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Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 193

The Magnificent Seven

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Trial Balloon · Ep. 193: The Magnificent Seven

Texas and Iowa Senate Races Move to Toss Up

August 20, 2026 · 12:32 pm ET · Leave a Comment

Cook Political Report: “The battle for the Senate is about to intensify ahead of the traditional Labor Day starting gun. Republicans still retain a structural advantage given the partisan challenges of the map, and Democrats still need almost every key race to break their way. But as we recently wrote, in a wave election akin to 2006, even states that President Donald Trump won by double digits could move within Democrats’ reach.”

“That’s what we see happening in Texas and Iowa. These two races, which had been in the Lean Republican column, now are close enough to merit a move to Toss Up. Even though, on paper, it should be extraordinarily difficult for Democrats to flip seats that Trump won by more than 13 points, it’s increasingly hard to ignore both public and private polling showing them to be more competitive than the Lean category reflects.”

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2026 Campaign, Senate

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Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

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