Close Senate races leave control uncertain

Senate contests across several Republican-held states are rated toss-ups or show close polling days before the November 3 midterm elections, leaving control of the chamber uncertain. Polls, race ratings and prediction-market odds point to competitive races, but none establishes how votes will be counted. The Cook Political Report rates Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio and Texas as toss-ups. It also rates North Carolina as likely to flip to Democrats and Georgia as likely to remain Democratic, while South Carolina leans Republican. Democrats need a net gain of four Republican-held seats to control the Senate, according to NPR’s account of the race map. Recent polling gives Democrats leads in several contests. A CNN poll cited in Al Jazeera’s reporting put James Talarico ahead of Ken Paxton in Texas, 49% to 43%, and Abdul ElSayed ahead of Mike Rogers in Michigan, 49% to 42%. RealClearPolling averages cited by Newsweek showed Sherrod Brown leading Jon Husted in Ohio by 2.6 points and Josh Turek trailing Ashley Hinson in Iowa by 0.2 points. Those figures describe polls, not election results. Prediction-market odds also shifted during the week ending October 30. Polymarket showed...