2006 Senate showdowns

Over on the right, and a little down the page I've been trying to track recent polls on possible U.S. Senate contests for 2006. They are the most current numbers that I have come across, and I will update them each time a new poll pops up.

Zogby and the Wall Street Journal have begun their monthly polling round up of Senate races (and Governors), and rather than put them all in the side bar, I'll more than likely give them a post to keep you updated.

Zogby polls show Democrats picking up both Ohio (Hackett 44.2, DeWine 35.9) and Pennsylvania (Casey 51.2, Santorum 42.4), with New Jersey unsettled but leaning Republican. Democrats lead in the unsettled states of Maryland and Minnesota (Klobuchar 49, Kennedy 42.9).

The Minnesota poll numbers stood out the most, as it is a seat Dems need to hold. Mark Dayton announced his retirement after only one term, and I'm happy to see there is a Democrat who, early on, could take down the Republican golden boy. Hopefully these numbers don't change.

Also one to pay attention to is the Kyl/Pederson battle in Arizona. Kyl, the Republican incumbent, currently leads by nine points, but I would be interested to see name recognition numbers for Pederson in this race.

It's still a long way off, so take all of these numbers with a grain of salt. I believe, if all these numbers stay the same, that Democrats will show a net gain of 1 seat, which I think would be a huge disappointment. Clearly Democrats have their work cut out for them.