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Washington The battle for control of the US Senate is getting messier thanks to tightening races in Georgia and New Hampshire.

New polls show an underdog Democrat in the South and an underdog Republican in New England close on the heels of the favorites in the two states.

These races have become tighter since September, the polls find, even as more than half a dozen other Senate races are too close to call. For now at least, uncertainty seems to be widening rather than diminishing as Election Day gets closer.

In Georgia, a poll taken from Oct. 2 to 6 finds Democrat Michelle Nunn trailing Republican David Perdue by just one percentage point, whereas most September polls showed Mr. Perdue with a lead of three points or more. The two are competing for an open seat, vacated by GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss.

In New Hampshire, where incumbent Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) was leading in one late-September poll by seven points and in another by 10, the most recent polls show the spread at a narrower two, three, or six points (depending on the poll). Shes being challenged by former US Sen. Scott Brown (R), who has migrated to the Granite State from liberal Massachusetts in search of a political reboot.

Republicans need a net gain of six seats to take charge of the Senate. A Brown upset in New Hampshire could count as one of those seats.

Or, if Senator Shaheen holds firm in New Hampshire and Ms. Nunn overtakes Perdue, Republicans would have a steeper climb, needing to gain seven seats rather than six.

What has happened to make these two states more competitive?

Nunn may be gaining some traction by playing up Perdues role in sending US manufacturing jobs overseas during his business career. And Mr. Brown has blasted Shaheen as soft on national defense and in alignment with President Obama on that score while making his own name better known in door-to-door campaigning.

If the underdogs have shown some new strength, though, another factor may simply be the inherent variability in polling. Its hard to know which polls best reflect the people who will actually vote on Nov. 4.

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How did Senate races in Georgia, New Hampshire become too close to call?

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SANTA FE With the election less than a month away, Democrat Hector Balderas holds a more than 8-to-1 campaign cash advantage over Republican Susan Riedel in New Mexicos race for attorney general.

Balderas spent nearly $334,825 in the past month, with three-fourths of it for television advertising, according to the latest campaign finance reports.

Balderas had cash on hand of $601,692 as of last week, and Riedel had a balance of $69,627. Her campaign spent more than $161,527, with about 90 percent for ads.

Balderas is a two-term state auditor, and Riedel is a former prosecutor and district judge from Las Cruces.

The reports filed with the Secretary of States Office cover contributions and spending from Sept. 2 through Oct. 6.

The reports due Tuesday provide a look at the financing available to candidates as they enter a critical stage of the campaign season and early voting gets underway this weekend at locations across the state.

Balderas collected $114,129 in contributions, including $5,200 each from the Sandia Pueblo and the National Education Association. Riedel raised $52,857, including $22,400 from oil and gas producers and their family members.

Here are campaign finance summaries for other offices:

Secretary of state: Democratic challenger Maggie Toulouse Oliver spent $163,792, with advertising accounting for nearly 90 percent of the total. Republican incumbent Dianna Duran spent $9,389 and had cash on hand of $206,159 for the final stretch of the campaign. Toulouse Oliver had a balance of $148,863 in her campaign account and had raised $91,828, including $10,400 from unions. Duran received $51,950 in contributions, including at least $19,000 from the oil and gas industry.

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Balderas election coffer beats Riedels by 8-to-1

The race for Kane County sheriff between Republican Don Kramer and Democrat Willie Mayes is not only a contest between two experienced, educated lawmen, but also carries an undercurrent of past issues between Kramer and current Kane County Sheriff Pat Perez, a Democrat, extending to Perezs endorsement of Mayes over Kramer for the Nov. 4 general election.

Perez beat Kramer for the sheriffs post in 2010. Perez is not seeking a third term.

Kramer said Mayes is a lieutenant because Perez wanted to position him to run for sheriff, not because Mayes earned it.

It was a political promotion, Kramer said.

In a candidate forum, Mayes had said his promotion in May 2014 was the result of his hard work as a sergeant since 2003.

Sheriff Perez was consistent in promoting from within, Mayes said. The sheriff has promoted from within in other divisions. And so, Mr. Kramer can make an accusation, but he is out of touch.

Perez said Kramer is wrong.

For Don to say that, this is a man who lives in glass houses throwing stones, Perez said. I promoted [Mayes] because he was deserving of promotion. He took over the planning and training division ... a vital part of our organization.

Kramer had said at a forum that Perez endorsed Mayes because the sheriff did not want his former opponent to be in that office.

I wouldnt want my opponent to be somebody who worked at the office. I might hold that against them, Kramer had said.

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Sheriff candidates clash: Kramer, Mayes spar over issues past and present

ST. PETERSBURG Floridas Senate District 22 has a rare blue tinge to it, something from which Democrats are trying to benefit in this years elections.

In their quest to defeat Republican incumbent Sen. Jeff Brandes, Democrats have placed their hope in Judithanne McLauchlan, a political science professor at University of South Florida St. Petersburg.

The contrast between the two is visible something the attack ads running on eachs behalf are trying to exploit but each espouses a populist message in an election year where standing next to a utility giant like Duke Energy amounts to political poison.

Shaped like a sideways capital T, the district, at its widest, runs from Belleair Shore to Tierra Verde. It traverses the Pinellas Peninsula between Seminole and central St. Petersburg, cutting across the bay into South Tampa.

It leans Democrat, but Brandes was elected to the seat in 2012 after serving in the state House for two years.

Brandes, a multimillionaire heir to his familys Tibbetts Lumber Co. (formerly Cox Lumber), is a relatively high-profile lawmaker. The 38-year-old Army veteran and father of three led the fight against red light cameras and has sought to make ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft legal in the state.

He has supported higher speed limits and more aggressive adoption of Google Cars, while opposing the Greenlight Pinellas transit overhaul initiative. He was the only state senator to vote against Medicaid expansion in the state.

An investor in Green Bench Brewing Co., a keystone in Tampa Bays craft beer boom, he vocally opposed a 2014 law that would have hurt Floridas craft beer industry.

On the campaign trail, the utility industry namely, Duke Energy has been a major focal point. He has heavily criticized the energy giant for charging consumers for a nuclear power plant that never will be built.

While he has received campaign money from Duke, he has said that he is not beholden to the company or anyone else who contributes. He has said he would prefer to deregulate utilities to promote competition, thereby driving down prices for consumers.

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Democrat McLauchlan hopes to wrest bluish seat from incumbent Brandes

Democrat John Hickenlooper threatens to grant clemency to mass shooter if he loses
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