Latest Polls Show Senate, House Up for Grabs in Abortion Focused Races 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 2, 2006
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The latest polls show both the House and Senate up for grabs with numerous races featuring stark ideological contrasts between pro-life and pro-abortion candidates. Though other political issues dominate the landscape, the results of Tuesday’s elections will undoubtedly shape the direction Congress takes on pro-life concerns.
The newest Senate polls released this week have given pro-life advocates renewed hope of holding on to the Senate.
Abortion advocates must gain six seats to win control of the Senate, but it appears pro-life lawmakers may be able to keep it in their hands. Races in Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia will determine the winner.
In Missouri, both a Reuters/Zogby and Survey USA poll has pro-abortion candidate Claire McCaskill ahead of pro-life Sen. Jim Talent by three percent while a Rasmussen survey has her ahead by just one point.
Montana voters have narrowed the lead pro-abortion candidate Jon Tester has over pro-life Sen. Conrad Burns. Tester’s lead has shrunk from low double digits weeks ago to just one percent in a Thursday Zogby poll.
In Tennessee, Republican nominee Bob Corker, who has the backing of some pro-life groups, is now well ahead of pro-abortion Rep. Harold Ford. A Thursday Zogby poll shows Corker now leading by 10 percent.
Pro-life Sen. George Allen had the lead in Virginia but abortion advocate James Webb pulled out to a four percent lead in a CNN poll earlier this week. Now Allen has closed the gap and is down by just one percent.
Ohio and Maryland still remain possibilities but pro-life candidate there have some heavy lifting to do if they want to win on Tuesday. In Ohio, pro-life Sen. Mike DeWine has cut pro-abortion Rep. Sherrod Brown’s lead from 20 percent last week to 7 percent Thursday. Maryland pro-life candidate Michael Steele trails pro-abortion Rep. Ben Cardin by just 5 percent now after being shown down 11 points last week.
Pro-life candidates in Michigan (Bouchard down by double digits), Minnesota (Kennedy losing by double digits), and Pennsylvania (Santorum is down 8 percent) are less likely to win their contests while pro-life Sen. Jon Kyl appears to have a lock on his re-election bid.
Democrats need a victory of 15 seats in the House to gain control, which, despite a couple of dozen pro-life Democratic members, would almost assuredly put control of the House in pro-abortion hands.
Currently, Congressional Quarterly predicts 212-207 seats for the Democrats with 16 races too close to call. Other political observers say there are 12 seats Democrats appear likely to win and another 13 that are a toss-up and 20 that are leaning Republican.
New polls in races for governor across the nation paint a good news, bad news picture for pro-life advocates.
Alabama Gov. Bill Riley, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry all appear headed for re-election.
But pro-life candidates Len Munsil in Arizona, Asa Hutchinson in Arkansas, Bob Beauprez in Colorado, Dick DeVos in Michigan, Ken Blackwell in Ohio, Lynn Swann in Pennsylvania, and Jim Bryson in Tennessee appear to be headed for defeat.
Pro-life candidates Jim Nussle in Iowa, Tim Pawlenty in Minnesota, Jim Gobbins in Nevada, and Mark Green in Wisconsin are in very close races and need pro-life support in the last few days to win.
