnic. Most recently, he admitted he wasn't aware that a group of Army reservists had refused a convoy mission in Iraq, saying he watches only Fox News for information and hasn't read a newspaper in six weeks.
More states below the fold
More Kentucky
Christian Science Monitor, October 28
Now, analysts are calling a race that Bunning once led by 26 points a possible Democratic pickup for challenger Daniel Mongiardo, who has fought to within a few points in recent polls. It's one of many races this year that are closer than predicted only a few weeks ago - shifts that go beyond ordinary end-of-campaign tightening of poll numbers. Democrats still face an uphill fight for control of either the Senate, where they need a net gain of two seats, or the House, where they need a net gain of 12. But the GOP can't take for granted its lock on Capitol Hill, which had been expected to hold until 2006. In addition to Kentucky, eight other Senate races are still too close to call within a week of the vote. On the House side, a handful of races are also suddenly more volatile.
Florida
Castor, Martinez Fates Tied to Top of the Ticket
Miami Herald, October 25
But the most powerful force driving the Senate race is not undecided voters, or a dark-horse candidate, or any one issue. It's the headline-hogging, commercial-crazy presidential race. ''Castor and Martinez will probably have to wait to see who is victorious at the top of the ticket to see if they will be the next U.S. senator,'' said Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway, who conducted the survey with Democratic pollster Rob Schroth. With presidential contenders John Kerry and George W. Bush also tied in the poll, both races will come down to turnout on Nov. 2, the pollsters said. ''I fully expect that the Senate outcome will be driven by the success of either the Republican or Democratic candidates for president get-out-the-vote programs,'' Schroth said. ``The question is: Who can get their people to the polls?''
South Carolina
Democrat Shows Surprising Strength in S.C. Senate Race
Washington Post, October 28
When Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) announced his retirement 14 months ago, the conventional wisdom was that Republicans -- already strong in South Carolina and likely to add to their strength with President Bush on the ballot -- would almost certainly pick up the seat. But, in one of the biggest surprises of the sharply contested and unpredictable battle for control of the Senate, Democrat Inez Moore Tenenbaum, the state superintendent of education and the state's top vote-getter in the past two elections, has made the race competitive.
North Carolina
Clinton Works For, Against Bowles
Charlotte Observer, October 28
One historic development during that time, though, was Clinton's dalliance with Monica Lewinsky. It soiled Clinton's legacy and haunts Bowles' campaign. Clinton "gives the country a bad name for what he did," said Joyce Cooke, 61, who is still a Bowles supporter and showed up for a small Saturday morning rally in Goldsboro last weekend. "He lost respect." Burr has saturated television broadcasts with ads slamming Bowles as having "Clinton values," replete with video images of the two together. The message resonates among the state's social conservatives.