Heat-seekers: Hot election states 2010

For those media execs who love to pan for political gold this year which will undoubtedly add revenue to the balance sheet...here's the recent buzz...from our affiliates at TVNewsCheck, January 3, 2010

An extraordinary number of states have gubernatorial elections in 2010, and there are a handful of extra Senate contests as well, making it a banner off-presidential election year for statewide races. A large number of states have two such battles in the offing, and one – New York – has three.
Some states are white hot battlegrounds, and others are glacial – that would be the handful that have neither a governorship or US Senate seat at stake.Here’s a national overview including all 50 states.
We used CQ Politics ratings for each race based on battleground potential. The categories, in order of heat, are toss-up; leaner -- where one party has but an edge; a state where a party is favored; a state where an office is up for election but considered safe; and the coldest, a state without a race.
Three racesOnly New York fits this category, since Charles Schumer (D-NY) is up for reelection and Kirsten Gillebrand (D-NY) is facing voters for the first time after being appointed to fill out the term of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Democrats are considered to have safe and favored status for the Senate races, and leaner status for governor.
Two races* The ultimate hot spots are those with a pair of toss-ups in the offing: Connecticut, Ohio* Very hot -- a toss-up and a leaner:Illinois, Nevada, Pennsylvania* Two leaners will attract a lot of attention, but only one state fits the description:Colorado* A toss-up and a favored candidate combine to generate interestFlorida* Hot and cold: One safe seat, one toss-upNew Hampshire, Wisconsin* Quite a few states fall into the leaner/safe combination, including:Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Vermont* It’ll be ho-hum in states with a favored and a safe candidateAlaska, Hawaii, Idaho, South Dakota* Two safe candidates = little or no national cashKansas, Maryland, Utah
One race* Only one opening, but it’s a toss-up:Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Rhode Island, Wyoming* A leaner should attract national $$$:Delaware, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas* A favored candidate will have to falter to generate interestNew Mexico* Quiet time with a safe candidateIndiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Washington