A pattern seems to be emerging.  From The Fix’s line on U.S. Senate races:

1. New Hampshire (R): After much sturm und drang over the past week, we are left with one indisputable fact: the New Hampshire Senate seat is open in 2010. Rep. Paul Hodes is already in the race for Democrats and he as well as national Democrats are hoping that Rep. Carol Shea Porter, who retains a significant grassroots following in the state, decides against a primary challenge. Former Sen. John Sununu is regarded as Republicans’ strongest potential candidate but has given strong indications privately of late that he won’t run. Former governor Steve Merrill told the Fix that he would defer to Sununu but, if the senator is out, Merrill will likely take a hard look at the contest. No matter what, the Democratic trend in New Hampshire over the last two elections is unmistakable. (Previous ranking: 7)

“…he as well as national Democrats are hoping that Rep. Carol Shea Porter, who retains a significant grassroots following in the state, decides against a primary challenge.”

Now, here’s The Fix, in the same entry, on Ohio’s senate race (my emphasis added):

5. Ohio (R): There is already a huge chasm emerging in how the two parties handicap this race. For Republicans, former Rep. Rob Portman (R) is their ideal candidate, a national rising star who gives them a real chance of holding this swing state seat. For Democrats, Portman, who served as the director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Bush White House, is a symbol of everything that voters in Ohio — and nationwide — rejected last November. While that debate will rage on for the next 20 months, Democrats’ more immediate problem is navigating a potentially dicey primary problem. Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher and Secretary of State Jennifer BrunnerTed Strickland (D) has endorsed his candidacy but other neutral Democrats insist that Strickland has done no such thing. (Previous ranking: 2)

No doubt, if it was someone named John Brunner or someone named Charles Shea Porter, the already-entered male candidates would be saying the exact same thing, right? Of course, right.

For more background about the possible Ohio Democratic primary for George Voinovich’s soon to be open senate seat, read here.

Cross-posted from Writes Like She Talks.