With Republicans certain to gain House seats next Tuesday — the only real question is how many — it’s enough to make you want to tune out and focus on the Senate. Peel back a layer or two, though, and there’s actually plenty of drama to keep things interesting the final week. 
 
 In California, a much-hyped contender is trying to fend off explosive last-minute sexual harassment accusations and save his candidacy. In Arizona, a former Air Force fighter pilot who’s fallen behind is trying to mount a comeback. In Nebraska, the national GOP is gambling that a TV commercial that’s been compared to the infamous Willie Horton ad will put a beleaguered incumbent over the top. 
 
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 And in New York, an indicted congressman who once threatened to toss a reporter over a balcony just might defy his critics and win another term. 
 
 (POLITICO's 2014 race ratings) 
 
 Here’s POLITICO’s look at the five most suspenseful House races in the 2014 homestretch. 
 
 Arizona’s 2nd 
 
 It’s one of the most scrutinized races in the country, pitting Democratic Rep. Ron Barber, a popular congressman and shooting spree survivor, and Republican Martha McSally, a retired Air Force officer who was the first female to fly in combat. 
 
 Now, it looks to be headed for a photo finish. 
 
 For most of the year, Barber has maintained a steady lead over McSally, successfully portraying himself as a moderate figure in a swing district. McSally has waged what’s been widely seen as a lackluster campaign, spending more time talking about her personal history than her policy positions. 
 
 (Full 2014 election results) 
 
 But operatives from both sides believe McSally is closing the gap thanks to an infusion of cash from Republican groups who view her as a rising star and future party leader. Over the last month, Republicans have outspent Democrats on the TV airwaves $1.75 million to $1.25 million. 
 
 Worth keeping on eye on: What role former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Barber’s former boss, plays in the final week of the contest. The former congresswoman, who along with Barber survived the Jan. 2011 Tucson massacre, has been airing TV commercials voicing her support for Barber, who succeeded her in Congress. 
 
 California’s 52nd 
 
 Republican Carl DeMaio, a former San Diego councilman and one of his party’s highest profile recruits, nearly saw his campaign collapse this month when an ex-staffer accused him of sexual harassment. 
 
 But DeMaio is still in the hunt. An independent poll released last week showed him running neck and neck, 46 percent to 45 percent, with Democratic Rep. Scott Peters. DeMaio, who’s denied the allegations, also got a boost when law enforcement officials recently said they would not be pursuing charges against him. 
 
 (POLITICO's polling center) 
 
 Many GOP strategists still see DeMaio as the underdog. In a politically moderate district, they point out, Peters has succeeded in driving up negative sentiment of DeMaio by tying him to the tea party. They also worry that the harassment accusations, true or not, will leave him damaged. 
 
 But DeMaio’s party is sticking by him, convinced he has a path to victory. Republican groups intend to drop $1.2 million on TV ads in the final week in hopes of pushing him over the top. 
 
 Nebraska’s 2nd 
 
 It will be remembered as one of the most explosive TV commercials of the year. 
 
 Produced by the National Republican Congressional Committee, the ad accuses Democratic state legislator Brad Ashford of supporting a “good time law” that allowed murderer Nikko Jenkins to be released from prison early. It drew immediate comparisons to the racially-charged 1988 “Willie Horton” commercial and was rebuked by members of both parties. Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who is African American, called it “racist.” 
 
 But some Republicans believe the spot could deliver a badly-needed jolt to GOP Rep. Lee Terry, who has waged an uninspiring campaign. The congressman has been hurt by a series of self-inflicted wounds, including his remark during the government shutdown that he would continue receiving a federal paycheck because he had a “nice house” to pay for. 
 
 Whatever one’s opinion of the Jenkins ad, it cut through the clutter in a way few commercials do. Many strategists say the race, one of Democrats’ top pickup opportunities, could go either way. 
 
 New York’s 11th 
 
 Just a few months ago, who would have guessed that scandal-plagued GOP Rep. Michael Grimm would be on his way to reelection? 
 
 Yet that’s precisely what appears to be happening. Operatives from both parties say Democrat Domenic Recchia is trailing Grimm, who faces a 20-count federal indictment in connection to his past management of a Manhattan health food restaurant and who in January threatened to throw a journalist off a Capitol Hill balcony. 
 
 It’s a circumstance that has much to do with the ideological nature of the Staten Island-based district, which has long favored Republicans. But it also may have something to do with Recchia himself. The former New York city councilman, who’s repeatedly stumbled over policy questions, has faced questions about his intellectual aptitude. He was recently lampooned on the Daily Show. 
 
 Recchia might not be done yet, however. On Monday, a national Democratic group, House Majority PAC, announced that it would be spending $1.7 million on a last-ditch push to oust Grimm. 
 
 West Virginia’s 3rd 
 
 Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall has been a mainstay of Capitol Hill, for nearly four decades representing a West Virginia district even as it turned deeply conservative. 
 
 Now, his time may be up. After months of attacks from Republican groups, many of them funded by the Koch brothers, Rahall is teetering. Internal polling from both parties shows him narrowly trailing Republican Evan Jenkins, a state senator who last year switched parties. Jenkins has presented Rahall, who typically skates to reelection, with his most serious challenge since 1990. 
 
 Much of the GOP barrage has focused on tethering Rahall to President Barack Obama, who is deeply unpopular in a state that views him as an enemy of the coal industry. It also painted Rahall, 65, as a congressman who’s gradually lost touch with his constituents. 
 
 If Jenkins can sustain his lead through the final week of the race and defeat Rahall, it would give Republicans control of a deep red seat that’s almost certain to remain in their column for years to come. ||||| Some of the most interesting and important elections of 2014 are happening in the House of Representatives. While overall control of the House is not in doubt—even the most partisan Democrats concede that not only will John Boehner remain speaker but that the GOP will likely pick up seats—there are an array of peculiar and competitive elections this year that combine to shed interesting light on this odd election season. Even though 32 races aren’t even contested and only 64 out of 435 seats are considered even slightly competitive, there’s still plenty of action. Here are eight of the most interesting House races of 2014. 
 
 Massachusetts’s 6th DistrictSeth Moulton (D) v. Richard Tisei (R) 
 
 Is 2014 such a bad year for Democrats that a Republican could win in Massachusetts? Richard Tisei is an openly gay Republican former state legislator making his second bid for Congress on the Bay State’s North Shore. Tisei’s chances took a big hit this year when incumbent Democrat John Tierney lost his primary to Seth Moulton, a relatively unknown Iraq War veteran. Tierney had been embroiled in scandal when his wife pleaded guilty to tax fraud in connection to an online gambling ring run by her two brothers. As a result, Tisei almost beat Tierney in the Democratic year of 2012 and was primed to win a rematch. Now, with Moulton on the ballot, Tisei still has a chance in the most Republican-leaning district in Massachusetts, but it’s an uphill battle on turf that President Obama won by 11 points in 2012. 
 
 Nebraska’s 2nd DistrictBrad Ashford (D) v. Incumbent Lee Terry (R) 
 
 In deep-red Nebraska, by contrast, even with Obama’s massive unpopularity Democrats could pick up a congressional seat. Incumbent Lee Terry has never been terribly popular in his district, which includes all of Omaha and much of the city’s suburbs. But Terry has really been in trouble this year after he insisted he wouldn’t give up his paycheck during the 2013 government shutdown because “Dang straight…I’ve got a nice house and a kid in college.” The resulting furor has kept Terry on the defensive against Democrat Brad Ashford and forced groups supporting the Republican incumbent to air “Willie Horton-style” negative ads on his behalf. Strategists from both parties suggest this race could go either way. 
 
 Florida’s 26th DistrictIncumbent Joe Garcia (D) v. Carlos Curbelo (R) 
 
 Florida is famously weird, but the rest of the state looks normal compared to the bizarre politics in South Florida’s 26th District. First term Democratic incumbent Joe Garcia won election in 2012 by beating Republican David Rivera, currently an unindicted co-conspirator in a federal fraud investigation. But Garcia has been tied to scandal himself. His former chief of staff has pleaded guilty to voter fraud. And, even worse in some people’s eyes, Garcia has been accused of eating his own earwax on live television. Garcia’s opponent, Carlos Curbelo, is a rising Republican star who has been caught up in several scandals of his own stemming from his career as an unregistered lobbyist. The election is expected to be a tossup in this heavily Cuban American South Florida district. However, the uproar over Curbelo’s description of Social Security and Medicare as “Ponzi schemes” may be just enough to keep the Republican from winning in November. 
 
 West Virginia’s 3rd DistrictIncumbent Nick Rahall (D) v. Evan Jenkins (R) 
 
 Democrat Nick Rahall is one of the longest-serving members of Congress in Washington. First elected in his coal-mining southern West Virginia district in 1976, he has accumulated more seniority than all but six other members of Congress, three of whom are retiring this year. But while Rahall’s district was a Democratic bastion when he won his first race, it is now fervently Republican, and Mitt Romney won almost two-thirds of the votes there in 2012. This year’s race has turned into one of the ugliest, nastiest and most expensive campaigns of the cycle, as Republican state Sen. Evan Jenkins, who switched parties to run for the seat, dukes it out with the longtime incumbent. The race represents perhaps the last stand for Democrats in Appalachia, as social and environmental issues trigger a massive political realignment in the region. 
 
 West Virginia’s 2nd DistrictNick Casey (D) v. Alex Mooney (R) 
 
 Even with Rahall on the ropes, Democrats still have some hope in the Mountain State. With longtime Republican incumbent Shelley Moore Capito running for Senate, the GOP nominated a very conservative former state senator named Alex Mooney. While Mooney is slightly more conservative than the median voter in his solidly Republican district, that doesn’t hurt him too much. What does is the fact that the state Senate district he represented until 2010 is across the Potomac River in Maryland. The result is that Mooney, who also ran for the New Hampshire state Legislature while a Dartmouth undergrad, has been attacked as a carpetbagger. His opponent, Nick Casey, is a longtime Democratic Party stalwart who has run a strong campaign and seems to have the momentum in the race. The question is whether that will be enough for a non-incumbent in a Republican year in a state where Obama is about as popular as getting a root canal. 
 
 New York’s 11th DistrictDomenic Recchia (D) v. Incumbent Michael Grimm (R) 
 
 In this Staten Island-based district, which Obama won in 2012, Democrat Domenic Recchia has a significant fundraising advantage and Republican incumbent Michael Grimm is facing a 20-count indictment, so why is the race still close? Although the National Republican Congressional Committee cut Grimm off after his indictment, the two-term incumbent—best known for threatening a reporter with violence on camera—has remained popular in his district. Part of that is geography: Grimm is from Staten Island, which makes up a significant majority of the district, while Recchia is from Brooklyn, and his candidacy has aroused parochial feelings west of the Verrazano Bridge. Recchia is also not a great candidate. The Democrat attracted national attention when he was mocked on The Daily Show for touting his foreign policy expertise, which consisted of running an exchange program with students from Japan. It’s still hard to imagine Grimm will win reelection, but Recchia is doing all he can to give hope to the embattled Republican. 
 
 Colorado’s 6th DistrictAndrew Romanoff (D) v. Incumbent Mike Coffman (R) 
 
 This suburban Denver district was ground zero for the new Democratic coalition built by Obama. Once staunchly Republican territory represented by conservative Tom Tancredo, the district was won twice by Obama, and Democrats had recruited a top-tier candidate to run in former House speaker Andrew Romanoff. But it looks like three-term incumbent Mike Coffman will hold off Romanoff, as much because of statewide and national factors as the lean of the district. Democrats are struggling up and down the ticket in the Rocky Mountain State. Both incumbent Gov. John Hickenlooper and Sen. Mark Udall are struggling against Republican opponents in races where they were favored only a few months ago. With national Democrats focused on defending vulnerable incumbents, Romanoff has an uphill fight. 
 
 Arizona’s 2nd DistrictIncumbent Ron Barber (D) v. Martha McSally (R) 
 
 In the Tucson-based seat formerly held by Gabby Giffords, Democratic incumbent Ron Barber is facing a rematch against Republican Martha McSally. In 2012, the race was so close that it wasn’t called for Barber until nearly two weeks after Election Day. Both candidates have strong biographies. Barber, Giffords’s former district director, was wounded in the 2011 attempt on her life in a supermarket parking lot that killed six. McSally, an Air Force veteran, was the first American woman to fly in combat. Strategists from both parties expect the race to come down to a few hundred votes in either direction in a swing seat that both John McCain and Mitt Romney barely won.
– Given the stakes, you may be tempted to focus more on Senate races next Tuesday than House ones—but there's plenty of political drama to hold your attention in the lower chamber. Among the most interesting races: In New York's 11th district, a man facing a federal indictment on 20 counts—who also threatened on camera to hurl a reporter off a balcony—is actually leading the race, both parties say. Republican Rep. Michael Grimm is ahead of Domenic Recchia in a red area of Staten Island, and Recchia hasn't helped himself with befuddled discussions of policy, Politico reports. In California's 52nd, a poll shows Democratic Rep. Scott Peters with 45% of the vote to ex-San Diego councilman Carl DeMaio's 46%. DeMaio is facing trouble over accusations of sexual harassment from a former staffer; he denies them, and police aren't looking to charge him. The GOP is still hopeful. In West Virginia's 3rd, an almost four-decade incumbent is grappling with Koch-funded attacks pushing his association with President Obama. Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall is now just behind Republican Evan Jenkins in both parties' polls—and if Jenkins wins, Republicans are poised to hold onto the seat for a long time. Here's an odd one: Both candidates running in Florida's 26th are caught up in scandals, and perhaps the weirdest is the accusation that Democratic incumbent Joe Garcia ate his own earwax on TV, the Daily Beast reports. But opponent Carlos Curbelo has taken flak for calling Medicare and Social Security "Ponzi schemes." In Nebraska's 2nd, the race could hinge on an inflammatory ad. Former RNC chairman Michael Steele says the ad, which targets Democratic state lawmaker Brad Ashford, is "racist." The spot argues that Ashford backed a "good time law" resulting in the early release of convicted murderer Nikko Jenkins. The district offers Democrats a chance at a new seat, but some in the GOP believe the ad could help the party keep it. Of course, some people think this election is pretty boring...