Two years ago, several national political prognosticators were predicting a strong Democratic election, i.e., “a blue wave,” by using special election results, mostly from state legislative campaigns, as one of their fundamental support arguments. As we know, the forecast proved correct.

California Democratic Assemblywoman Christy Smith (D-Newhall) conceded the 25th congressional district special election race to Republican Mike Garcia late last Thursday, making this the first time in decades that the GOP has converted a Democratic seat in the deep blue state.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) ended his presidential campaign last week, therefore making former Vice President Joe Biden the Democratic Party’s unofficial nominee. Mr. Biden, still 766 bound delegate votes away from clinching a first ballot victory is now unencumbered in his bid to become the party standard bearer. It is likely that he will secure the 1,991 bound first ballot delegate votes once the June 2 primary, now featuring ten states, is held.

The Battleground Connect consulting firm that predominately polls for Republican clients in the South again surveyed the impending Georgia special Senate election as they did on March 24, but this time added questions about the presidential race.

The open seat count has increased to 43, with 31 of them coming from the minority Republican column. The number of competitive opens, however, at this point in the cycle is likely just nine, as 34 of the incumbent-less seats fall into either the Safe/Likely Democratic (12) column or Safe/Likely Republican (22) category. Today, we look at the competitive open seats.

The Advocate is a bimonthly publication for AGC PAC contributors, and contains the latest political news from "inside the beltway."