Our most up-to-date take on this cycle's Senate races.

ALABAMA: On February 9, Republican Gov. Robert Bentley appointed then-state Attorney General Luther Strange to fill the seat vacated by U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions who resigned to become Attorney General, and announced that a special election to fulfill the remainder of Sessions’ term would be held in November of next year. Although Bentley instituted a formal process to pick Sessions’ replacement, Strange always appeared to be the frontrunner, probably because he said that he would run in the special election regardless of whether he was appointed to fill the vacancy and began to raise campaign funds aggressively in December. But, Strange’s appointment hasn’t been without controversy. Late last year, Strange formally asked the state House of Representatives to delay impeachment proceedings against Bentley, who is embroiled in a sex scandal, saying that his office was undertaking “related work.” Some Republicans in the state believe that the Senate seat is Strange’s reward for at least stalling efforts to impeach the Governor. One critic, state Auditor Jim Zeigler, has sued Bentley over the

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