Republicans are looking at “historic losses” in the upcoming midterm elections, with new polling showing the GOP lagging in eight battleground Senate races, a top strategist has warned. Historically, the party of the president has almost always lost House seats in the midterm elections, but the Senate polling has GOP operatives especially worried. Republicans currently hold slim majorities in both the House and the Senate.
With just two months until the elections, Republicans are down 8 points in North Carolina, 7.5 points in Georgia, 2.6 points in Ohio, 2.3 points in Maine, 1.9 points in Texas, and 2 points in Alaska and New Hampshire, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate data for the upcoming Senate races. The bleak polling comes as President Donald Trump has resumed strikes against Iran, and the cost of living remains the most pressing issue for voters. Not everyone is convinced by the polling.
Veteran GOP pollster Jim McLaughlin told the outlet that “Republicans are in much better shape than what a lot of these media polls are showing,” referring to private polling. While the president isn’t on the ballot, Republican candidates and political operatives in battleground states are hopeful that Trump will throw his political weight behind them, as he has done in South Carolina for Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of the late South Carolina Sen. Trump’s affiliated MAGA Inc. super PAC dropped more than $800,000 in ad spending and organizing costs to secure Graham the GOP Senate nomination.
A strategist involved in several key battleground races told Politico that it was time to “put up or shut up” for the president and his allies. Fox News personality Laura Ingraham last week urged Republicans to “get their act together” ahead of the midterms, while conservative activist Ned Ryun, the CEO of America Majority, warned that the GOP risks losing control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
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