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Republican Sen. Tim Scott’s goal in next year’s midterm elections is not only to defend the GOP’s 53-47 margin in the Senate, but to expand the majority.
Scott, the conservative senator from South Carolina, told Fox News Digital soon after taking over late last year as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) that he aimed to increase the GOP’s control in the chamber to at least 55 seats.
And he’s standing by his goal.
“The bottom line is, I believe that we can defend our current seats while adding at least two more seats to our numbers,” the NRSC chair told Fox News Digital earlier this year.
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Senate Republicans enjoyed a favorable map in the 2024 cycle as they flipped four seats from blue to red to win back the majority.
But the party in power—clearly the Republicans right now—traditionally faces political headwinds in the midterm elections. Nevertheless, a current read of the 2026 map indicates the GOP may be able to go on offense in some key states.
In battleground Georgia, which President Donald Trump narrowly carried in last year’s White House race, Republicans view first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat incumbent up for re-election next year.
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They’re also targeting battleground Michigan, where Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is retiring at the end of next year, and swing state New Hampshire, where longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen decided against seeking a fourth six-year term in the Senate.
Also on the NRSC’s target list is blue-leaning Minnesota, where Democratic Sen. Tina Smith isn’t running for re-election.
At the top of their list is Ossoff, who narrowly won election to the Senate in a January 2021 runoff contest.
But Ossoff is off to a very hot fundraising start, and a GOP primary in Georgia between Reps. Mike Collins and Buddy Carter, and former college and professional football coach Derek Dooley, is starting to turn combustible.
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Republicans are also confident they can flip Michigan, another battleground Trump narrowly carried last November.
Former Rep. Mike Rogers, the 2024 GOP Senate nominee who lost last year’s race by a razor-thin margin, has at this point cleared the Republican primary field, thanks in great part to Trump’s endorsement.
Democrats, meanwhile, have a very competitive primary on their hands. The primary race includes three well-known Democrats: Rep. Haley Stevens, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and former gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who enjoys the backing of progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
With Shaheen, who made history as the first woman in the nation’s history to win election as a governor and a senator, out of the running in New Hampshire, the GOP is hoping to win a Senate election in the Granite State for the first time in 16 years.
They’re encouraged by the gains Trump made in New Hampshire in last year’s election, as he improved on his showing from four years earlier and came close to carrying the state.
But four-term Rep. Chris Pappas’ announcement in early April that he would run to succeed Shaheen has cleared the Democratic primary field, as of now, of any potential rivals for the party’s Senate nomination.
Meanwhile, a Republican primary in the state—where the GOP hasn’t won a Senate race in 15 years—is heating up between former Sen. Scott Brown and state Sen. Dan Innis, with the possibility of more candidates entering the race.
In Minnesota, the leading candidates in the Democratic primary to succeed Smith are Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and Rep. Angie Craig.
Former professional basketball player Royce White, who won the 2024 Senate nomination in Minnesota, and former Navy SEAL Adam Schwarze are currently running in the GOP primary. But another Republican Senate hopeful may soon enter the field.
While Republicans will work to defy political history in next year’s midterms, they point to the Democratic Party’s current brand issues.
“Democrats have historically low approval ratings because candidates like Jon Ossoff and Chris Pappas keep prioritizing radical policies like men in women’s sports, protecting sanctuary cities for criminal illegal aliens, and raising taxes on working families,” NRSC communications director Joanna Rodriguez argued in a statement to Fox News.
And Rodriguez touted that “Republicans are delivering on policies that keep Americans safe and let families and workers keep more of their hard-earned paychecks. Voters will reward us for it in 2026.”
