With the November elections about five weeks away, several Senate seats will be up for grabs in what could be tight races in the key oil and natural gas states of Oklahoma, Louisiana and Alaska.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who finished out the remaining Senate term of her father, now Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski, is in a major fight with former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles to keep her Senate seat.

Sen. Don Nickles (R-OK), an advocate of the energy industry, will retire at the end of the year after serving four terms, freeing up his seat for the winner of the face-off between Tom Coburn, a Republican, and Brad Carson, a Democrat.

Sen. John Breaux (D-LA), also a long-time energy proponent, will be leaving the Senate when it adjourns for the year, which may be around Oct. 8. It’s unclear whether Congress will return for a lame duck session after the elections. Louisiana will hold an open primary to replace Breaux. The main challengers are David Bitter, a Republican, and two Democrats, John Kennedy and Chris John.

Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle also is in a close race with John Thune, a Republican, in his home state of South Dakota.

As for the House of Representatives, the most “interesting” races are expected to be in Texas due to the congressional redistricting in the state, according to an energy legislative affairs analyst. When the election results are in, the “most likely scenario” will be that the Senate and House will retain their Republican majority, he told NGI.

The energy analyst said he holds out little hope that Congress will pass a broad energy bill this year. “There’s a chance that something may be eked out at the last minute,” he said, but “it sure doesn’t look like it.”

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