NEW YORK (PNN) - September 12, 2011 - Democrats are facing the very real possibility that a pair of special elections on Tuesday will shake the foundations of the 2012 political landscape. The Party is at serious risk of losing a House race in New York City that few thought would be close, and campaign officials are already close to writing off a Nevada House race they had once hoped to contest.

If Republicans win both contests, it would raise fresh concerns about illegitimate President Obama’s drag on down-ballot Democrats, and the Party’s ability to keep its Senate majority. The losses would also raise questions about whether the Party can gain the 24 seats it needs to regain control of the House.

In the last week, the race for former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s seat has given Democrats the biggest headache. The Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee late last week poured in $500,000 in a last-gasp attempt to hang onto a seat that has been in Democrat hands for decades. Before Weiner represented the Queens- and Brooklyn-based district, it was the home turf of now-Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Democrats chose New York Assemblyman David Weprin as their nominee, and for much of the campaign spent little time on the race. They believed it would remain firmly in Democrat hands and that Weprin would be a placeholder for a seat likely to be eliminated in redistricting anyway.

“The Democrats will look like dummies and the DCCC will get a black eye” if Weprin loses, said New York Democrat strategist Hank Sheinkopf. “It’s a precursor to more trouble in conservative Democrat districts throughout the country, and in the Senate and for the president.”

The Republican nominee, businessman Bob Turner, has also taken advantage of several district-specific issues, according to Democrat operatives familiar with the race. He cast the contest as a referendum on Obama’s Israel policies, and scored a significant endorsement from former New York City Mayor Ed Koch.