Updated Race Ratings for Senate and Governor

W A S H I N G T O N, May 7 -- Here are our latest takes on the competitive races for U.S. Senate and state governor:

ABC 2002: The U.S. Senate

ABC 2002: The Governors

Note that many states still have not held their primaries, making definitive general election evaluations impossible.

Overall, control of the Senate remains up for grabs, while on the governors front, Republicans continue to fight to make the November results more a "year of SOME losses" than "a year of MAJOR losses."

Yet even with many primaries pending in key races, develop.m.ents have caused the playing fields to shift a bit.

We have made the following changes in our Senate rankings: Senator Tom Harkin (D) of Iowa and Senator Wayne Allard of Colorado (R) have moved from "Toss-Up" to "Incumbent Party Favored," while GOP Senator Fred Thompson's retirement in Tennessee has moved that seat in the other direction, from "Incumbent Party Safe" to the somewhat more vulnerable "Incumbent Party Favored." Republican Senator Jeff Sessions, who seems unlikely to lose his Alabama seat, has moved from "Favored" to "Incumbent Party Safe."

We have also made the following changes to our gubernatorial ratings. On the Republican side, Massachusetts is no longer looking like a loser for the GOP; their odds now stand at about 50-50 of keeping the seat, making it a "Toss-up." But their seats in Arizona and Wisconsin now look more endangered than before, and have moved from "Incumbent Party Favored" to "Toss-up." In addition, Texas Gov. Pick Perry no longer seems safe, given his Democratic opponent's willingness to spend his personal fortune and Democrats' expected heavy turnout operation in the state, so Perry has shifted from "Incumbent Party Safe" to "Favored."

On the Democratic side, Gov. Don Siegelman of Alabama and the open seat in Hawaii have landed in the Toss-Up column, while the open seat in Maryland, now that Republicans have a decent candidate for it, is no longer looking so safe for Democrats and has shifted to Incumbent Party Favored.