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Democrats, after suffering the indignity of losing their Senate majority in 2014, have high hopes of winning it back in 2016. That is in large part because the political map for Senate elections next year seems to be tilted in their favor, mirroring the GOP-favored battlefield of 2014.

What is more, Democrats expect to benefit from the fact that 2016 is a presidential election year and many of the states hosting marquee Senate contests such as Pennsylvania and Colorado will also be presidential battlegrounds. That is good news for Democrats because the partys key constituencies single women and minorities tend to turn out in much larger numbers for presidential elections than in midterm elections.

Democrats faced a dismal map in the 2014 midterms because they were defending 21 Senate seats while Republicans were defending only 15. Worse still, seven of the Democrats up for re-election were in hostile political territory states that Mitt Romney had won in 2012.

Now the shoe is on the other foot. In 2016, Democrats have only 10 seats to defend, and Republicans have 24 including seven in states that President Barack Obama won twice.

Among the most vulnerable incumbents: GOP Sens. Mark Kirk of Illinois, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, according to a preliminary ranking by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

Among Democrats, only Sens. Harry Reid of Nevada and Michael Bennet of Colorado are expected to face competitive races.

With the Senate split 54-46, Democrats need to pick up at least four seats to win a majority (five if Republicans win the White House because the vice president casts the tie-breaking vote in a 50-50 Senate.)

Although Democrats have a much stronger hand than they did in 2014, the map isnt tilted quite as steeply in their favor as it was for Republicans last year. The Democrats who were vulnerable in 2014 were fighting in much more challenging terrain Mark Pryor in deeply conservative Arkansas and Mark Begich in Alaska, for example than the swing states Republicans are fighting on in 2016.

Ron Johnson starts with a better chance of getting re-elected in Wisconsin than Pryor started off with in Arkansas, said Nathan L. Gonzales, an analyst with the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report. Arkansas is more red than Wisconsin is blue.

What is more, Republicans in 2014 benefited greatly from a wave of retirements by Democratic senators from conservative states like West Virginia, Montana and South Dakota, which were poised to fall to GOP hands. So far, no Republican has announced his or her retirement, although Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida may quit to run for president.

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Why Democrats Think Theyll Retake the Senate in 2016

The move comes after Democrats, who were upset GOP leaders decided to fast-track the legislation, threatened to block taking up the bill. Democrats fear immediate consideration could disrupt the sensitive talks with Iran that face an important March 24 deadline.

Skeptical the administration can cut a tough deal with Iran, Republicans wanted to act quickly on the bill, which was introduced just last week by the Republican chairman and ranking Democrat of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Republicans hoped to seize on momentum from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's powerful address to a joint meeting of Congress Tuesday, in which he urged the U.S. not to accept an agreement with Iran that would leave that country on track to build nuclear weapons in the near future.

The measure is opposed by the Obama administration, which said this week it would veto it. But Democrats, mindful of the White House's objections, have already felt divided on the issue and were critical of what they saw as partisan motives in the decision by Republican House Speaker John Boehner to invited Netanyahu to deliver an address to Congress arguing against the president's policy on Iran.

READ: Iran nuclear talks hit speed bumps

Senate Democratic aides said they believe that disrupting Democratic support for the bill was McConnell's aim all along to again drive a wedge between the two parties on Israel, and make it seem as though Democrats aren't as supportive of the Middle East nation and as tough on national security issues as Republicans.

Though McConnell denied speeding up consideration of the bill for partisan ends, both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill hoping to move forward with the measure told CNN that the move to fast-track the bill had poisoned the well and undermined progress on getting Democrats to sign on.

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez, who sponsored the bill along with Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker, penned a letter along Wednesday with 10 fellow Democratic supporters of the bill saying that they would oppose voting on it before March 24.

In a statement Thursday, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said he was pleased McConnell had backed off his fast-track plan, which Reid charged was motivated by politics.

"Senator McConnell made the right decision by heeding calls from Democrats and Republicans to back off his transparently political move. Protecting Israel and the world from a nuclear-armed Iran is too important of an issue to use in partisan political games," Reid said.

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McConnell delays vote on Iran bill

Democrats Counter Social Security Proposal: Tax the Rich
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FNR: Election 2016: The Democrats
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FNR: Election 2016: The Democrats - Video

Hypocrisy to the Hilt, Democrats seek exemption from Obamacare
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Hypocrisy to the Hilt, Democrats seek exemption from Obamacare - Video