WASHINGTON (AFP) — Although all eyes are on the White House race, hundreds of other elections will be taking place around the country on November 4 as US lawmakers battle to hang onto their seats in the Congress.
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs along with a third of the 100-seat Senate, while 11 governors and thousands of local officials will also be fighting to stay in office.
Two years ago, Democrats won control of both chambers of the US Congress, taking control of the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994, in a stunning setback for President George W. Bush and his Republican party.
With polls in the White House race showing Democratic nominee Barack Obama opening up solid leads over his Republican rival John McCain, many Republicans are fearing for their seats.
Democrats are hoping to further shore up gains by boosting their Senate majority and win more than the 60 seats needed to push through legislation.
A 60-seat majority would effectively end a well-known stalling tactic known as a "filibuster" by which senators can delay or block measures they disagree with from passing through the assembly.
Analysts believe the Democrats could well add to their current total of 49 senators, but are cautious about whether they will reach the magic 60.
Currently there are also 49 Republican senators, and two independents who generally vote with the Democrats. Twelve Democratic senators are up for re-election this November and 23 Republicans, with observers believing Democrats could add five or six more seats to their tally.
"For almost 10 years, the battle for Congress was like trench warfare," wrote Amy Walter in the National Journal.
"Democrats and Republicans dug in on about 20 or 30 races and simply pummeled each other for weeks. Whoever won the lion's share of those seats owned the majority in Congress.
"This year, Democrats have a rare, not to say unprecedented, opportunity to spread the field. They have an eight-point advantage on the generic ballot, they're up almost 40 million dollars in cash-on-hand, and very few of their own seats are in serious danger."
Five Republican senators will not be contesting their seats, leaving their race wide open.
Virginia, New Mexico are seen as possible battleground states which might swing Democratic blue, while Republicans in New Hampshire, Colorado, Oregon, North Carolina and Minnesota are also nervously watching the coming weeks.
In the House, where representatives are only elected for two years, more than 24 representatives will not be standing again, also giving Democrats a chance to contest their seats.
Republicans already suffered three defeats in 2007 in "places where the Democrats should not be winning," said Jefrey Pollock, president of Global Strategy Group.
Last summer Democrats won what had been widely held to be conservative districts in southern Mississippi and Louisiana as well as northern Illinois.
But it won't be all plain sailing for the Democrats, with outgoing party senators in districts of Texas, Louisiana and Pennsylvania facing a serious challenge from Republican rivals.
According to Tim Sahd writing in the National Journal, the Republicans could lose between 12 to 15 seats in the House, which currently has 235 Democrats and 199 Republicans.
The number of representatives for each state is calculated on their populations. Thus California, the most populated state in union has 53 districts. Sparsely-populated Alaska, North and South Dakota, Delaware, Montana, Vermont and Wyoming only have one each.
The District of Columbia, which includes the capital Washington, has no elected representatives in Congress.
Meanwhile, the posts of five Republican governors and six Democrats will also be in play, with a fierce race expected in Missouri where Democrats are targetting an outgoing Republican governor.
Republicans in turn are hoping to grab North Carolina and Washington state from the Democrats.
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