NEVADA: Democratic Senator Howard W. Cannon is a chief target of the Nixon-Agnew guns. Cannon has opened himself to the radicalliberal charge by voting against Haynsworth, Carswell, and the ABM as well as for the Cooper-Church Amendment. These votes took courage, for Nevada is a conservative state, and Cannon's opponent, Republican Rep. William Raggio, has made the most of them. Raggio is a strong law-and-order, victory-in-Vietnam man, and his election to the Senate would be a big boost to the Administration. Agnew has made several trips to the state to aid Raggio's campaign.

The race is rated a tossup, but Cannon has several plusses which could bring him victory. The two most important are his seniority (12 years in the Senate) and Nevada's traditional distrust of outsiders which may cause Agnew's efforts to backfire on the Republicans.

NEW JERSEY: Senator Harrison A. (Pete) Williams is a strong favorite over Republican Nelson G. Gross. Gross has invited Spiro Agnew to the state to aid his campaign, a move which is interpreted as a sign of desperation.

NEW YORK: Pity poor Charlie Goodell. He could have stayed in the House and had a nice, long, obscure career as a Representative. Instead he agreed to fill out the remainder of the term left by Robert F. Kennedy, and immediately got himself in hot water with the Administration, the Republican party, and the New York voters. Goodell had a middle of the road record as a Representative. As a Senator he thought it would be a good idea to be more liberal and veered to the left. He voted against the two Nixon nominations to the Supreme Court; he voted for the Church-Cooper and Hatfield-McGovern bills, and filed his own anti-war measure. Agnew has called him the Christine Jorgensen of the Republican party.

Goodell's problems are not only political. He also faces a severe shortage of money while his Democratic opponent, Rep. Richard Ottinger, is a wealthy businessman who spent over $2 million in winning the Democratic primary. Ottinger is as liberal as Goodell, but as a Democrat, and a wealthy one, he can afford to be.

Agnew's attack on Goodell is helping the third candidate, Conservative James L. Buckley, brother of Yale graduate William Buckley. Buckley is the clear favorite of the Administration. Agnew has all but endorsed him and many Republican leaders around the state are whispering his name lovingly. He is a strong supporter of Agnew, Our Boys in Vietnam, God, and the American Way.

The most recent New York poll shows the three candidates running neck and neck and neck. The New York Times has endorsed Goodell, but the Agnew attacks can be expected to grow sharper as the election nears. Right now it's a tossup, but with the liberals split all to hell, Buckley could be the next Senator.

NEW MEXICO: A classic liberal vs. conservative race pits Senator Joseph Montoya against Republican challenger Anderson Carter. Carter is crisscrossing the state, calling Montoya a radical liberal, and blaming him for the economic recession which has hit New Mexico particularly hard. Carter advocates tough measures against "campus revolutionaries." He supported Goldwater for President in 1964 and Reagan over Nixon in 1968.

Montoya is popular with the Mexican-American segment of the state's population and is a hard campaigner. Despite New Mexico's conservative tinge, it is a heavily Democartic state, and Montoya should have little trouble winning.

NORTH DAKOTA: Liberal Democratic Senator Quentin Burdick is in deep trouble in a state where Agnew is a magic word. Burdick's opponent is Rep. Tom Kleppe who says he is running "because President Nixon asked me to." The war, social legislation, and the economy are major issues, with Kleppe against all three. He has secured the aid of Harry Teleaven, the Madison Ave. executive who directed the advertising campaign of Richard Nixon in 1968. Kleppe is favored.

OHIO: Who is Howard Metzenbaum? Until this spring, many Ohioans had never heard of him. He served briefly and obscurely in the Ohio legislature many years ago but has not held an elective office since 1950. In the years ensuing, he has made a fortune running the Airport Parking Corporation of America.

But he has never been far from polities. In 1964, for example, he served as campaign manager to Democratic Senator Stephen Young, whose seat he now seeks.

The Republican, Robert A. Taft Jr., trying once more to take his father's seat, has been a lackluster Congressman with a dulling personality. He has followed the Nixon Administration's conservatism but Ohio voters have criticized him more for his high absenteeism in the House. Like Metzenbaum, he is wealthy. Unlike Metzenbaum, however, his name has always been a household word. With crowds, he tends to be standoffish, in sharp contrast to Metzenbaum's easy ways as a campaigner.

Overall, Metzenbaum may benefit from the scandals that have been coming periodically from the Republican controlled State House. He also stands to gain from the slipping economy, especially in northern Ohio where the auto strike has idled thousands. Metzenbaum may lose, however, if the 21st District Caucus, a predominantly black Democratic group formed by Congressman Louis Stokes and his brother Carl, Cleveland's mayor, who have been making electoral alliances with local Republicans, forces toward a split in Ohio's surprisingly united Democratic ranks.

PENNSYLVANIA: Senator Hugh Scott, the Senate Minority Leader, is not the most consistent of politicians. For example, Scott voted against the Supreme Court nomination of G. Harrold Carswell, and then turned around and "admitted" he had made "a damn fool mistake." Nevertheless, the Democratic challenger for Scott's seat, State Senator William G. Sesler, is running a poor race. He suffers from lack of recognition and lack of money. Scott seems a shoo-in.