Issues and Races to Watch in 2014

A look at upcoming policy and political battles.

Same Old, Same Old - Unable to overcome their differences, Congress and President Obama don't have much to show for 2013. As a result, upcoming policy battles will have a familiar ring but will be more intense as lawmakers gear up for this year's mid-term elections — and beyond. Here are the issues that will be front and center and a couple of races to keep your eye on. —  Joyce Jones (@BETpolitichick) (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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Same Old, Same Old - Unable to overcome their differences, Congress and President Obama don't have much to show for 2013. As a result, upcoming policy battles will have a familiar ring but will be more intense as lawmakers gear up for this year's mid-term elections — and beyond. Here are the issues that will be front and center and a couple of races to keep your eye on. —  Joyce Jones (@BETpolitichick) (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Minimum Wage - "Congress should resolve to raise the minimum wage. The average person earning minimum wage is 29. These people are feeding families. America is letting go of its promise of prosperity based on hard work and should never do that," Rep. Keith Ellison told BET.com. (Photo: Fuse/Getty Images)

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Minimum Wage - "Congress should resolve to raise the minimum wage. The average person earning minimum wage is 29. These people are feeding families. America is letting go of its promise of prosperity based on hard work and should never do that," Rep. Keith Ellison told BET.com. (Photo: Fuse/Getty Images)

Gun Control - After a year in which no progress was made on gun control, activists are gearing up to make the issue front and center in 2014. They're also going to hit lawmakers who do not support such measures where they hurt — at the polls. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

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Gun Control - After a year in which no progress was made on gun control, activists are gearing up to make the issue front and center in 2014. They're also going to hit lawmakers who do not support such measures where they hurt — at the polls. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Comprehensive Immigration Reform - Rep. Bob Goodlatte, House Judiciary Committee chairman, says immigration reform will be a "top priority" in 2014. House Speaker John Boehner has hired an expert on the issue and the White House has signaled it would support passing a series of bills. But Democrats and Republicans are on opposite sides of creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, which could be problematic.  (Photo: John Moore/Getty Images)

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Comprehensive Immigration Reform - Rep. Bob Goodlatte, House Judiciary Committee chairman, says immigration reform will be a "top priority" in 2014. House Speaker John Boehner has hired an expert on the issue and the White House has signaled it would support passing a series of bills. But Democrats and Republicans are on opposite sides of creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, which could be problematic.  (Photo: John Moore/Getty Images)

Affordable Care Act - "Congress should do its best to ensure that the health care law is a success," says Howard University political scientist Michael Fauntroy. "Republicans have been doing all they can to try to shoot it down, which at some level is literally operating against the best interests of the country."  (Photo: Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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Affordable Care Act - "Congress should do its best to ensure that the health care law is a success," says Howard University political scientist Michael Fauntroy. "Republicans have been doing all they can to try to shoot it down, which at some level is literally operating against the best interests of the country."  (Photo: Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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The Fiscal Cliff - Congress passed a bipartisan budget bill at the end of 2013 with little fanfare, but don't expect the spirit of cooperation to extend to raising the nation's debt ceiling. Obama and Democrats say they will not negotiate over this issue and Republicans are unlikely to want to raise the debt limit without offsetting at least some of the cost. (Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

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The Fiscal Cliff - Congress passed a bipartisan budget bill at the end of 2013 with little fanfare, but don't expect the spirit of cooperation to extend to raising the nation's debt ceiling. Obama and Democrats say they will not negotiate over this issue and Republicans are unlikely to want to raise the debt limit without offsetting at least some of the cost. (Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

Will Republicans Take the Senate? - The GOP needs to pick up just six seats to win control of Congress' upper chamber. According to David Bositis, senior political analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, African-American voters are key to helping some senators keep their seats. They include North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagin and Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu.  (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Will Republicans Take the Senate? - The GOP needs to pick up just six seats to win control of Congress' upper chamber. According to David Bositis, senior political analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, African-American voters are key to helping some senators keep their seats. They include North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagin and Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu.  (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Can Obama Get Back His Groove? - The first year of Obama's second term was rocky from start to finish. His low approval rating could hurt congressional Democrats already clinging on to their fragile majority in the Senate and desperately seeking to make gains in the House. The president will likely use his upcoming State of the Union address to get back on course and make 2014 the "breakthrough year" he's hoping for. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Can Obama Get Back His Groove? - The first year of Obama's second term was rocky from start to finish. His low approval rating could hurt congressional Democrats already clinging on to their fragile majority in the Senate and desperately seeking to make gains in the House. The president will likely use his upcoming State of the Union address to get back on course and make 2014 the "breakthrough year" he's hoping for. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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Unemployment Insurance Extension - More than one million Americans lost their unemployment benefits in December, but many Republicans oppose extending the multi-billion-dollar safety net. Can Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid shame lawmakers from states with high unemployment into supporting the measure by making them vote no and then have to explain why back home? (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Scott vs. Wade - In what may be a first, two African-Americans will face off in a U.S. Senate race. Obama administration alum Rick Wade is challenging South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. According to Bositis, each will likely win his party's nomination, but Scott has a higher chance of taking the win. (Photos from left: Courtesy of Tim Scott, Courtesy of Rick Wade)

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Scott vs. Wade - In what may be a first, two African-Americans will face off in a U.S. Senate race. Obama administration alum Rick Wade is challenging South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. According to Bositis, each will likely win his party's nomination, but Scott has a higher chance of taking the win. (Photos from left: Courtesy of Tim Scott, Courtesy of Rick Wade)

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Double Standard - When House Speaker John Boehner was the chamber's minority leader, he had plenty to say about Rep. Charles Rangel's alleged ethics violations, and even sponsored a resolution to censure him. But Speaker Boehner's taking the opposite tactic with Republican Rep. Trey Radel, who plead guilty on Nov. 20 to cocaine possession. "If the leadership can find any way to explain this besides politics, I certainly would like to hear it," Rep. Rangel told The Hill. (Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

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Rangel vs. Many - Charles Rangel has represented his Harlem district for 42 years and is hoping to do so at least through the end of Obama's presidency. He is facing challenges within the city and as far afield as New Jersey and acknowledges it's going to be a "tough campaign." But Bositis predicts that the seat will be Rangel's for as long as he wants to fill it.  (Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)

The Environment - Climate change and energy will be key issues in 2014. Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, plan to go on the attack over what they've dubbed Obama's "war on coal."  (Photo: Patrik Stollarz/Getty Images)

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The Environment - Climate change and energy will be key issues in 2014. Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, plan to go on the attack over what they've dubbed Obama's "war on coal."  (Photo: Patrik Stollarz/Getty Images)

2016 - Prospective candidates like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are being coy about whether they're running for president in 2016. But as the year unfolds so will a picture of what the race to replace Obama is going to look like. (Photos from left: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Malaria No More 2013, Kena Betancur/Getty Images)

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2016 - Prospective candidates like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are being coy about whether they're running for president in 2016. But as the year unfolds so will a picture of what the race to replace Obama is going to look like. (Photos from left: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Malaria No More 2013, Kena Betancur/Getty Images)

Social Safety Net - More Americans in 2012 were living below the federal poverty line than before the recession. In 2014, lawmakers will have some tough choices to make, such as whether cutting food stamps, Section 8 vouchers, unemployment insurance and other vital services that enable millions of Americans to barely hang on, is the right thing to do, particularly in an election year. (Photo: REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi)

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Social Safety Net - More Americans in 2012 were living below the federal poverty line than before the recession. In 2014, lawmakers will have some tough choices to make, such as whether cutting food stamps, Section 8 vouchers, unemployment insurance and other vital services that enable millions of Americans to barely hang on, is the right thing to do, particularly in an election year. (Photo: REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi)

Military Service Members - Service members will also get a one percent pay raise in the new year. (Photo: Muniz Ur Zaman/AFP/Getty Images)

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Afghanistan - War weary Americans would rather see the federal government spend its precious resources at home instead of on foreign conflicts. Will Obama be able to honor his pledge to remove U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year? (Photo: MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP/GettyImages)

Moral Mondays - Hundreds of people risked their freedom in 2013 to protest policies by North Carolina's Republican-led state legislature, which they decried as discriminatory.  (Photo: AP Photo/The News & Observer, Travis Long)

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Moral Mondays - The weekly protests are being revived in North Carolina and could spread across the nation. The Joint Center's Bositis says Moral Mondays are resurrecting elements of the civil rights movement, which could be key in battles on crucial issues including efforts to protect voting rights and to close the nation's ever-growing gap in income equality.  (Photo: AP Photo/The News & Observer, Travis Long)