A new open seat in the Senate?

Republican Senator Thad Cochran from Mississippi had been on everyone's retirement list at the beginning of the cycle. Then, he started raising significant money and Rep. Pickering, long rumored as Cochran's heir, announced he was retiring from Congress to join the private sector... This was taken as a sure sign that Cochran had told Pickering he was running for re-election, if not Pickering would never have made such an announcement. And as such, Cochran dropped the retirement watch.

Until today. Out of nowhere, The Hill started reporting that Cochran was mulling retirement and that he would announce his decision next week, after the Mississippi state elections. The Hill anonymously quoted two people who said Cochran was leaning towards retirement. And as such, we could have another open seat in the Senate.

While Mississippi is certainly not the tightest of swing states, Democrats believe they would mount a very strong campaign here by running Attorney General Moore, a popular Dem who would definitely make the race competitive. Republicans are likely to turn to Pickering again, though it's unclear how that would work out at this point.

Democrats have had a rough few weeks in Senate news: Kerrey's announcing he would not run made one of the top pick-up opportunities for Dems drop down into likely GOP category, while the strongest Dem candidates declined runs in New Mexico. Now, with a new candidate in North Carolina, the possibility of an open seat in Mississippi, Democrats are looking up again. The DSCC is also pulling all the stops to recruit Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich to run in the Alaska Senate race. His entrance would put Ted Stevens in a lot of trouble, given Stevens's already has to deal with a tightening FBI investigation.