US Senate Races 2012 … GOP Poised to Take Back the Senate, Up in FL, WI, MT, NE and MA

Every one has their eye on the GOP Presidential primary and which Republican hopeful, Romney, Santorum, Gingrich, Paul, or a player to be named later will run against Barack Obama in the 2012 election. However, do not forget the all important US Senate elections. The GOP is poised to take back control from Harry Reid and the Democrats in 2012.

Republicans nearly took back control of the Senate in the 2012 midterm elections; however, because of the mere number of seats that Democrats will have to defend and the number of retirements, it is hard to imagine that Harry Reid will be Senate Majority Leader following the 2012 elections. Republicans look poised to pick up seats in Florida, Wisconsin, Montana, Nebraska and holding Massachusetts.

Election 2012: Florida Senate – Florida Senate: Mack (R) 43%, Nelson (D) 36%. Incumbent Bill Nelson finds himself in serious trouble in the battleground state of Florida. This would be a huge pick up for the GOP. Look for Senator Marco Rubio (FL-R) to be the difference for Mack.

Republican Congressman Connie Mack now posts a seven-point lead over Democratic Senator Bill Nelson in Florida’s U.S. Senate race, and the incumbent remains just ahead of his other two potential GOP rivals.

Election 2012: Nebraska Senate – Nebraska Senate: Bruning (R) 55%, Kerrey (D) 33%. Nebraska is all but lost to Democrats as Ben “the Corn Husker Kickback” Nelson is getting out of Dodge in lie of being on the wrong side of a landslide GOP victory in 2012.

Democrats hoped to give themselves a shot at holding onto a U.S. Senate seat in Nebraska by talking retired Senator Bob Kerrey into running, but the first Rasmussen Reports survey of the race finds Kerrey trailing all three of his leading Republican opponents. A new telephone survey of Likely Nebraska Voters finds state Attorney General Jon Bruning earning 55% support to Kerrey’s 33%. Four percent (4%) like another candidate in the race, and seven percent (7%) remain undecided.  (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Election 2012: Wisconsin Senate – Wisconsin Senate: Thompson (R) 50%, Baldwin (D) 36%.

Former Governor Tommy Thompson continues to be the strongest Republican contender for Wisconsin’s open U.S. Senate seat, now posting a double-digit lead over Democratic Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Wisconsin shows Thompson with 50% support to Baldwin’s 36%. Four percent (4%) like some other candidate, and 10% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Election 2012: Montana Senate – Montana Senate: Rehberg (R) 47%, Tester (D) 44%. Incumbent Democrat Jon Tester finds himself below the 50% threshold and in trouble for reelection in 2012.

Democratic incumbent Jon Tester runs slightly behind his leading Republican challenger in his bid for reelection in Montana’s U.S. Senate race.

A new telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state finds Republican Congressman Denny Rehberg earning 47% support to Tester’s 44% in Rasmussen Reports’ first look at this contest.  Four percent (4%) prefers some other candidate, while five percent (5%) are undecided.  (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Election 2012: Massachusetts Senate – Massachusetts Senate: Brown (R) 49%, Warren (D) 44%.

Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, who won the 2010 special election to finish the term of the late Ted Kennedy, holds a modest lead over his expected Democrat challenger Elizabeth Warren in the first Rasmussen Reports’ look at his 2012 reelection bid in the Bay State.

More to follow …