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Sen. Mary Landrieu greets candidates Rep. Bill Cassidy (left) and Rob Maness after Tuesday's debate. Most observers don't see how Landrieu can pull enough support to avoid a runoff in the state's open primary. Gerald Herbert/AP hide caption

Sen. Mary Landrieu greets candidates Rep. Bill Cassidy (left) and Rob Maness after Tuesday's debate. Most observers don't see how Landrieu can pull enough support to avoid a runoff in the state's open primary.

Listening to Sen. Mary Landrieu's opponents, you might think President Obama was up for re-election. Tuesday night in Shreveport, the three candidates faced off in a debate for the first time.

Democrat Landrieu is waging hard-fought battle for re-election in a race that could help decide which party has control of the U.S. Senate. Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy and a Tea Party candidate, Rob Maness, are her main challengers in Louisiana's open primary on Nov. 4.

At the debate, whether the question was about fighting terrorism or curtailing student debt, Cassidy managed to tie Landrieu to the nation's top Democrat and her vote for his signature health care plan.

"We need a better economy than the Obama and the Obamacare economy. Sen. Landrieu, when she voted for Obamacare essential vote in a sense put a wet blanket over that economy," he said.

Cassidy is a physician from Baton Rouge, and is Landrieu's top challenger. He wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which he claims is costing consumers. "Clearly this is the unaffordable health care act," he said.

Landrieu defends her vote for the law, but says it needs some tweaks. The three-term incumbent Democrat would rather talk about positions that distinguish her from the president her support for the Keystone pipeline, and for expanding domestic energy production, for instance and that are popular in a state where the oil and gas industry dominates.

Landrieu, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, wants to make the race more about how her seniority can help the state.

"While President Obama is not on the ballot, the future of Louisiana is, and electing a senator that can get the job done when it comes to energy, building a middle class in our country and in Louisiana. Using my influence and my clout, which is really the people's influence and the people's clout in Louisiana," she said.

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In Increasingly Red Louisiana, Democrat Landrieu Struggles To Hold On

DeFranco

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LOWELL -- Democrat Marisa DeFranco endorsed Republican Congressional nominee Richard Tisei Wednesday, rather than Democratic party nominee Seth Moulton, who defeated her in the Democratic primary race for the 6th Congressional District last month.

DeFranco finished third in that five-way race, with 4,293 votes to Moulton's 36,575.

"I'm a common-sense person, a common-sense Democrat, and Richard is a common-sense Republican," DeFranco told The Sun Wednesday. "The two issues that I really care about, small business and immigration, his positions agree with mine. I know that he has a history of putting principal above party."

Moulton's campaign had little to say about the endorsement.

"In the primary, Seth was accused of being a Republican. Turns out it was actually Marisa DeFranco," Moulton's Communications Director Carrie Rankin said in response.

Tisei also drew the endorsement of Lynn Mayor Judy Kennedy on Tuesday, one of the major cities in the 6th District, which also includes Gloucester, Newburyport, Peabody and Salem, as well as the Middlesex County communities of Bedford, Billerica, Burlington, Tewksbury and Wilmington.

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In 6th District, a Democrat endorses a Republican

Marisa DeFranco

Sun staff photos can be ordered by visiting our SmugMug site.

LOWELL -- Democrat Marisa DeFranco endorsed Republican Congressional nominee Richard Tisei Wednesday, rather than Democratic party nominee Seth Moulton, who defeated her in the Democratic primary race for the 6th Congressional District last month.

DeFranco finished third in that five-way race, with 4,293 votes to Moulton's 36,575.

"I'm a common sense person, a common sense Democrat, and Richard is a common sense Republican," DeFranco told The Sun Wednesday. "The two issues that I really care about, small business and immigration, his positions agree with mine. I know that he has a history of putting principal above party."

Moulton's campaign had little to say about the endorsement.

"In the primary, Seth was accused of being a Republican. Turns out it was actually Marisa DeFranco," Moulton's communications director Carrie Rankin said in response.

Tisei also drew the endorsement of Lynn Mayor Judy Kennedy on Tuesday, one of the major cities in the 6th District, which also includes Gloucester, Newburyport, Peabody and Salem, as well as the Middlesex County communities of Bedford, Billerica, Burlington, Tewksbury and Wilmington.

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In the 6th District, a Democrat endorses a Republican

Washington The battle for control of the US Senate is getting messier thanks to tightening races in Georgia and New Hampshire.

New polls show an underdog Democrat in the South and an underdog Republican in New England close on the heels of the favorites in the two states.

These races have become tighter since September, the polls find, even as more than half a dozen other Senate races are too close to call. For now at least, uncertainty seems to be widening rather than diminishing as Election Day gets closer.

In Georgia, a poll taken from Oct. 2 to 6 finds Democrat Michelle Nunn trailing Republican David Perdue by just one percentage point, whereas most September polls showed Mr. Perdue with a lead of three points or more. The two are competing for an open seat, vacated by GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

In New Hampshire, where incumbent Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) was leading in one late-September poll by seven points and in another by 10, the most recent polls show the spread at a narrower two, three, or six points (depending on the poll). Shes being challenged by former US Sen. Scott Brown (R), who has migrated to the Granite State from liberal Massachusetts in search of a political reboot.

Republicans need a net gain of six seats to take charge of the Senate. A Brown upset in New Hampshire could count as one of those seats.

Or, if Senator Shaheen holds firm in New Hampshire and Ms. Nunn overtakes Perdue, Republicans would have a steeper climb, needing to gain seven seats rather than six.

What has happened to make these two states more competitive?

Nunn may be gaining some traction by playing up Perdues role in sending US manufacturing jobs overseas during his business career. And Mr. Brown has blasted Shaheen as soft on national defense and in alignment with President Obama on that score while making his own name better known in door-to-door campaigning.

If the underdogs have shown some new strength, though, another factor may simply be the inherent variability in polling. Its hard to know which polls best reflect the people who will actually vote on Nov. 4.

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How did Senate races in Georgia, New Hampshire become too close to call?

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SANTA FE With the election less than a month away, Democrat Hector Balderas holds a more than 8-to-1 campaign cash advantage over Republican Susan Riedel in New Mexicos race for attorney general.

Balderas spent nearly $334,825 in the past month, with three-fourths of it for television advertising, according to the latest campaign finance reports.

Balderas had cash on hand of $601,692 as of last week, and Riedel had a balance of $69,627. Her campaign spent more than $161,527, with about 90 percent for ads.

Balderas is a two-term state auditor, and Riedel is a former prosecutor and district judge from Las Cruces.

The reports filed with the Secretary of States Office cover contributions and spending from Sept. 2 through Oct. 6.

The reports due Tuesday provide a look at the financing available to candidates as they enter a critical stage of the campaign season and early voting gets underway this weekend at locations across the state.

Balderas collected $114,129 in contributions, including $5,200 each from the Sandia Pueblo and the National Education Association. Riedel raised $52,857, including $22,400 from oil and gas producers and their family members.

Here are campaign finance summaries for other offices:

Secretary of state: Democratic challenger Maggie Toulouse Oliver spent $163,792, with advertising accounting for nearly 90 percent of the total. Republican incumbent Dianna Duran spent $9,389 and had cash on hand of $206,159 for the final stretch of the campaign. Toulouse Oliver had a balance of $148,863 in her campaign account and had raised $91,828, including $10,400 from unions. Duran received $51,950 in contributions, including at least $19,000 from the oil and gas industry.

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Balderas election coffer beats Riedels by 8-to-1