3 U.S. Senate seats could swing control

WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The ballot fates of U.S. senators in California, Washington and Wisconsin may determine if Senate power swings to Republicans, a political writer says.

Sens. Russ Feingold, Patty Murray and Barbara Boxer face tough GOP opposition in the U.S. midterm elections Nov. 2, Politico senior political writer Jonathan Martin wrote.

All told, 37 of the Senate's 100 seats are up for grabs, along with all 435 U.S. House of Representatives seats.

Wisconsin's Feingold, known for co-sponsoring 2002's McCain-Feingold bipartisan campaign finance reform act, faces a challenge from wealthy business executive Ron Johnson, who says his campaign is about "freedom first" and has been advertising on TV since June.

"I'm going to spend what I need to get my message out," Johnson, who can fund his own campaign, told Martin.

Feingold touts that he opposes the war in Afghanistan and the U.S. government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, both initiated by U.S. President George W. Bush and now tied to U.S. President Barack Obama.

Washington's Murray, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is running neck-and-neck in polls with real estate salesman and former state Sen. Dino Rossi, a Republican who lost the 2004 governor's race by 129 votes.

Murray is on the state's airwaves "slamming Rossi for saying he opposed the new Wall Street regulations," Martin writes.

Rossi, who also opposes abortion rights, says Murray has "never had an opponent who had universal name identification."

California's Boxer, chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has a much bigger war chest than Republican challenger former Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina -- $11.3 million in early July compared with $952,786 for Fiorina, who won a contested primary June 8.

But Fiorina could tap into her own wealth, Martin writes.

Fiorina opposes abortion rights and same-sex marriage and says in a campaign ad that Boxer's concerns over global warming are like worrying about "the weather."

A July California Field Poll showed Boxer with 48 percent of likely voters disapproving of her performance and 42 percent approving.