Campaign Watch: Swing Seats in Congress

There are 468 congressional races in November as Republicans try to recapture control of Congress and Democrats try to extend their margins in both the House and Senate.

But for all of the energy and money partisans will plow into the fall campaign and election, the Congressional campaign will boil down to Senate campaigns in 14 states and 49 House races. The other 386 House contests will be dictated largely by the popularity of incumbents, by political tradition and by the pattern of campaign financing.

These are the races that have been identified by the Republican and Democratic parties as the pivotal contests where they will focus their financial and organizational muscle.

Here is a look at the most contentious congressional campaigns, the name of the incumbent, the state or districtís recent political history and the current candidates with the amount of campaign funding they have received in this election cycle.

The numbers: Democrats control the Senate, 51-49, because two independents, Sens. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, generally vote with them.

The Senate battleground is the 33 states where Senate seats are at stake. Of those seats, 21 are now held by Republicans, 12 by Democrats. That means Republicans must spread their resources over a larger area. The partyís problems are compounded by the retirement of five popular Republicans, four of them from swing states. Seats vacated by Sens. Wayne Allard of Colorado, Pete Domenici of New Mexico, Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and John Warner of Virginia are being hotly contested. Republicans are expected to hold onto the seat vacated by the fifth retiree, Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho.

Democrats now have a 236-199 advantage (with three vacancies) in the House. With 29 Republican representatives retiring, Democrats hope to add to that advantage.

With major debate expected over the future of the Iraq war, expiring tax cuts, health care reform, the nationís ailing public transportation system and the weakening finances of the Medicare and Social Security systems, the question of who controls Congress—and to what extent—is crucial to both parties.