Ted Gatsas

Here's a review of the state Senate playing field as we begin the summer.

The races are divided into five categories: Strong Democratic, Lean Democratic, Toss-up, Lean Republican and Strong Republican.

Let's start with the Democrats:

The committee raising money for state Senate Republicans was badly outraised this past year by their Democratic counterparts by a margin of nearly 6 to 1.

The Senate Republican Victory PAC reported Wednesday they had raised $74,834 in the past year and currently has $37,673 cash on hand.

In the same period the Senate Democratic Caucus raised $431,927 and was has $107,462 cash on hand.

Now that filings are complete, let's take a look at the field of play in the state Senate.

We're keeping an eye on 11 races as election season begins. Republicans hold five, Democrats hold six. Two are open seats, nine will be defended by incumbents. The other 13 seats are unlikely to become competitive because of the partisan tilt of the district, the presence of a strong incumbent, or both. As campaigns develop, we will revisit the list from time to time.

Paul LaFlamme files in the State House.

CONCORD- State senate candidate Paul LaFlamme (R-Nashua) filed with the Secretary of State this morning.

LaFlamme is running for the Senate District 12 seat.

State Sen. Ted Gatsas (R-Manchester)MANCHESTER- Standing before 200 supporters, state Sen. Ted Gatsas (R-Manchester) announced that he is running for re-election.

Gatsas spent most of his kick-off speech discussing state finances.

"We don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem," he said. "It's important that we look forward and get leadership that will control spending."

Bob Backus (D-Manchester) has officially announced that he will run against state Sen. Ted Gatsas (R-Manchester).

"I am running to protect our New Hampshire values-to ensure that we provide not just an adequate education but an excellent education for all students, to create "green collar" jobs to improve our environment and economy, and to improve public safety by supporting our law enforcement community," Backus said in a statement. "The families of District 16 deserve attentive and responsive representation in Concord and a Senator who will fight for them."

State Sen. Bob Clegg (R-Hudson) has been endorsed by 60 current and former state legislators.

The legislators will form Clegg's "Legislative Leadership Team," for his congressional candidacy.

The list includes state Senators and state representatives, some of which are not even in Clegg's Congressional district.

This week in the 2nd congressional district, both Democratic U.S. Rep. Paul Hodes and Republican Bob Clegg are winners. Why? Find out in this week's Winners & Losers.