AllPolitics Top 40 Races: Part II

Who will control the House in the next Congress? So many races are so close so late in the game that it's hard to say. But if you're looking for clues, look no further than the AllPolitics Top 40 -- the nation's closest, hottest House races.

AllPolitics and our expert partner, Congressional Quarterly, have gone through every race in the country. While it may be impossible to know the election's outcome, you can find out where its toughest battlegrounds are.

Not enough? For the total political junkie, we've also got all this in an extended dance mix version -- the 185 most interesting House races, as well as all Senate races, all available all at once in our States section.

Today's focus: Endangered Republicans in the South and Northeast.

GOP freshmen in the Northeast and South, by and large, are coasting to re-election. But six of them, and one sophomore, are in deep trouble.

President Bill Clinton's strength, expected in the Northeast, but surprising in the South, is one major reason.

Another is that several of these were dragged to Congress in 1994 by the powerful GOP tsunami that had Republicans winning races they were expected to lose.

There's no such storm this year, and these Republicans may have trouble holding onto their seats in what's shaping up to be a fairly normal election season.

The lone sophomore, Peter G. Torkildsen of Massachusetts, captured his seat in 1992 after it had been held for two decades by Democrats. He won in 1994 by only 7,000 votes. All the races were close; every member of this group won his race with 52 percent of the vote or less.

On the other hand, the GOP is expected to increase the size of its Southern House delegation this year, and Bob Dole is running relatively well in the states these guys are from.

We're presenting the Top 40 in bite-sized chunks between now and Election Day. They fall into three groups:

Republicans In Trouble -- 22 total Democrats in Trouble -- 6 total (Saturday)
Hot Open Seats -- 12 total

Those in the Northeast have no such luck; the states the three of them are from, Massachusetts, Maine and New Jersey, are solidly in Clinton's column. Democrats are hoping to carve out of the Northeast a good number of the 19 wins they need to take back control of the House.

Those in danger are: