Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) believes that Republicans are at risk of losing their control of the upper chamber this fall, despite having a group of “high-quality candidates.”
“I worry about that, for sure,” Thune said in a Tuesday interview with South Dakota outlet Keloland News. “I’m a realist, and I just think you — I don’t ever try and sugarcoat things. I think it’s a competitive environment right now.”
His comments reflect polling that shows President Donald Trump’s approval ratings flirting with new lows and voter angst over the war in Iran.
The midterm election map marginally favors Senate Republicans, who can lose three seats in November and keep their majority. But there are enough competitive seats in play this cycle that Democrats could flip the chamber on a good election night.
Five GOP-held seats are regarded as toss-ups by nonpartisan election forecasters, while a sixth — in North Carolina — has shifted in Democrats’ favor. On Wednesday, Trump promised at a Rose Garden dinner to step up his presence on the campaign trail for vulnerable House and Senate incumbents.
The note of caution from Thune is due in part to the political headwinds that the party in power traditionally faces in a midterm year. It also follows repeated disagreements between Thune and the president over campaign strategy, especially in Texas.
Thune and other Republicans are waiting for Trump to open his campaign coffers to defend Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) as polls show him tied or narrowly behind Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in the traditionally red state.
In the primary, Paxton, with Trump’s backing, successfully ousted Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), a four-term incumbent and prolific fundraiser supported by Thune.
“Texas is such an expensive state, we’re going to need the president and his team to be engaged there and to be putting resources into that race,” Thune said Tuesday on Fox News.
Elsewhere on the map, Republicans are bullish about flipping Michigan after Democrats nominated Abdul el Sayed, a progressive, and are contesting blue seats in Georgia and New Hampshire.
Thune’s remarks come as Senate Republicans prepare to return to Washington after a weekslong recess. In the Keloland News interview, Thune expressed “hope” that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the former majority leader who suffered a fall in June, would return from rehabilitation.
Thune also addressed a long-running dispute with the president over the SAVE America Act, an election integrity bill that has stalled in the Senate due to the filibuster.
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Thune reiterated on Tuesday that Republicans, despite supporting the bill, oppose weakening or eliminating the filibuster to pass it. He estimated that “25 or 30” GOP senators want to leave the 60-vote threshold untouched.
“It’s a deep, sort of philosophical debate on a lot of levels, but on a practical level, it’s just not going to happen,” Thune said. “The votes aren’t there to do it.”