Wargaming Senate Control

Colorado Republicans might have just found the answer to the question of how to defeat Mark Udall:

Crystal Ball Senior Columnist Alan Abramowitz’s discussion of his Senate elections model not only confirms how close we expect the 2014 Senate campaign will be, but it’s also quite timely, as the Republicans yesterday expanded their list of credible Senate targets. Rep. Cory Gardner (R, CO-4), after previously declining to challenge Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO), is now reportedly entering the contest. Assuming he advances to the general election, Gardner should give Udall a stiffer challenge than the other Republicans in the field. This news moves the Colorado Senate race from Likely Democratic to Leans Democratic.

That’s from “the editors” of Sabato’s Crystal Ball on the top of Abramowitz’s latest, and it makes Sabato the first major outfit to move CO out of the Likely Dem column. Rothenberg still has it Safe Dem, but let’s wait until this news sinks in and we see how Gardner performs.