GOP Faces Tough Sledding in Legislative Races

A dearth of Republican candidates threatens to leave 45 legislative seats in the Democratic column before the first 2008 ballot is even cast, The Associated Press reports.

"By contrast, only nine GOP incumbents are assured re-election because they have no Democratic opponent in November," the article said.

The filings underscore the departure by Republicans of trying to field a candidate in every House and Senate District.

"A silver lining for Republicans may be that 10 Democrats in the House and four in the Senate aren't in the running to keep their seats," AP reports, while also noting that " Republicans failed to file in 6 of those races, two in the Senate and four in the House. "