“Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) is poised to become the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the 2022 cycle as Democrats seek to defend their control of the 50-50 split Senate,” Politico reports.

“Peters is beginning his second term after winning a narrow victory over Republican John James in Michigan last year in one of just two competitive races featuring Democratic incumbents defending their seats. Democrats took control of the Senate majority after flipping four seats — in Arizona, Colorado and both Georgia seats — and losing just one, in Alabama.”

“Republicans are worried that a corporate backlash stirred by the deadly Capitol insurrection could crimp a vital stream of campaign cash, complicating the party’s prospects of retaking the Senate in the next election,” the AP reports.

“The GOP already faces a difficult Senate map in 2022, when 14 Democratic-held seats and 20 Republican ones will be on the ballot. That includes at least two open seats that Republicans will be defending because of the retirements of GOP Sens. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Richard Burr of North Carolina.”

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told Fox News that Democratic “overreach” in the coming years will help propel the GOP back into the Senate majority in 2022.

Said Scott: “Over the next two years, the Democrats are going to try to do a whole bunch of things that the public doesn’t want.”

The chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) should not challenge Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) in the 2022 Democratic primary, according to the New York Post.

Said Jay Jacobs: “I think it would be a primary driven by ambition more than by need.”

“Two years ago, Democrats celebrated a sweep of seven Republican-held congressional seats in California as evidence of the party’s growing ability to compete in swing districts here and across the nation. ut this year, Republicans snatched back four of those seats even as Joe Biden swamped President Trump in California. The losses stunned Democrats and contributed to the razor-thin margin the party will hold in the House of Representatives this January,” the New York Times reports.

“The turnaround is testimony to how competitive the seats are, particularly in Orange County, once a bastion of conservative Republicanism that has been moving steadily Democratic over the past 20 years. But by any measure, the results were a setback for Democrats in this state and nationally, signaling the steep obstacles they will face in 2022 competing in the predominantly suburban swing districts that fueled their takeover of the House in 2018.

“President Trump has instructed his top political advisers to begin monitoring potential 2022 GOP primary targets, as he lashes out at fellow Republicans whom he deems disloyal,” Politico reports.

“With less than a month until Trump leaves office, his team has begun mapping out what his post-White House political infrastructure will look like. Until now, the planning has centered on deploying resources to defeat Democrats in midterm races. But advisers are now also keeping tabs on Republican incumbents.”

“Trump in recent weeks has used his Twitter feed to attack Republicans for failing to get behind his unfounded claims the election was stolen with him. But his team is now taking more formal steps — such as tracking their public comments — with an eye toward possibly marshaling the president’s political operation to replace them with more Trump-friendly figures.”

President Trump backed a 2022 challenge to Sen. John Thune (R-SD), tweeting that his political career will be “over” and calling Thune a “RINO” and “Mitch’s boy.”

He added: “South Dakota doesn’t like weakness.”