Assistant Colorado Senate Majority Leader Brandon Shaffer (D-Longmont) said he hasn't heard of anyone challenging him for Senate Majority Leader next session and said three state Senate district races are very close during the final days of the 2008 campaign.

Asked if he had heard of any other names of potential competitors to succeed outgoing Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon (D-Denver), Shaffer said, "the answer to your question's ‘no.'"

"I'm not sure I want to jinx myself," Shaffer added, though. "We'll see how that plays out."

Shaffer also predicted close state Senate races in districts 8, 19, 23, and 26.

In state Senate District 19, Shaffer gave Democrat Evie Hudak the edge over Republican Libby Szabo, saying Szabo is "extraordinarily partisan."

"Eventually, there's enough of a base there, enough unaffiliated voters who are looking for more of a collaborative approach to getting things done across party lines, that they'll come home to Evie," Shaffer said.

Shaffer predicted the state Senate District 23 race between incumbent state Sen. Shawn Mitchell (R-Broomfield) and Democratic opponent Joe Whitcomb will be "extraordinarily close."

Registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats in the district by almost 7,000 voters, but Shaffer said the district's location in southern Weld County has made it the focus of a barrage of Democratic advertisements.

"All of the communication that's been going out - both for (Barack) Obama, for Betsy Markey and Mark Udall -- ground zero for their national communication plans has been the Weld County area, and I think that Joe Whitcomb may really benefit from just the momentum we have, the atmosphere that we've created," Shaffer said.

Shaffer said state Senate District 26, between Republican Lauri Clapp and Democrat Linda Newell, is "going to be a close race," though he said Newell "has a very good chance" of winning.

"Nobody knows how that (race) is going to turn out," Shaffer said.

One campaign that's "been under the radar," Shaffer said, is state Senate District 8, where state Rep. Al White (R-Hayden) faces Democrat Ken Brenner, a former Steamboat Springs City Council president.

The seat, being vacated by term-limited state Sen. Jack Taylor (R-Steamboat Springs), has long been held by Republicans. But Shaffer said from where he sits, "it's going to be a very close race."

"If I was really to predict a major upset in this election cycle, one that would surprise everybody, that would be it," Shaffer said.

As for vulnerable state Senate Democrats, Shaffer said he would be watching state Sen. Dan Gibbs' (D-Silverthorne) re-election campaign against Republican Don Ytterberg in state Senate District 16, as well as the state Senate District 25 race between state Rep. Mary Hodge (D-Brighton) and Republican Robert Hatfield to succeed outgoing state Sen. Stephanie Takis (D-Aurora).

"Folks in the blogosphere and in the rumor mill down at the Capitol, they -- they being the Republican minority leadership -- have tried to create a buzz that both of those (seats) may be in jeopardy," Shaffer said. "We're not seeing anything on our side that would suggest that we have a serious threat in either of those districts."

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of Lauri Clapp, the Republican nominee for state Senate District 26.