THE SENATE RACES

With 35 Senate seats at stake on Nov. 3, it is theoretically possible for the Republicans to erase the 66-34 majority now held by the Democrats. But there is not the remotest chance that they will, even though only nine of the contested seats belong to Republicans, while the Democrats must defend 26. State by state:

Arizona: Seeking Barry Goldwater's seat, three-term Governor Paul J. Fannin, 57, hopes to parlay his identification with the Goldwater team into victory. Democrat Roy L. Elson, 34, administrative assistant to Senate President Carl Hayden, is the underdog.

California: Democrat Salinger, 39, still leads, but Republican Murphy, 62, is moving up.

Connecticut: Former Republican Governor John Lodge, 61, a moderate, is walking a tightwire between zealous Goldwaterites in affluent Fairfield County and anti-Goldwaterites elsewhere. Incumbent Thomas J. Dodd, 57, a Democrat of independent mind, has backing from labor and Lyndon Johnson. Dodd should win.

Delaware: Republican John J. Williams, 60, the Senate's sharpest investigative bird dog, faces a rematch with Democratic Governor Elbert N. Carvel, 54, whom he trounced in 1958 by 10,000 votes. Carvel may benefit from a heavy Negro turnout, but Williams leads.

Florida: What worries Conservative Democrat Spessard L. Holland, 72, in his quest of a fourth term is not Republican Claude R. Kirk Jr., 38, a brawny exmarine, but the size of his own majority. Holland, hands down.

Hawaii: The first American of Asian ancestry to be a Senator, Republican Hiram L. Fong, 57, has help from two disparate sources--Barry Goldwater and Harry Bridges' International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union. Democrat Thomas P. Gill's haole (white man) origins are no help in multiracial Hawaii. Gill, 42, has the backing of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., but is slightly behind.

Indiana: Democratic Incumbent Vance Hartke, 55, whirls around in a helicopter, drops down wherever he sees a crowd. Republican D. Russell Bontrager, 56, a state senator who used to read the classics aloud to get rid of a Pennsylvania Dutch accent, flies his own Cessna 182. Hartke is ahead, but a big Goldwater victory in Indiana could trip him.

Maine: Incumbent Edmund S. Muskie, 60, whose election as Governor in 1954 heralded a deepening Democratic thrust into New England, was stuck in Washington for weeks while Republican Congressman Clifford McIntire, 56, was campaigning. Despite this and the fact that popular Senator Margaret Chase Smith is out on the hustings for McIntire, Muskie has a sizable edge in his second-term bid.

Maryland: With his strong appeal to young voters, Democrat Joseph D. Tydings, 36, son of the late Senator Millard Tydings, hopes to deny a third term to amiable Republican J. Glenn Beall, 70. Backlash votes may help Beall in southern Maryland, but Tydings stands to profit from a heavy Negro vote and an expected Johnson victory. Leaning to Tydings.

Massachusetts: Investment Broker Howard Whitmore Jr., 59, reluctantly agreed to oppose injured Democratic Senator Edward M. Kennedy, 32, but his outlook is decidedly bearish. Teddy should win without leaving his bed.

Michigan: Democrat Philip A. Hart, 51, won by 170,000 votes in his first try for the Senate, figures to do better this time. G.O.P. Candidate Elly M. Peterson, 49, wife of an Army colonel, ran for office once before, a city-council race in her home town of Charlotte (pop. 7,657), and lost.

Minnesota: Buttressed by Democratic-Farmer-Labor backing, Incumbent Eugene J. McCarthy, 48, would be heavily favored over Republican Wheelock Whitney, 38, mayor of the Minneapolis suburb of Wayzata, even without Favorite Son Hubert Humphrey on the national ticket.

Mississippi: Three-term Democrat John C. Stennis, 63, may or may not face opposition from the predominantly Negro Freedom Democratic Party, but it hardly matters. The surest bet around.

Missouri: Though he is favored, two-term Democrat Stuart Symington, 63, is running hard. He has Son Jimmy, a folk singer, strumming his banjo and playing things like Cornbread 'Lasses and Sassafras Tea in rural areas. Republican Jean Paul Bradshaw, 58, an Ozark Air Lines vice president, figures to trim Symington's 1958 plurality of 386,236, but not by enough.

Montana: G.O.P. Challenger Alex Blewett, 51, former speaker of the state house, keeps trying to get Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, 61, into a debate, but mild Mike ignores him. Mansfield is one man who may lend Lyndon Johnson his coattails, instead of vice versa.

Nebraska: Facing token opposition from obscure Democrat Raymond W. Arndt, 58, Conservative Republican Roman L. Hruska, 60, is a shoo-in for his second term.

Nevada: In 1962, Democratic Senator Howard W. Cannon, 52, backed Republican Paul Laxalt for Lieutenant Governor. The idea was to keep Democratic Governor Grant Sawyer from vacating the statehouse this year and going after Cannon's job. Cannon blocked Sawyer, but now he has Laxalt to contend with. More dynamic than Cannon, Laxalt, 41, suffers from inexperience--and from Goldwater. Cannon by an inch.

New Jersey: Incumbent Harrison A. Williams Jr., 44, the state's first Democratic Senator since 1936, expects to profit from an anti-Barry "frontlash" in his second-term bid. Challenger Bernard M. Shanley, 61, a former aide to Dwight Eisenhower, is trying hard, but with scant chance.

New Mexico: A loner in the past, Republican Incumbent Edwin L. Mechem, 52, the only four-term Governor in the state's history (1951-54, 1957-58, 1961-62), is playing with Goldwater this year, and he might regret it. Able, four-term Congressman Joseph M. ("Little Joe") Montoya, 49, an adroit vote getter, has a name that is about as common in New Mexico, where nearly one-third of the voters are Spanish Americans, as John Smith is elsewhere. A tossup.

New York: Republican Senator Kenneth B. Keating, 64, has come on strong, could well salvage what looked like a losing cause. The carpetbagging issue, the widespread defection of Jewish and possibly Italian voters, and a strong feeling of sympathy for Keating as the underdog have badly eroded 38-year-old Democrat Robert F. Kennedy's early lead, and he may need a Lyndon landslide of well over 1,000,000 votes to ride in with the President. Keating ahead by a silvery hair.

North Dakota: Democrat Quentin N. Burdick, 56, is so worried about G.O.P. Challenger Thomas Kleppe, 45, the aggressive ex-mayor of Bismarck, that he left Washington well before Congress adjourned to start campaigning. But he is the favorite, might get extra mileage from popular Democratic Governor William Guy's coattails.

Okio: A magic name and a potent G.O.P. organization are 47-year-old Robert A. Taft Jr.'s trump cards, but Goldwater's name on top of the ticket is a deuce. Even so, it would probably take a 500,000-vote Johnson win to sweep crusty Incumbent Stephen M. Young, 75, into a second term. Leaning strongly to Taft.

Oklahoma: Lean, handsome Republican Bud Wilkinson, 48, has a great record as Sooner football coach going for him. Democrat Fred R. Harris, 33, who upset Incumbent Howard Edmondson in the party primary, has Johnson's coattails (he hopes) and the late Senator Bob Kerr's organization going for him. Wilkinson by a whisker.

Pennsylvania: Whatever votes Incumbent Republican Hugh Scott, 63, loses in conservative western Pennsylvania because of his dislike of Goldwater, he may recoup elsewhere for the same reason. But a Johnson sweep and a massive turnout by Negro voters could give the race to Democrat Genevieve Blatt, 51. A slight edge to Scott.

Rhode Island: Republican Ronald R. Lagueux, 33, executive counsel to Governor John Chafee, ran for the Senate as a favor to his boss. He stands no chance of thwarting 57-year-old Democrat John Pastore's bid for a third term.

Tennessee: In the only state with two Senate races, a couple of staunch Goldwater Republicans who have never won an election are challenging two veteran Democratic officeholders. Two-term Democrat Albert Gore, 57, is favored over Memphis Businessman Dan H. Kuykendall, 40. But Representative Ross Bass, 46, running to fill the last two years of the late Estes Kefauver's term, may have rougher sledding against Knoxville Attorney Howard Baker Jr., 39, who is Everett Dirksen's son-in-law. Still, the pro-Democratic Negro vote and displeasure over Goldwater's stand on TVA are expected to send two Democrats to the Senate again.

Texas: Republican George Bush, 40, has Democratic Incumbent Ralph Yarborough, 61, running scared. But Yarborough leads.

Utah: Democrat Frank E. Moss, 53, squeaked into the Senate with 38.7% of the vote in 1958 because two Republican opponents split the vote against him. This year he faces only one Republican, former Brigham Young University President Ernest L. Wilkinson, 65, whose conservatism packs potent appeal. The race is tight, but Lyndon will probably carry Moss back for a second term.

Vermont: In his second race against Republican Winston L. Prouty, 58, who won by 5,364 votes in 1958, Democrat Frederick J. Fayette, 53, has eight things going for him. One is Barry Goldwater, and the other seven are Fayette daughters (he has eleven children in all). The girls are stumping for him, plucking guitars and singing Hello, Daddy. But Prouty has the edge.

Virginia: The G.O.P. found somebody to oppose Democrat Harry Byrd, 77, but nobody doubts that Old Harry will go back to the Senate for his sixth term, or that Republican Richard A. May, 68, will go back to his Saluda cattle farm.

Washington: Republican Lloyd J. Andrews, 44, claims that Incumbent Democrat Henry M. ("Scoop") Jackson, 52, "cost Washington 10,000 jobs" by losing the TFX fighter-plane contract, but even Boeing Aircraft's president says it just isn't so. Jackson is the heavy favorite for a third term.

West Virginia: Republican Cooper P. Benedict, 57, a tweedy, wealthy horse-breeder and early Goldwater supporter, is in an uphill fight against Incumbent Democrat Robert C. Byrd, 46. With strong backing from labor, Byrd should win a second term.

Wisconsin: Incumbent Democrat William W. Proxmire, 48, is better known than Republican Wilbur N. Renk, 55, former chairman of the University of Wisconsin's board of regents, also enjoys a reputation as a maverick in a state that loves to elect mavericks. Proxmire has the lead, but he will have to work to keep it.

Wyoming: Starting out as the underdog, Incumbent Democrat Gale McGee, 49, has come on strong against Casper Geologist John S. Wold, 48, a Goldwater man. Though McGee is suspect as a liberal and a former university professor, he has a slender edge.

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