Washington Post: Republicans Poised to Take Control of Senate

With six seats currently held by Democrats likely to go Republican in the 2014 midterms, the Washington Post is predicting a GOP Senate takeover.

"Republicans are poised to pick up the seats they need to retake control of the upper chamber in three weeks," the Post says.

In a state-by-state dissection of likely results, the Post picked Montana as the state most likely to flip from Democrat to Republican, noting that GOP Rep. Steve Daines is headed for an easy win over Democrat state Rep. Amanda Curtis in the seat vacated by Democrat Sen. Max Baucus, who dropped out to become ambassador to China. Real Clear Politics shows Daines with a virtually unstoppable lead of 20.5 percent.

The Post expects President Obama's lack of popularity to flip West Virginia into the Republican category, with Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, daughter of former Gov. Arch Moore, giving her opponent, Democratic Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, more than a run for her money.

In South Dakota, Real Clear Politics gives an average 9.8 percent edge to former Republican Gov. Mike Rounds over his opponents, Democrat Rick Weiland and Independent-but-Democrat-leaning Larry Pressler.

In Louisiana, Democrat Sen. Mary Landrieu, just replaced her campaign manager in the race against GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy and is looking shakier by the moment, Politico reports.

In Arkansas, Democrat Sen. Mark Pryor has a tough battle going against Republican Rep. Tom Cotton, with Cotton ahead by 4.4 percent, Real Clear Politics reports.

Republicans can take Alaska, the Post reports, with former Attorney General Dan Sullivan making full use of Alaska's pro-Republican tendency in his run against Democrat incumbent Sen. Mark Begich.

The Post also grants Republicans a good shot at taking Senate elections in Colorado and Iowa, given the recent momentum enjoyed by GOP Rep. Cory Gardner in Colorado and Republican state Sen. Joni Ernst in Iowa. Those two could make up for possible losses for Republicans in Kansas and North Carolina.

The Post's findings are in sync with those of the New York Times, which gives Republicans a 65 percent chance of taking over the Senate and considers it the "most likely" result that Republicans will end up with 52 Senate seats compared to 48 for Democrats.

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