To a casual observer of American politics, it might be confusing what constitutes a “battleground state” in a presidential election. For instance, in the most recent presidential election, a state might have voted one way by as much as double-digits, but pundits talk as if it might vote the other way in the next. Why would the state in question be treated as competitive?

Let’s take a look towards the future and analyze the 2022 Senate races just for fun. Like all things, something could change with these races depending on what the national mood is like in 2022, but for now, at face value, this is how I rate the seats up for election.

There is one place in the US that has been, and is likely to remain, highly underrated in it’s importance. The place I’m referring to, surprisingly, is Nebraska, and more specifically its 2nd congressional district, which has been allowed to give its single electoral vote separate from the rest of the state.

Local elections are typically dull, uninteresting affairs. For offices with minimal power, between candidates with little in the way of campaign infrastructure, very few voters usually pay attention to municipal races and often the elections end in uninteresting, low turnout landslides. Outside of New York and occasionally Chicago, elections for mayor are hardly noticed by the national media, and until recently, elections for district attorney were even less talked about. But in 2003, San Francisco was different. When the results were in, the city’s voters changed the course of modern American politics without even realizing it.