Some Washington insiders believe that the Republican Party is in danger of losing control of the U.S. Senate in November, The Hill reported on Sunday.
Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the upper chamber, which means that Democrats would need to win at least three or four seats to take control.
“We’re in a bad place right now,” a veteran GOP operative said.
The operative noted that Sens. Cory Gardner of Colorado, Martha McSally of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina all seem to be in danger of losing their seats. All four are lagging behind their challengers in latest polling.
The contests in Georgia and Iowa seem to have become competitive as well.
In Georgia, Democrat Jon Ossoff outraised Republican incumbent David Perdue by more than $1.7 million in the second quarter of 2020.
In the Hawkeye State, Sen. Joni Ernst will have to fend off Theresa Greenfield, who appears to be a strong challenger. In fact, latest polling suggests that Ernst is trailing her opponent.
As one Democratic strategist put it, “In a world where the Iowa Senate race is one of the most competitive races, that’s bad for Republicans.”
With less than four months until the November election, Democrats seem to be in a good position in the presidential race as well.
According to the RealClearPolitics average of polling data, President Donald Trump is trailing former Vice President Joe Biden by 9 percentage points nationwide.
If Biden wins the White House, Democrats will need to win only three seats in the upper chamber.
Notably, they seem to have a financial advantage over their opponents. In the 15 most competitive Senate races, Democratic candidates outraised their Republican counterparts by $32 million.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised around $34 million in the second quarter of the year.
When it comes to fundraising, GOP candidates are reportedly trailing their opponents in Kentucky, Colorado, Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Kansas, Georgia, Arizona, Iowa, Maine and Alaska.
Still, some GOP operatives believe there is no need to panic.
According to Sen. Ted Cruz’s former chief of staff, David Polyansky, liberal politicians are becoming overconfident.
“It sure seems that their eyes have become exceedingly bigger than their stomach,” Polyansky said.
“It’s 100 days out, and 100 days in normal politics can feel like a decade and in 2020, 100 days can feel like a century. A lot’s going to happen between now and then that will significantly impact these races, good, bad or indifferent,” he added.
