CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS
Don't Forget, It's a Congressional Election, Too

Where will the Democratic gains come from? In Virginia, for starters, where Mark Warner will replace John Warner, who is retiring, and in New Mexico, where Tom Udall is a safe bet to replace Pete Domenici, who is also retiring. Democrats also have strong shots to take the open Republican seat in Colorado (Wayne Allard is calling it quits), and to knock off either or both Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman or New Hampshire's John Sununu. Plus two other Republicans, Maine's Susan Collins and Oregon's Gordon Smith are going to have to fight to keep their seats.

Democrats will also boost their margin in the House, helped by close to 30 GOP retirements, a big fundraising advantage and an unpopular president dragging Republicans down. But it will be tough to score a knockout because many Democratic freshmen were elected in 2006 by narrow margins in close swing districts. A gain of about 15 is most likely, lifting the Democratic advantage to a little better than 245-190.