After two years of a unified Republican government that history will remember more for its spectacular, against-all-odds failures—multiple Obamacare repeal attempts, a wildly unpopular tax reform bill, a self-inflicted humanitarian crisis at the border, and so on—than anything else, Democrats at last have the chance to regain control of the legislature in the 2018 midterm elections this November 6th. Doing so would allow them to lobby for progressive policies, filibuster judicial nominees, force the administration to answer for its transgressions, and otherwise try and hold the line until, God willing, the party finds someone who can relieve Donald Trump of his duties in 2020.

In the House, where all 435 seats are up for grabs every election year, earning a majority is a pretty straightforward task, and right now, betting markets slightly favor Democrats to earn the gavel. The Senate will be a more formidable challenge, however, because of math: Only about one-third of its 100 seats turn over at once. And while Democrats need a measly two wins to flip the upper chamber, they must also defend ten seats in states that went for Trump. Republicans, meanwhile, must hold on to only one in a state that went for Hillary Clinton.

It is true that presidents' parties tend to struggle in the midterm elections after their first win. (Ask Barack Obama.) But so-called “waves” are never guaranteed, and this time, the map is doing the underdogs no favors. Since control of Capitol Hill may hinge on how these Senate races finish, let's take a look at all the hardworking public servants, enthusiastic hopefuls, and literal criminals who are vying for the right to represent their states in Washington.

The Snoozers

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California: Dianne Feinstein (D)

What to know: The Senate's longest-tenured woman has become such a fixture in Washington that her political positions have their own Wikipedia page. Authored the 1994 assault weapons ban, and has been trying mightily to renew it since it expired 14 years (!) ago. Nearly pulled a legendary fast one on Trump in January. (Full disclosure: I interned for her in summer 2010, and found her insistence on business formal attire—regardless of whether she was in the office or the Senate was in session—to be both unreasonable and sticky.)

Challenger(s): Democratic state senator Kevin de León, a single-payer health care and free college proponent who made it here thanks to California's “top-two” jungle primary structure, which prevented Republicans from even making the general election ballot. To some, this seems unfair, but I like to think of it as part of their cosmic punishment for inflicting Ronald Reagan and his bottomless fan club of pseudointellectuals on the rest of us.