Nightly News   |  November 05, 2012

Power struggle for the U.S. Senate

Analysts are predicting that the new Senate may be even more narrowly divided than it is now. NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell reports.

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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>> reporter: president is performing well in ohio , more than mitt romney or any other generic republican would, when you think about the demographics of ohio .

>> all right, chuck todd , the one prize tomorrow that could actually be like five states, thank you, chuck, we'll see more of you. of course, ohio is not the only one at stake, there are a lot of senate races going on, our look at that.

>> reporter: the power struggle for control of the u.s. senate runs right through massachusetts, where democrats see a big chance to gain ground with elizabeth warren , harvard consumer advocate .

>> i see a lot of enthusiasm and momentum, people coming up to me and grabbing my arm, saying girl you got to win this.

>> reporter: up against a well-liked republican, senator scott brown , who won ted kennedy 's seat two years ago, the rare republican who expresses his cooperation with president obama .

>> i was just named the least partisan senator. i take pride in that, trying to work with others and getting things done.

>> reporter: the voters are deciding 33 senate races, and for much of the year the were are as believed they had a good shot to pick up the three or four seats needed for the majority. but controversy slowed their majority, republicans banked on wins in missouri and indiana, until todd aken and richard mourdock made decisive comments about rape.

>> and that could be enough to cost them control of the senate.

>> reporter: in connecticut, they hoped that the former world wrestling ceo linda mcman could up seat, but polls showed her behind, and tommy thompson is locked in a nail-biter with democratic congresswoman tammy baldwin , who could become the first openly gay winner. the new senate could be even more divided than it is now. kelly o'donnell,