Millard Grimes: More key Senate races in 2016

I was writing recently about U.S. Senate races in the year 2016, and how they could affect the nations's course as much as the presidential race. Thirty-four seats out of 100 will be at stake in the Senate now controlled by the Republicans 54-46. Republicans are defending 24 seats to the Democrats' 10. In addition, Republican incumbents will be running in seven states which president Obama carried in 2014 and 2008.

Congressional elections in recent years have become more nationalized as the party labels seem to be more important than the individual candidates although incumbents still enjoy an advantage.

Here is a look at some of the Senate races not covered in the earlier column:

Georgia: Incumbent Senator Johnny Isakson (R) should win easily. No serious Democratic challenger is in sight.

Kansas: Incumbent Sen. Pat Moran (R) is running for a second term in a state that now seems generally a Republican state.

Kentucky: A Republican was just elected governor replacing a Democrat. Incumbent Senator Rand Paul (R) is still in the race for president, but Paul's percentages are so low it increasingly looks like he will have to settle for the Senate race, in which he will be a favorite.

Idaho: Mike Crapo (R) should have no trouble retaining his seat.

Louisiana: Republican incumbent David Vitter gave up his seat to run for governor and is in an early December runoff for that job. Former Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu is running again and is also in a runoff in Louisiana's unusual election process. She was defeated for reelection in 2014 and figures to lose again but you can never count a Landrieu out in Louisiana.

Maryland: Barbara Mikulski is retiring but with many residents who are federal employees, Maryland is expected replace her with another Democrat. Republicans did win the governorship in 2012. The outcome will be influenced by presidential candidate, giving Democrats a slight edge.

Missouri: Roy Blunt (R) is the incumbent and will also probably a boost from racial tension at the University of Missouri that resulted in the system's president resigning.

The closest Senate races are in the following states, with the national economy being a definite factor as well as presidential nominees:

Pennsylvania: This could be the costliest and hardest-fought election in the country. Incumbent Pat Toomey (R), who won narrowly in 2010, is one of the most conservative senators. Democrats will probably nominate Joe Sestak, their 2010 candidate, but the state has a Democratic governor, one Democratic senator and voted heavily for Obama in both 2008 and 2012.

Ohio: This is another state to watch. Incumbent Rob Portman (R) is being challenged by former governor Ted Strickland. Portman was a long-time congressman who authored the last balanced budget during the Clinton administration. Ohio has lost jobs and population for a generation but Obama can rightfully claim his policy saved General Motors and Chrysler which could have an affect.

Wisconsin: Former Senator Ron Feingold is expected to run against incumbent Ron Johnson (R) who upset him in the Republican sweep in 2010. Obama won Wisconsin in both 2008 and 2012 on the strength of a large minority turnout, which Feingold should be able to duplicate.

And in many of these state races the incumbent will be heavily favored no matter how close the state is in the presidential election. These states include Alabama: Richard Shelby Republican; Alaska, Lisa Murkowski, Republican; Arizona, John McCain, Republican; Arkansas, John Boosman, Republican; Connnecticut, Richard Blumenthal, Democrat; Hawaii, Brian Schatz, Democrat; Maine, Angus King, independent; New York, Charles Shumer, Democrat; North Carolina, Richard Burt, Republican; North Damota, John Hoeven, Republican; Oregon, Ron Wyden, Democrat; South Carolina, Tim Scott Republican; South Dakota, John Thune, Republican; Utah, Mike Lee, Republican; Vermont, Patrick Leahy, Democrat; Washington, Patty Murray, Democrat.

Scott of South Carolina, the only black Republican senator, could be vulnerable.

Actually, it's a little early to be handicapping Senate races as some of the candidates are not yet known, including the presidential candidates. Also, the economy, the situation in the Middle East and other factors, such as the final outcome of the Affordable Healthcare Act are still uncertain. The last two midyear elections and those of the presidential election year 2012 were all influenced by the health care act, and there's no reason to think it won't affect on the 2016 elections, even without Obama on the ballot. There will also be "wedge" issues such as immigration changes and the income imbalance between the top earners and the middle income and lower income earners, as well as the issue that always looms in US elections, the racial divide. All these issues cut both ways.

Most political observers have concluded that the nation is now divided, with about 40% of the voters Democratic and 40% Republican. It is the remaining 20% who really decide the election in so-called "swing states." Unfortunately, Georgia is not considered a "swing state" and hasn't been except for a few years in the 1960s when it was transitioning from consistently Democratic to consistently Republican.

The next switch is not in sight, certainly not in 2016, so don't expect too many presidential candidates to visit, but TV stations will get their usual windfall in revenue.

As usual, newspapers will simply be reporting what's going on, missing out on the flood of advertising money.

Millard Grimes, editor of the Columbus Enquirer from 1961-69 and founder of the Phenix Citizen. is author of "The Last Linotype: The Story of Georgia and Its Newspapers Since World War II."

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Millard Grimes: More key Senate races in 2016 ."