Race ratings

Following Rep. Bill Delahunt's (D-Mass.) announcement that he will retire, we are upgrading his seat from "worth watching" to "lean Democratic."

The district is the most accessible in Massachusetts for Republicans, having gone a relatively low 55 percent for President Obama in 2008. It was also the best district in the state for Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), going for him by 20 points. At the same time, this is still Massachusetts in a general election. We'll wait to see how the field shakes out. But either way, the GOP has a solid pickup opportunity here.

In this update to The Ballot Box's race ratings, we upgrade retiring Rep. Erica Massa’s (D-N.Y.) seat from “lean Democratic” to “toss-up,” while downgrading both Reps. Bobby Bright (D-Ala.) and Harry Teague (D-N.M.) to “lean Democratic” and “toss-up,” respectively.

We also add Rep. Betty Sutton (D-Ohio) to the "worth watching" category, while moving Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) from "likely Democratic to "lean Democratic."

See below to check out why we made the changes and see the new charts.

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