Election Watch: 10 Southern races to watch

Congressional Quarterly is featuring their list of Congressional races that are up for grabs in the upcoming election. CQ's list shows that a good number of Southern seats, especially those currently held by Republicans, will be hotly contested to the finish.

Here's how the House races are breaking down according to CQ:

SEATS CURRENTLY HELD BY DEMOCRATS

Of the House seats currently held by Democrats, CQ rates the Democratic candidate to be "safe" or "favored" in all of them, except in eight races where the race "leans" Democrat, including three in the South (bold):

Colo. 3 -- Salazar
Ga. 8 -- Marshall
Ga. 12 -- Barrow
Iowa 3 -- Boswell
Ill. 8 -- Bean
Ill. 17 -- Evans*
La. 3 -- Melancon
Vt. AL -- Sanders*

SEATS CURRENTLY HELD BY REPUBLICANS

More striking is the Republican side, where fully 71 seats currently held by the GOP are facing competative Democratic challenges.

Democrat Favored

Ariz. 8 -- Kolbe*

Leans Democratic

Fla. 16 -- vacant*
Ind. 8 -- Hostettler
N.Y. 26 -- Reynolds
Pa. 7 -- Weldon
Texas 22 -- vacant*

No Clear Favorite

Colo. 7 -- Beauprez*
Conn. 4 -- Shays
Fla. 22 -- Shaw
Ill. 6 -- Hyde*
Iowa 1 -- Nussle*
Ind. 2 -- Chocola
Ind. 9 -- Sodrel
Minn. 6 -- Kennedy*
N.C. 11 -- Taylor
N.M. 1 -- Wilson
N.Y. 20 -- Sweeney
N.Y. 24 -- Boehlert*
Ohio 15 -- Pryce
Ohio 18 -- Ney*
Pa. 6 -- Gerlach
Pa. 8 -- Fitzpatrick
Pa. 10 -- Sherwood
Wash. 8 -- Reichert
Wis. 8 -- Green*

Leans Republican

Ariz. 1 -- Renzi
Ariz. 5 -- Hayworth
Calif. 11 -- Pombo
Colo. 4 -- Musgrave
Conn. 2 -- Simmons
Conn. 5 -- Johnson
Fla. 13 -- Harris*
Ky. 4 -- Davis
Minn. 1 -- Gutknecht
Nev. 2 -- Gibbons*
N.H. 2 -- Bass
N.J. 7 -- Ferguson
N.Y. 19 -- Kelly
N.Y. 29 -- Kuhl
Ohio 1 -- Chabot
Ohio 2 -- Schmidt
Pa. 4 -- Hart
Va. 2 -- Drake
Wyo. AL -- Cubin

That makes seven Southern House seats that Democrats have a fighting shot of moving into their column. It's not as much as elsewhere in the country, but I don't think anyone could have anticipated such a prospect even a few months ago.

UPDATE: Seven of Hotline's "Top 30 Races" are unfolding in the South. Those races, with their ranking on Hotline:

2. Texas-22 -- Open Seat (R)
6. Florida-16 -- Open Seat (R)
12. North Carolina-11 -- Charles Taylor (R)
18. Florida-22 -- Clay Shaw (R)
28. Virginia-02 -- Thelma Drake (R)
29. Florida-13 -- Open Sear (R)
30. Kentucky-04 -- Geoff Davis (R)