Here's today's run-down on the Congressional races: Democrats are running strong in some key races, thanks to the economic crisis -- but some other opportunities could be slipping away.

Senate GOP Ad Bashes Bailout Supported By Incumbent Senator, Opposed By Dem
The NRSC has this new ad in the Oregon Senate race that is strongly critical of Wall St. and Washington, then says Dem candidate Jeff Merkley would make things worse:

"Our economy in trouble, Wall St. and Washington gambling with our money, piling up more government debt," the announcer says. It should be noted here that incumbent GOP Sen. Gordon Smith voted for the bailout, and Merkley is opposing it. And then there are the two chief leaders of the GOP, George W. Bush and John McCain, who both support it.

Al Franken's Wife Talks About Alcoholism In New Ad
The Franken campaign has this new ad out presenting an image of a very human and compassionate Al Franken, at odds with the idea of a manic and angry person that the GOP has worked to project. In this spot, Franken's wife Franni talks about her struggle with alcoholism, and Al's work to help other people with this problem:

"The Al Franken I know stood by me through thick and thin," Franni Franken says. "So I know he'll always come through for Minnesotans."

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Good news for national Dem strategists: Christine Jennings, a former Republican businesswoman who ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for Katherine Harris' open House seat in Florida, has officially announced that she will seek a rematch with freshman GOP Congressman Vern Buchanan.

National Democratic sources believe Jennings has the best of chance of any Democrat in the district, having lost to Buchanan last year by a razor-thin margin of 373 votes in a district that President Bush had carried with 56% in 2004.

Democrats widely believe that Jennings was in fact the rightful winner last year, but lost due to over 18,000 under-votes in the race from electronic voting machines in Sarasota County, where Jennings had run ahead. In fact, Jennings is still officially contesting the results in Congress.

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Vern Buchanan might have been certified as the winner in this race, but it's far from over. Democratic candidate Christine Jennings is already contesting the results, citing reports of malfunctioning voting machines, and if Jennings refuses to concede and shows enough evidence of malfunctions, the race could be decided...in the House itself.

A new article in Roll Call spells it out (paid subscription): Election watchers around the country think that the race could end up before a House committee — the House Administration Committee, which oversees Federal elections. If so, the full House, which in the end is responsible for seating new members, could potentially vote on which of the two candidates to seat, thus deciding the race's outcome itself — or could call for a new recount, or even declare the seat vacant and mandate a new election. Right now, of course, the House is still GOP-controlled, but by the time of this vote it could be in the hands of Dems — meaning Jennings could conceivably pull off a win after all.

Here's a rundown of the latest developments in the yet-to-be officially decided House races:

Fl-13: Problems still abound in this district, where about 15 percent of all Sarasota County voters using touch-screen machines didn't register a choice in the Congressional race. Lawyers for Dem Christine Jennings recently complained that GOPer Vern Buchahan is purposely stalling the audit of the voting machines by failing to offer up his an expert to participate in the process. A manual recount is underway, but the audit by the state is Jennings only real chance to successfully contest the election. Paul Kiel has more on this race over at TPMMuckraker.

LA-02: The runoff election between two Democrats, Rep. William Jeffereson and Karen Carter, will occur on Dec. 9.

NC-08: GOP Rep. Robin Hayes' lead over Dem Larry Kissell narrowed to 400 votes Friday after six counties reported official election results. Four more counties still need to report their official results. The Hayes campaign has petitioned for the majority of provisional ballots to be thrown out.

NM-01: Republicans are again claiming victory for Rep. Heather Wilson as the final tally is expected to be finished Friday afternoon.

OH-02: Local boards of elections will begin counting more than 8,200 provisional ballots on Monday. Democrats are complaining that confusion of voter ID laws will cause many votes to not be counted.

OH-15: The final count will be delayed until Nov. 27 because of new rules for counting provisional ballots. About 19,500 absentee and provisional ballots remain to be counted in the district. GOP Rep. Deborah Pryce currently leads Dem Mary Jo Kilroy by 3,536 votes.

TX-23: The runoff election between GOP Rep. Henry Bonilla and Dem Ciro Rodriguez has not been officially scheduled yet, but will occur no sooner than Dec. 12.

WY-AL: Dem Gary Trauner has officially decided against seeking a recount solidifying GOP Rep. Barbara Cubin's victory.

For a complete look at all the results of the midterms, check out TPM's Election Central Scoreboard here.

The current Dem pickup stands at 28 House seats, with no losses and 10 races still undecided — and the latest is that no one has conceded their races since late last week. A full rundown of where the outstanding races stand right now after the jump.

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The current Dem pickup stands at 28 House seats, with no losses and 10 races still undecided. Here's where they are now:

Dem-Leaning:

CT-02: Dem challenger Joe Courtney has declared victory with an 167-vote edge, but the miniscule margin automatically triggers a recount. The 167-vote margin includes absentee and military ballots, but not provisional ballots, which need to be verified before being counted. The recount must be completed by midnight next Wednesday.

GA-12: Incumbent Dem John Barrow leads by less than 1,000 votes, with a recount being likely. Barrow has declared victory. If Dems hold this seat, they will have completely shut out the GOP on House, Senate and governorship pick-ups.

Republican-Leaning:

FL-13: The race for Katherine Harris's open seat is potentially going to the courts. Dem Christine Jennings trails by less than 400 votes, with reports of voting-machine problems.

NC-08: Down by 346 votes, Dem Larry Kissell is calling for a recount in his race against GOP Rep. Robin Hayes, who has already declared victory. Provisional ballots won't be counted until Nov. 17, and the official result will not be certified until Nov. 28. In North Carolina, recounts have traditionally favored the candidate who leads going in.

NM-02: GOP Rep. Heather Wilson leads by 1,395 votes, with provisional and absentee ballots yet to be counted.

OH-02: GOP Rep. Jean Schmidt has declared victory, but Dem Victoria Wulsin is waiting for all provisional ballots to be counted before conceding. Though a Wulsin victory is still a possibility, she seems to be facing a statistical uphill battle.

OH-15: With a lead of 2,835 votes GOP Rep. Deborah Pryce has declared victory, but Dem opponent Mary Jo Kilroy will not concede until some 20,000 uncounted absentee and provisional ballots are tallied, a sum which she feels could tilt the election towards her. Pryce has also announced she will not seek re-election for Chair of the House Republican Conference if she wins.

WA-08: GOP Rep. David Reichert holds a two-point lead over Dem Darcy Burner with three-fifths of the district's ballots now counted. If the final vote count ends with the candidates a half a percentage point or less apart, state law requires a recount.

WY-AL: Dem Gary Trauner, trailing Rep. Barbara Cubin by 970 votes, might request a recount after canvassing is completed. However, his current deficit is a few dozen votes larger than the margin that would provide for a state-paid recount. Cubin has declared victory.

Runoff:

TX-23: GOP Rep. Henry Bonilla fell short of 50 percent, and faces a runoff with former Dem Rep. Ciro Rodriguez

Though the Democrats have conclusively gained control of the House with a pick up of at least 27 seats, 13 races have yet to be officially called by at least two major news sources. Here's why:

Update: CNN and NBC have both called GA-08 for Dem Rep. Jim Marshall and PA-06 for GOP Rep. Jim Gerlach.

Update 2: In PA-08, GOP Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick concedes.

* CT-02: Democrat Joe Courtney leads, but still too close to call, waiting for a recount. A Courtney victory would be another Dem pick up.

* FL-13: GOPer Vern Buchanan declared victory in this race to succeed GOP Rep. Katherine Harris, but Dem Christine Jennings won't concede until a recount, which won't be completed until Nov. 18. Voting problems are suspected to have occurred in the district.

* GA-08: Dem Rep. Jim Marshall leads GOPer Mac Collins by 2,048 votes — outside the 1% recount zone — but the race won't be certified until Friday. Called for Marshall.

* GA-12: Dem Rep. John Barrow declared victory, but it has not been confirmed by GA election officials due to server problems in one county.

* NC-08: GOP Rep. Robin Hayes declared victory, but a recount is expected as he only leads Dem Larry Kissell by 468 votes. A Kissell victory would be a surprise pick up for the Democrats.

* NM-01: No winner declared in this close race where provisional and absentee ballots are still waiting to be counted. A victory by Patricia Madrid would be another pick up for the Dems.

* OH-02: Dem Victoria Wulsin has refused to concede, but GOP Rep. Jean Schmidt leads by slim margin.

* OH-15: Fox News called it for GOP Rep. Deborah Pryce, but Dem Mary Jo Kilroy will not concede, waiting for absentee ballots to be counted.

* PA-06: The Philadelphia Inquirer has called it for GOP Rep. Jim Gerlach, but no other official source has followed suit. Called for Gerlach.

* PA-08: Dem Patrick Murphy declared victory, but GOP Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick refuses to concede. A Murphy victory would be another Dem pick up. Fitzpatrick concedes.

* TX-23: There will be a run-off election between GOP Rep. Henry Bonilla and Dem Ciro Rodriguez because Bonilla failed to win more than 50% of the vote.

* WA-08: GOP Rep. David Reichert leads Dem Darcy Burner, but more than 10,000 absentee ballots still need to be counted.

* WY-AL: Race between GOP Rep. Barbar Cubin and Dem Gary Trauner is too close to call and a recount is expected. A Trauner victory would be another Dem pick up.

Speaking of Florida, CQ Politics is reporting that Dems are making serious gains in their efforts to take Katherine Harris' old seat from the GOP. CQ has just changed its rating of the race between GOPer Vern Buchanan and Dem Christine Jennings from "Leans Republican" to "No Clear Favorite," a reflection of what CQ calls Buchanan's "problems" and Jennings' "strong upset bid." CQ reports that President Bush will make a last minute appearance tomorrow in a last-ditch effort to shore up Buchanan. CQ's full analysis here.

It's not often that campaigns point to internal polls showing them losing as evidence that they're doing well, but that's exactly what Vern Buchanan, the GOP candidate for Katherine Harris' seat, has just done. A few days ago Dem candidate Christine Jennings released her own internal numbers showing her her up 52-41, and Buchanan responded by disputing those numbers in an interview with the Bradenton Herald. To prove he was doing well, he told the paper that his own internals have him behind, but only "within the margin of error" — and declined to elaborate further. The admission by Buchanan that his own internals have him down suggests that the Harris seat is increasingly likely to go Democratic.

CQ Politcs has changed the ratings for three more House races tonight, bringing today's total to five -- Every one of them positive for Democrats.

* In Fl-13, the race between GOPer Vern Buchanan and Dem Christine Jennings changed from "Republican Favored" to "Leans Republican":

Buchanan benefits from the Republican leanings of the Gulf Coast district, which Harris left open to run for the Senate. And Buchanan — a wealthy car dealer and longtime GOP fundraiser — has a big edge in campaign money over the Democratic nominee, former banker Christine Jennings.

But with the GOP facing a bad and worsening national political environment, and Buchanan still bruised from attacks by Republican primary opponents about his personal business practices, the times are anything but normal.

* In OH-13, the race between Democrat Betty Sutton and Republican Craig Fultin changed from "Leans Democratic" to "Democrat Favored":

...it has been an uphill climb for the GOP in the race for the 13th District seat that Ohio Democratic Rep. Sherrod Brown left open to run for the Senate.

The district, which links suburbs of Cleveland to part of Akron and that city’s suburbs, has a pronounced if not lopsided Democratic lean. The Democrats nominated a solid candidate of their own in former state Rep. Betty Sutton.

And Republicans’ hopes for a late campaign surge by Foltin have been hobbled by the darkening of an already cloudy national political environment for the Republican Party.

* In NY-19, the race between Dem John Hall and GOPer Sue W. Kelly changed from "Republican Favored" to "Leans Republican":

But the difficulties faced this year by the national Republican Party; the emergence of a strong and attention-grabbing Democratic challenger in John Hall, literally a former rock star; and now the acrid scandal involving resigned Florida Republican Rep. Mark Foley — to which Hall and fellow Democrats are trying to tie Kelly — have made this year’s race far more treacherous for the incumbent.

Check out today's other changes here and here.

Justin Rood is right: with so many good Katherine Harris stories out there, it’s easy to get hooked. You try to cut down. But then one comes along that’s too good to pass up.

At a Putnam County Republican dinner last weekend, the Senate candidate and Republican congresswoman made a shocking claim. Several of Florida’s House Democrats, she said, told her they are rooting for her to defeat incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson (D). The Orlando Sentinel’s Jim Stratton, rightfully incredulous, contacted the state’s seven House Democrats. Here’s what two had to say.

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