Alabama: Republican Sen. Richard Shelby hasn’t gotten less than 60 percent of the vote since 1992 when he was running for a second term. He won his first Senate race in 1986 with 50 percent. The incumbent’s bid for a sixth term won’t be any different, especially in a presidential election year in deeply red Alabama. It doesn’t hurt that Shelby started the cycle with a whopping $18.3 million in the bank. The best Democrats can hope for here is a placeholder nominee. The race is in the Solid Republican column. Alaska: In 2010, GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski won re-election to a second full term as a write-in candidate after losing the primary to Tea Party candidate Joe Miller. She took 39 percent to 35 percent for Miller and 23 percent for Democrat Scott McAdams. Miller is again talking about challenging Murkowski, but conservatives might want a fresh face after Miller lost the Senate nomination to Dan Sullivan in 2014. Democrats hope that Murkowski gets another competitive primary since it would theoretically help them in the general. Regardless of whether
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