Democrats face “minimum opportunities” to regain the Senate majority in next year’s midterm elections, nonpartisan political grooming predicts.
Republicans defend seats in 22 states in 2026 compared to just 13 Democrats, but Cook Report’s first Senate rankings in the new election cycle aim to help Democrats regain control of the room It points to the tough road.
Senate Republicans enjoyed a highly lucrative map in the 2024 cycle, flipping four seats from blue to red, along with President Donald Trump recaptured the White House and the GOP’s successful defenses They attacked a majority of 53-47. The majority of their razor-thin houses.
Cook suggests Senator and Governor editor Jessica Taylor to watch the new Senate fight and “the challenge to net the four seats Democrats need to regain their majority looks like Herakurian.” did.
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Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, who chairs the Democratic Senate Election Committee, was interviewed by Fox News Digital at the Democratic National Convention held in Chicago on August 19, 2024. (Fox News – Paulsteinhauser)
Cook Report ranks two seats by throwing them in, both being dominated by Democrats.
They are on the battlefield in Michigan – Senator Garry Peters announced two weeks ago that he would not seek re-election in 2026. In the Senate.
Trump overturned Michigan in the election last November, but it was repeated at the time. Elissa Slotkin narrowly framed former Republican Rep. Mike Rodgers with a race to take over longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stavenow. Rogers is currently seriously considering his second straight bid for the Senate.
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In Georgia, former President Joe Biden, who flipped after Trump lost the state in a 2020 election defeat, Cook’s report calls Ossoff “the most at-risk incumbent overall.” I’m here.
Republicans across the state and across the country are urging Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who is on term limit in 2026, to challenge Ossoff.
The Cook Report ranks the leading New England swing states in New Hampshire as Lean Democrats.
New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen will speak on Tuesday, October 22, 2024 in Concord, New Hampshire before the arrival of then-President Joe Biden to reduce the costs of prescription drugs. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
The former governor’s longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen has yet to announce whether she will seek another term. Additionally, while plugging in to Democrats in the Granite State, she told Fox News for the past few months that she hoped Shaheen, now 78, will run for reelection, but she recently said that last year It surprised many politicians who announced sparse funding in the fourth quarter.
Former Republican Sen. Scott Brown, who served as New Zealand’s ambassador in Trump’s first term in the White House, began his second run in the New Hampshire Senate, making a move decades after a slight loss to Shaheen. I’m moving forward.
Trump-backed GOP Senate candidate in 2024 in Key Battlegrounds State moving towards another run in 2026
There are no Senate seats held by Republicans, but the two are rated as lean Republicans in the Cook Report.
They are Maine, where moderate GOP Sen. Susan Collins is run for reelection in Trump, the state lost in November last year. Also, Republican Sen. Tom Tillis is seeking another term in Trump, a state that was transported narrowly last year.
Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins heads to the Senator’s floor to vote in Washington, DC on January 23, 2024 (Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Cook lists both races as lean Republicans, but Taylor points out that “the rating could change if Democrats recruit strong candidates.”
These Democratic candidates could be former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who finished his second term earlier this year, and Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who will serve his term in 2026.
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When it comes to potentially competitive races, Cook Report ranks Ohio as a Republican. Gop Gov. Mike Dewine ordered Husted last month to fill the seat previously held by President Jon Jd Vance. Husted is currently running in 2026 to fill the final two years of Vance’s term.
Ohio, once a major battlefield state, has shifted to a deep red in the recent election cycle, and whether Sen. Sherrod Brown, a former Democrat who lost re-election last year, will make another bid in 2026. was unknown.
Cook also lists Minnesota, where Democrat Sen. Tina Smith is standing up for reelection next year, as a Democrat.
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott said he is chairman of the National Republican Senators Committee and when asked in a Fox News digital interview last November about how many seats he was aiming for in 2026, he said. “I want to see 55,” he said. Mid-term.
Additionally, last weekend at the Senate GOP Campaign Committee’s winter meeting, Scott said, “It’s either going to reach 55 or even reach 56,” according to a source attending a confab in Palm Beach, Florida. I believe there is,” he repeated.
Powers whose cycle is clearly Republicans have traditionally faced election headwinds in midterm elections.
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But Taylor, who has pointed out the recent vote, points out that the Democrats’ “party brand is… deeply unpopular.”
“Even if Democrats could defend all incumbents and open seats on their side and turn both those states over, it would leave them alone in a total majority. Add “It’s difficult to find targets for this,” Taylor emphasized.
