Politico: “So where’s the wave? This is President Obama’s sixth-year-itch election. The map of states with contested Senate seats could hardly be better from the Republicans’ vantage point. And the breaks this year–strong candidates, avoidance of damaging gaffes, issues such as Obamacare and immigration that stir the party base–have mainly gone the GOP’s way, very unlike 2012.”

“Nonetheless, the midterms are far from over. In every single one of the Crystal Ball‘s toss-up states, (Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana and North Carolina), the Republican Senate candidate has not yet opened up a real polling lead in any of them. Democratic nominees have been running hard and staying slightly ahead, or close to, their Republican foes.”

“Washington’s lobby firms are being inundated with phone calls and emails from GOP staffers looking to jump to the private sector if Republicans capture the Senate in November,” The Hill reports.

“With GOP odds of a takeover growing, high-ranking aides are checking in on their value ‘downtown’ at law and lobby firms, where they could command salary offers of up to $500,000 per year.”

Gallup: “Americans’ disenchantment with Congress may lead to higher voter turnout on Election Day this year. In the last five midterm elections, voter turnout has exceeded 40% when Congress’ approval rating was low, but turnout was below 40% when Americans were more approving.”

A new Suffolk University/Boston Herald poll in Massachusetts finds Martha Coakley’s (D) “seemingly insurmountable lead has dwindled to a dozen points in the Democratic race for governor.” Coakley now holds just a 42% to 30% advantage over Steve Grossman (D) with just 15 days left before the Sept. 9 primary.

In the Republican contest, Charlie Baker (R) is coasting to his party’s nomination with a 70% to 11% lead over Mark Fisher (R).

“Former Sen. Scott Brown (R), now running for Senate in New Hampshire, over the weekend was pretty clear: science has not proven that climate change is real. But back in 2012, when Brown was running for re-election in Massachusetts, he said that he “absolutely” believed climate change is real and that it is a result of both man-made and natural causes,” TPM reports.

A new Rasmussen survey in Alaska finds Dan Sullivan (R) edging Sen. Mark Begich (D) in the race for Senate, 47% to 45%.

New York Times: “In an election cycle where no single issue is animating voters, the relatively obscure lender, which provides loans and loan guarantees to foreign buyers of American products, has become an unlikely source of prominent campaign friction.”

“The fight over whether to reauthorize the bank, which Congress must do by the end of September to sustain its operations, has roiled Capitol Hill in unexpected ways, creating a divide between the Tea Party movement and establishment Republicans. It also is providing an avenue for Democrats to showcase their support for American companies and to try to drive a wedge between business interests and Republican candidates.”

Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN) has officially won his primary race, barely squeaking past Jim Tracy (R), who conceded after more than two tense weeks following the Republican primary in Tennessee’s 4th district, Roll Call reports.

“DesJarlais was among the most vulnerable House incumbents this cycle, thanks to personal scandal that dried up his fundraising ability and made him a pariah among some of his peers in the Tennessee delegation. Proceedings from a 2001 divorce arose in October of 2012 that revealed DesJarlais had encouraged an ex-wife and former mistress to have multiple abortions.”

Michelle Nunn (D) “served notice to her fellow Democrats that she wasn’t a sure vote for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to keep his job — should her party keep control of that chamber in November,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

Said Nunn: “I look forward to changing the composition in the leadership of the Senate. The way that we’re going to change Washington is to bring more people to recognize – to have the humility to recognize – that there are good ideas on both sides of the aisle… I will vote for the Democratic leader that I think best represents our capacity to get things done and move things forward.”