Voinovich retiring

It appears, then, that our dear two-term Senator George Voinovich will be stepping down from his seat, leaving a Senate seat open in yet another swing state for the 2010 election. Electoral-vote.com has a great analysis of the Repbulican situtation in the coming year:

Currently no Democrats have announced their retirement and none of them really even look vulnerable. 2010 could be the third straight cycle in which the Democrats have the wind at their backs, in part due to psychology. If you were a Republican representative from a safe district, would it be easy to convince you to give up your seniority and safe seat for a 50-50 chance to become a freshman senator in a small and powerless minority? As a consequence of the fact that the Democrats will not only control the Senate after the 2010 elections, but may well have a filibuster-proof majority, it will be tough for NRSC chairman Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) to recruit top-tier candidates for all the open seats and also for challenging incumbent Democrats. Finally, the prospect of being in a minority with fewer than 40 seats may cause other Republican senators to retire rather than to go through a big fight and have relatively little power even if they win. Potential retirement candidates are Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY), Sen Arlen Specter (R-PA), and maybe even Sen. David Vitter (R-LA).

Talks are that like former Congressman and Cabinet member Rob Portman will be stepping up to run for the Republicans. I'm curious to knw who they are talking for the Dem side. We haven't really heard a lot yet. 

To keep track, we will now have open seats in Florida, Missouri, Ohio, and Kansas. Kansas is the open question. With Brownback retiring in Kansas, he has the possibility of running for Governor if currently Gov. Kathleen Sebelius decides she wants the Senate seat. A lot of bets are on Gov. Sebelius. She's a lot like Hillary Clinton, but a lot less sleazy in popular opinion.

Which, I think after the Blagojevich/Burris and a few other minor scandals, I think the Dems are going to need less sleazy candidates.

Maybe this isn't as good as it seems... After all, he apparently opposed the gay marriage ban. Maybe my displeasure was ill placed.