HELENA — Two dozen key legislative races today will help determine party control of the 2015 Montana Legislature, where Republicans currently hold a 29-21 edge in the Senate and a 61-39 majority in the House.

Here's a closer look at some of those races:

Senate District 11 (Great Falls): Republican state Sen. Ed Buttrey, a first-term Republican, is being challenged by social worker Vonnie Brown, a Democrat, in this district that leans Democratic. Buttrey, who owns several businesses, says he's a "solution-minded legislator" who tries to solve problems rather than make political statements. Brown says she's been running a strong grassroots campaign and talking about the need to expand Medicaid and support public education.

SD14 (Havre, Fort Benton, Chester): Two incumbents from Havre -- Sen. Greg Jergeson, a Democrat, and Rep. Kris Hansen, a Republican -- are squaring off in this huge Senate district that includes the city of Havre and stretches south to the outskirts of Great Falls. Redistricting wrote Jergeson out of his old Senate district and he's trying to pick up this new, open seat that had been in Republican hands.

Jergeson is touting his role in the coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans that passed major bills at the 2013 Legislature, including a school funding rewrite. Hansen says she's emphasizing her belief in smaller government and how the Legislature should resist federal overreach into health care, education and other issues.

SD32 (southwest Bozeman, Gallatin Gateway, West Yellowstone): Democratic state Rep. Franke Wilmer, a political science professor at Montana State University, is attempting to win this newly drawn district that's been in Republican hands. The new district, which runs south all the way to West Yellowstone, now includes a chunk of Bozeman, including student housing, which Wilmer says makes it lean more Democratic.

Her opponent for this open seat is Republican Jedediah Hinkle, a fisheries technician for the U.S. Forest Service. Both are from Bozeman. Wilmer says she's been knocking on doors and telling people she likes to work across the aisle to solve the state's problems. Hinkle could not be reached for comment.

SD42 (Helena, East Helena): In another newly drawn, open district, former state Rep. Jill Cohenour, a Democrat from East Helena, is running against Republican Joe Dooling, a rancher and project manager for an engineering firm.

The district leans Democrat, and Dooling has been campaigning as moderate, "independent" Republican who supports using coal-tax trust funds to rebuild public schools across the state. Cohenour, a chemist for the state environmental laboratory, says she's opposed to tapping the trust fund revenue, but that she's a strong supporter of public schools. She's also touting her legislative experience.

House District 28 (Havre): In this new open seat, Democrats are hoping they can re-establish a foothold in a city where they once ruled, but haven't won a legislative seat since 2009. Democrat Janet Tretheway, a Havre city councilwoman, is running against Republican Stephanie Hess, a social worker.

HD38 (Miles City): Republicans hope to pick up this open, Eastern Montana seat being vacated by moderate Democrat Bill McChesney, who is running for the state Senate. Retired locksmith Kenneth Holmlund, a Republican, is opposing Democrat Steven Muggli. Both are from Miles City.

HD55 (Laurel, southwest Yellowstone County): Republicans have held this seat for most of the past 20 years, but sometimes only by slim margins. It's now an open seat because Republican Rep. Krayton Kerns is termed out. Democrat Don "Doc" Woerner, a Laurel veterinarian who narrowly lost to Kerns in 2008, is facing off against Republican Vince Ricci, the owner of a convenience store, restaurant and Laundromat.

HD82 (central Helena): Rep. Liz Bangerter, a two-term Republican in this Democratic-leaning district, is being challenged by Democrat Moffie Funk, a middle-school teacher. Both candidates have been campaigning door-to-door for months and sending multiple mailers, in what may be one of the most expensive House races in the state.

Funk says she believes she better represents the district, because of her support for Medicaid expansion and opposition to creating charter schools or tax credits that support private schools, or transferring federal public lands to the state. Bangerter says she listens well to both political sides, has been a strong supporter of public employees, and wants to promote "responsible natural resource development" to provide jobs.

(c)2014 The Montana Standard