Deb McDermott, writing in Seacoast Online, landed a great scoop this week when she broke the story on the decision by Republican Mary Andrews to run for her old Senate seat against democratic incumbent and first term Senator Peter Bowman. Mrs. Andrews did not run in 2006, and that seat became a crucial democratic pick-up in the evenly divide Senate, where Democrats have a one seat advantage over the Republicans.

Right now, it looks as though the senate Republicans will be returning 14 or 15 incumbents, while the senate Democrats are rumored to be at 11 or 12. A high profile race such as this one will no doubt require substantial time and resources from both caucuses, with the potential for control of the Senate resting in Senate District 1.