Nine Senate Seats Are In Play

Charlie Cook: “Suffice it to say that the president is a major liability for GOP Senate candidates. By my count, nine Senate races are now genuinely competitive: six in GOP hands (Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Ohio, and Texas) and three held by Democrats (Michigan, Minnesota, and New Hampshire).”

“Only four of the nine have incumbents still in the hunt, all Republicans: Sens. Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Susan Collins of Maine, and Jon Husted of Ohio. All three Democratic seats on this very competitive list are open. Out of all nine, the one real surprise to me is Kansas; I was dismissive of such talk until the last few weeks.”

“Arithmetically speaking—and I emphasize this is purely theoretical—the range of outcomes could be anywhere from a net loss by Democrats of three seats to a net loss for Republicans of six. The two extreme outcomes are almost impossible, but it does make the point that there are nine very tight races and the range of outcomes is mind-boggling. It should be remembered that in the end, the tightest races rarely split down the middle—half going to one party, the other in the opposite direction. The breaks tend to go overwhelmingly in one direction.”