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Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

How Many Tea Party Senators Will There Be?

Taylor Freitas |
November 1, 2010 | 10:53 a.m. PDT

Associate News Editor

Tea Party candidates are fighting for Senate positions across the country, but how many of them have a real chance of winning?

Tea Party supporters rally in Minnesota (Creative Commons)
Tea Party supporters rally in Minnesota (Creative Commons)

In Nevada Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is battling Republican challenger Sharron Angle, who is supported by the Tea Party. A Public Policy Polling poll released Monday shows Angle leading Reid 47 percent to 46 percent heading into Election Day, leaving this race a tossup with less than 24 hours until polls open. If Reid loses, his position would be up for grabs. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York or Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois would likely replace him.

The race in Colorado remains tight as well. Democrat Michael Bennet, the incumbent, is fighting to keep his job against Tea Party-backed Republican Ken Buck. The final PPP poll released Monday puts Buck ahead of Bennet by a margin of 49 percent to 48 percent, but a survey by YouGov/Polimetrix gave Bennet the 49-48 advantage.

In Alaska, where Tea Party candidate Joe Miller is running against Republican Lisa Murkowski, who lost the primary and then launched a write-in campaign, support for Miller is falling after several recent scandals. Democrat Scott McAdams is also in the race but running far behind. According to a FiveThirtyEight forecast model released Sunday, Miller has a 68.5 percent chance of winning despite having "the worst personal favorability numbers of the three candidates."

There isn't much of a race in Utah, where Tea Party candidate Mike Lee has a 100 percent chance of defeating Democrat Sam Granato, according to a FiveThirtyEight forecast model released Sunday.

The Tea Party is bracing for an easy win in Kentucky, where Republican Rand Paul is leading Democrat Jack Conway 55 percent to 40 percent, according to the final PPP poll released Sunday.

In Florida the three-way Senate race is expected to end with a victory for Republican Marco Rubio. Rubio, who was voted Tea Partiers' favorite candidate, has not always fully embraced the support the Tea Party has given him.

Delaware's Senate race, which puts Democrat Chris Coons against Republican Christine O'Donnell, isn't much of a race, either. Different polls show Coons' advantage at anywhere between 10 and 21 percent, but either way, he has a 100 percent chance of defeating O'Donnell, the Tea Party candidate.

 

Reach associate news editor Taylor Freitas here. Follow her on Twitter: @taylorfreitas.

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