Midterms Up Next: 5 things to look for this hour

NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press

Five things to look for in the midterms this hour:

1. Democrats know they’ve lost the Senate — the question remains how far they will be kicked while they are down. Democratic Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Mark Begich of Alaska are fighting to hold on to their seats. Louisiana is headed to a Dec. 6 runoff and Virginia’s race is so close that the counting will take some more time. Votes are just starting to come in Alaska.

2. Republicans already have surpassed their 234-seat majority in the House. How far can they run up the score? They could be on the way to surpassing the post-World War II high of 246 seats, with around three dozen races yet to be called.

3. Final votes are coming in that will determine whether Democrat John Hickenlooper will become the first incumbent governor in Colorado to lose re-election in more than half a century. Hickenlooper is running neck-and-neck with GOP challenger Bob Beauprez.

4. Will Alaska join Oregon and the District of Columbia in voting to legalize marijuana? The votes come two years after Colorado and Washington state approved recreational use of pot.

5. Votes also are being counted over whether to increase Alaska’s minimum wage, following approval in Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota. Alaska’s proposal is the highest with a climb to $9.75 by 2016. The states took up the issue after Obama could not get Congress to support his proposal to raise the minimum wage nationally from $7.25 to $10.10.

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Follow Nedra Pickler on Twitter at https://twitter.com/nedrapickler

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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