New Print Edition: Minnesota Senate & National Senate Overview

The new July 28, 2006 print edition of the Rothenberg Political Report is on its way to subscribers. (Click here for subscription information.)

Minnesota Senate: A Takeover or a Makeover?
By Barry Casselman

The open U.S. Senate seat contest in Minnesota resembles one of those new super rides at an American amusement park, the ones that go wildly up and down, back and forth, and side to side, all seemingly at the same time.

This is an open seat, being vacated by Democrat Mark Dayton, and it’s too early to predict which party will claim it in November. Still, it remains one of the Republicans’ better chances for picking up a seat in this year’s midterm elections.

Minnesota suddenly is a political battleground, with a heated gubernatorial race that includes an attempt to revive the state’s Independent Party (which elected Jesse Ventura as governor in 1998), the competitive Senate race, too-close-to-call races for control of both houses of the Legislature, and two noteworthy open U.S. House races (one of which could change parties in the fall).

It is the open U.S. Senate seat that is drawing the most attention by far. The Republican nominee will be Congressman Mark Kennedy, who currently represents the conservative 6th District. The DFL nominee will be Hennepin (Minneapolis) County Attorney Amy Klobuchar.

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The Senate: Democratic Gains but Not Yet Control
Stuart Rothenberg

With a little more than three months to go until Election Day, Democrats continue to be headed for a significant gain in the Senate, but not the six seats they need to win control of that body.

Republican prospects in Pennsylvania have been dim for months, and there is no evidence that they are brightening.

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