Harry Reid: Senate control hangs on one key race

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said Saturday that a Republican takeover of the Senate will likely depend on the outcome of the Iowa Senate race.

"What Joni Ernst would mean, coming to the United States Senate, is that Mitch McConnell would be the leader of the Senate, someone who agrees with her on virtually everything. Think what that would mean to our country," Reid said Saturday, according to Roll Call.

Republican Joni Ernst is neck and neck with Rep. Bruce Braley, the Democratic candidate. Reid was participating in a conference call organized by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which was phone banking for Braley.

The latest CBS News/New York Times Battleground Tracker had the two tied at 44 percent each.

There are several very close Senate races and many Democratic senators who are running in red states stand to lose their jobs if Republicans win big Tuesday. But Reid seemed confident that a win in Iowa would be a measure of broad success for Democrats nationwide - and that several other races are safer.

"If we win Iowa, we're going to do just fine," he said. "Iowa is a key in what we do. You know, we're doing really quite well now in New Hampshire. I think we're going to win in North Carolina. I'm not going to go through all the races. Iowa is critical. There's no other way to say it."

McConnell, the Senate minority leader, stands to take Reid's job if Democrats lose. He has his own tight race against Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes but appears to have more of an edge than Braley. The Battleground Tracker put McConnell up, 45 percent to 39 percent, against Grimes, more than the 4 percent margin of error.