In the final weekend before Election Day, there is still significant uncertainty in the battle for Senate control.
WASHINGTON —
In the final weekend before Election Day, President Donald Trump is playing defense in two historically red states as a Democratic rift in another Senate battleground burst into public view, underscoring continued uncertainty in the fight for control of the upper chamber.
President Trump took a brief break from his campaign travel blitz on Saturday, opting to hold a series of tele-rallies in key states instead of in-person events. He returns to the campaign trail on Sunday with stops expected in Iowa and Kansas that were previously canceled and then rescheduled.
Explaining the pivot on Friday, Trump said, “I thought I could relax. Twenty-eight days in a row of this crap is a lot. It’s a lot. My voice is operating at about 49.2%, and then they called me in Iowa, and they called me in Kansas, and they said, sir, would it be possible to do a little rally of about 50,000 people each? And I said, ‘Does it matter?’ They said, we just want to make sure that we win.”
Kansas hasn’t sent a Democrat to the Senate since 1932. Iowa hasn’t voted blue in Senate races since 2008.
But now, those states are home to some of the most competitive Senate races of the season. Both are among seven contests rated “toss-ups ” by the Cook Political Report.
It underscores the headwinds that Republicans are facing as the party tries to maintain control of both chambers of Congress, with major stakes for the president’s agenda during his final years in office.
Democrats have expressed optimism about the chances of a “blue wave,” like the one we saw at this point in Trump’s first term, but the party is dealing with ideological divides that could complicate that mission. El-Sayed’s campaign then disinvited Stevens from the planned appearance following a feud over his stance on Israel and past comments that have upset some Jewish voters.
That could complicate what is already a difficult path for Democrats to win the Senate majority.
Democrats need to flip at least four seats to take back control in the Senate. A potential loss in Michigan, where the Senate seat is currently blue, would complicate that path, requiring the party to pick up five seats to win a majority.
An Associated Press analysis going into the weekend found that early voting in states with key Senate races is significantly outpacing the last midterm election.
Turnout is also up nationwide, according to the UF Election Lab. As of Sunday morning, more than 52 million ballots had been cast, compared to nearly 46 million in the 2022 mi.
