Political polling firm: Republicans likely to take control of Senate

Political polling website and blog FiveThirtyEight is forecasting that Republicans will take control of the Senate after the 2014 elections.

Part of the reasoning for the forecast is that 2008 – the last time the current seats up for election were voted on – was an exceptionally strong year for Democrats.

FiveThirtyEight – a name that references the number of electors in the United States electoral college – ranked the likelihood each seat up for election has of being won by a Republican or Democrat.

In Arkansas, the seat held by Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Arkansas, has a 70 percent chance of being won by a Republican, according to the website. In Illinois, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, is expected to keep his senate seat, while in Kansas, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, also is expected to maintain his post. Neither of Missouri’s senators are up for election in 2014.  

Read more from FiveThirtyEight.com.