The midterm battle map continues to expand, as Republicans scramble to put out brush fires across the country in the all-out fight for control of the House and Senate.
asserted
Republicans → continue → House
On Saturday, Trump flew to Clarksville, Tennessee for a rally in his latest jaunt into deep red southern states.
asserted
Trump → fly → states
The president scratched plans to fly to Tuscaloosa to catch the Alabama-Georgia game Saturday night because of Hurricane Isaias.
asserted
president → scratch → Isaias
Last week, Trump was in Ohio, a state he carried by 11 points in 2024, to try to bolster incumbent Sen. John Husted (R-Ohio) and candidate for governor Vivek Ramaswamy, who each find themselves in tight races.
asserted
who → carry → races
A new Marist University poll has former Sen. Sherrod Brown up 8% over Husted, who was appointed in 2027 to fill the seat of Vice President JD Vance.
asserted
who → have → Vance
Some experts, including prognosticator Nate Silver, consider the state a “slightly easier” flip for Democrats than Maine, where Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is relying on decades of experience outperforming her party while her opponent Troy Jackson has made stumbles after prior nominee Graham Platner’s implosion.
asserted
opponent → include → implosion
Even deep red Nebraska is getting the president’s time and attention, as soaring gas and diesel prices take a toll on farmers.
asserted
prices → get → farmers
He traveled there Oct. 5 for the first time since 2022.
asserted
He → travel → 2022
“I think the president’s coming to Nebraska to help me campaign so I can get reelected,” Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) told reporters bluntly before the visit, after polls showed a tight race with Dem-backed independent Dan Osborne.
asserted
polls → think → Osborne
It’s the same prairie fire that has put GOP Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall into the column of competitive races.
asserted
that → ’ → races
“They will win in all those places.
asserted
They → win → places
The atmosphere is not great but I’ve seen worse,” said longtime political operative John Feehery.
asserted
Feehery → see → worse
Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and a slim 218-214 edge in the House.
asserted
Republicans → hold → House
The GOP is boosted by Trump’s $400 million war chest and a $100 million advantage in funding controlled by its party committee compared to scrounging Democrats.
asserted
GOP → boost → Democrats
The Texas Senate race alone could cost Republicans $300 million, Daines said, as the party tries to prop up AG Ken Paxton after some self-inflicted wounds.
uncertain
party → cost → wounds
Trump is also planning an Oct. 13 trip to Alaska to boost Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and announced a $54 billion South Korean investment in an LNG pipeline there – although the Koreans say it’s not a done deal yet.
“It’s a tough environment.
asserted
It → plan → pipeline
Second midterms are tough,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) told the Richard Nixon Foundation at its October conference in DC.
asserted
Daines → tell → DC
He compared this election to 2006.
asserted
He → compare → 2006
Six in 10 Americans opposed the Iraq War at that point.
asserted
Americans → oppose → point
Gas prices had doubled.
asserted
prices → double → ?
Does it sound familiar?
asserted
it → sound → ?
We ended up losing six seats,” he said.
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he → end → seats
Mississippi Democrat Scott Colom, 43, even has a chance of winning in that Republican stronghold if turnout is down to 2023 governor’s race levels.
asserted
turnout → have → levels
He is taking on incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), who was appointed in 2018 and was reelected in 2020.
asserted
who → take → 2020
Democratic polls show Hyde-Smith leading by 6 points, and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) has steered some donors to give there, according to the Washington Post.
uncertain
Schumer → show → Post
In heavily Republican South Carolina, Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.) held tiny leads within the error margin in polls by the Trafalgar Group and Inside Advantage.
asserted
Graham → hold → Group
Republicans redrew the lines of a Toledo-based district so that Trump would have carried it by 11 points.
asserted
Trump → redrew → points
A new New York Times Siena poll published Friday had dairy farmer Blake Gendebien leading GOP businessman Anthony Constantino 46-42, in a district Trump carried by 16 points in 2024.
asserted
Trump → publish → 2024
The Aporia
