There's been a lot of speculation that Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's "Hardball" is mulling a run against Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter in 2010. The blog FiveThirtyEight reported Friday that Matthews was "staffing up" and was likely to run. Matthews quickly denied it. The Harrisburg Patriot-News said today that Matthews "isn't ready to say he's running for the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania, but he continues to talk with top Democrats about the possibility," including Democratic State Committee Chairman T.J. Rooney and executive director Mary Isenhour.

Matthews, who once ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Pennsylvania, started all this speculation himself in April when he said "I want to be a Senator."

First-term Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss holds a 52 percent to 46 percent lead over Democratic challenger James Martin), a former state representative, in their Dec. 2 runoff battle, according to a Research 2000 survey conducted Nov. 23-25. Two percent are undecided and the margin of error is 4 points.

Research 2000 makes the same observation that Public Policy Polling did in its Nov. 22-23 poll: that Chambliss has been able to widen his lead because, this time around, Barack Obama is not on the ballot to lure a larger turnout. PPP had Chambliss leading Martin 53 percent to 41 percent.

An InsiderAdvantage/Politico poll conducted Nov. 23 had Chambliss ahead 50 percent to 47 percent with 3 percent undecided.

"This thing's going to be a nail-biter. We don't know who's going to turn out and we don't know how it's going to turn out, but it's going to be a close race," said InsiderAdvantage CEO Matt Towery.

The runoff was forced when Chambliss fell short of the 50 percent needed to win out right, beating Martin 49.8 percent to 46.8 percent with 3.4 percent for Libertarian Allen Buckley. Georgia and Minnesota, where a recount is going on, are the last two chances Democrats have to reach the magic number of 60 in the Senate, which is enough votes to break a filibuster.

Here are our latest updates from yesterday and today on Senate races around the country from Nov.1 and Oct. 31. Today's addition is the Main race between Republican incumbent Susan Collins and Rep. Tom Allen.

• Alaska: Begich 49.3, Stevens 42. (Hays Research); Begich 58, Stevens 36. (Research 2000)
• Colorado:Udall 53, Schaffer 43. (CNN/Time/Opinion Research)
• Georgia.: Chambliss 48, Martin 46, Buckley 4. (Public Policy Polling); Chambliss 48, Martin 44, Buckley 5. (SurveyUSA); Chambliss 47, Martin 46, Buckley 5. (Research 2000); Chambliss 53, Martin 43. (CNN/Time/Opinion Research); Chambliss 48, Merkley 43. (Rasmussen)
• Kentucky: McConnell 53, Lunsford 45. (SurveyUSA); McConnell 47, Lunsford 44. (Research 2000); McConnell 51, Lunsford 44. (Rasmussen)
• Maine: Collins 57, Allen 41. (Rasmussen)
• Michigan: Levin 58, Hoogendyk 36. (Public Policy Polling)
• Minnesota: Coleman 44, Franken 39, Barkley 16. (SurveyUSA); Coleman 43, Franken 40, Barkley 15. (Research 2000); Franken 45, Coleman 40, Barkley 14. (Public Policy Polling); Franken 41, Coleman 37, Barkley 17. (MPR/Humphrey Institute)
• New Hampshire: Shaheen 48, Sununu 42. (WMUR/UNH); Shaheen 53, Sununu 40. (SurveyUSA); Shaheen 52, Sununu 42, Blevens 2. (Research 2000); Shaheen 52, Sununu 44. (Rasmussen)
• New Jersey: Lautenberg 52, Zimmer 37. (SurveyUSA)
• New Mexico: Udall 58, Pearce 39. (Public Policy Polling); Udall 56, Pearce 41. (Rasmussen)
• North Carolina: Hagan 51, Dole 44, Cole 3. (Public Policy Polling); Hagan 44, Dole 37. (Elon University); Hagan 53, Dole 44. (CNN/Time/Opinion Research)
• Oregon: Merkley 48, Smith 42. (Research 2000); Merkley 51, Smith 43, Brownlow 4. (Public Policy Polling); Merkley 49, Smith 46. (Rasmussen)
• Virginia: Warner 59, Gilmore 35. (SurveyUSA); Warner 63, Gilmore 35. (CNN/Time/Opinion Research)
• West Virginia: Rockefeller 58, Wolfe 40. (Public Policy Polling)
• Wyoming: Barasso, 60, Carter 35. (Research 2000)
• Wyoming: Enzi 62, Rothfuss 35. (Research 2000)

Also, to check on our race ratings for all Senate contests, go to our Races to Watch page.

Here are our latest updates on Senate races around the country. CQ Politics is changing its rating on the Mississippi race, where Republican Roger Wicker, who was appointed to fill out Trent Lott's term, is seeking re-election from "No Clear Favorite" to "Leans Republican." In the Georgia contest between first term Republican Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin, we are changing that rating from "Leans Republican" to "No Clear Favorite."

• Alaska: Begich 58, Stevens 36. (Research 2000)
• Colorado:Udall 53, Schaffer 43. (CNN/Time/Opinion Research)
• Georgia.: Chambliss 47, Martin 46, Buckley 5. (Research 2000); Chambliss 53, Martin 43. (CNN/Time/Opinion Research); Chambliss 48, Merkley 43. (Rasmussen)
• Kentucky: McConnell 51, Lunsford 44. (Rasmussen)
• Michigan: Levin 58, Hoogendyk 36. (Public Policy Polling)
• Minnesota: Franken 45, Coleman 40, Barkley 14. (Public Policy Polling); Franken 41, Coleman 37, Barkley 17. (MPR/Humphrey Institute)
• New Hampshire: Shaheen 53, Sununu 40. (SurveyUSA); Shaheen 52, Sununu 42, Blevens 2. (Research 2000); Shaheen 52, Sununu 44. (Rasmussen)
• New Jersey: Lautenberg 52, Zimmer 37. (SurveyUSA)
• New Mexico: Udall 58, Pearce 39. (Public Policy Polling); Udall 56, Pearce 41. (Rasmussen)
• North Carolina: Hagan 44, Dole 37. (Elon University); Hagan 53, Dole 44. (CNN/Time/Opinion Research)
• Oregon: Merkley 51, Smith 43, Brownlow 4. (Public Policy Polling); Merkley 49, Smith 46. (Rasmussen)
• Virginia: Warner 63, Gilmore 35. (CNN/Time/Opinion Research)
• West Virginia: Rockefeller 58, Wolfe 40. (Public Policy Polling)

Also, to check on our race ratings for all Senate contests, go to our Races to Watch page.

Here are our latest updates on Senate races around the country.

• Kentucky: McConnell 47, Lunsford 42. (Mason-Dixon)
• New Jersey: Lautenberg 56, Zimmer 39. (Research 2000)
• North Carolina: Hagan 52, Dole 46. (Rasmussen)
• Texas: Cornyn 41.1, Noriega 32.8. (University of Texas)

Also, to check on our race ratings for all Senate contests, go to our Races to Watch page.

Here are our latest updates on Senate races around the country. The big news is in Alaska where a poll taken a day after Republican Sen. Ted Stevens was convicted on corruption charges showed Democratic challenger Mark Begich opened a significant lead, and most Alaskans said Stevens should resign.

• Alaska: Begich 52, Stevens 44. (Rasmussen)
• Colorado: Udall 48, Schaffer 36. (AP/GfK)
• Iowa: Harkin 57, Reed 41. (Rasmussen)
• Minnesota: Coleman 43, Franken 39, Barkley 14. (Rasmussen)
• Mississippi: Wicker 54, Musgrove 43. (Rasmussen)
• New Hampshire: Shaheen 48, Sununu 40. (WMUR/UNH) Shaheen 47, Sununu 41, Blevens 3. (Ap/GfK)
• North Carolina: Hagan 47, Dole 43, Cole 2. (AP/GfK)
• Virginia: Warner 58, Gilmore 32. (AP/GfK)

Also, to check on our race ratings for all Senate contests, go to our Races to Watch page.

Here is our latest update on Senate races around the country.

• Louisiana: Landrieu 53.2, Kennedy 33.9. (Southeastern Louisiana University)
• New Jersey: Lautenberg 49, Zimmer 41. (Strategic Vision)

Also, to check on our race ratings for all Senate contests, go to our Races to Watch page.

Here is our latest update on Senate races around the country.

• New Hampshire: Shaheen 49, Sununu 38. (WMUR/UNH)
• North Carolina: Hagan 48, Dole 45, Cole 4. (Public Policy Polling)
• Oregon: Merkley 49, Smith 42, Brownlow 5. (SurveyUSA)
• Virginia: Warner 61, Gilmore 31. (Washington Post/ABC News); Warner 63, Gilmore 32. (SurveyUSA)

Also, to check on our race ratings for all Senate contests, go to our Races to Watch page.

Here is our latest update on Senate races around the country.

• New Hampshire: Shaheen 49, Sununu 36. (Boston Globe.)

Also, to check on our race ratings for all Senate contests, go to our Races to Watch page.

Here are today's updated polls in our round-up of Senate races:

• Georgia: Chambliss 46, Martin 44, Buckley 5. (Strategic Vision)
• Minnesota: Franken 41, Coleman 37, Barkley 17. (Rasmussen)
• Oregon: Merkley 36, Smith 35, Brownlow 4. (Riley Research)

To keep up with our race ratings, you can also go to our Senate Races to Watch page.