2 Days Until Election Day
Alabama- Safe Republican
Alaska- Tossup (D)
Arkansas- Likely Republican
Colorado- Safe Democrat
Delaware- Safe Democrat
Florida- Leans Republican (change from Likely Republican)
Georgia- Likely Democrat
Idaho- Likely Republican
Illinois- Safe Democrat (change from Likely Democrat)
Iowa- Tossup (R) (change from Tossup D)
Kansas- Tossup (D) (change from Tossup R)
Kentucky- Likely Republican
Louisiana- Likely Republican
Maine- Tossup (R)
Massachusetts- Safe Democrat
Michigan- Tossup (D)
Minnesota- Leans Democrat
Mississippi- Leans Republican
Montana- Leans Republican
Nebraska- Leans Republican (change from Tossup R)
New Hampshire- Leans Democrat
New Jersey- Safe Democrat
New Mexico- Safe Democrat
North Carolina- Likely Democrat
Ohio- Tossup (D)
Oklahoma- Safe Republican
Oregon- Safe Democrat
Rhode Island- Safe Democrat
South Carolina- Tossup (R)
South Dakota- Leans Republican
Tennessee- Safe Republican
Texas- Tossup (D)
Virginia- Likely Democrat
West Virginia- Safe Republican
Wyoming- Safe Republican
Senate total predicted:
52 D (34 holdover, 8 Safe, 3 Likely, 2 Leans, 5 Tossup)
48 R (31 holdover, 5 Safe, 4 Likely, 5 Leans, 3 Tossup)
Democrat net gain of 5
There do seem to be a lot of close races, but conventional wisdom is that a blue wave is coming. Typically, almost all close Senate races wind up going towards the same tide. What we do not know is if polls are accurate or not. Typically they are, especially in Senate elections, but a lot of people still feel burned about their predictions on Trump in 2016 and 2020. Have pollsters attempted to try to correct their modeling errors? Since 2024, we have seen Democrats do even better than polls were predicting in 2025 statewide in New Jersey and Virginia, at least, and in most special elections across the country. Will a more nationalized election help Republicans win or at least mitigate huge losses? That is the question of the cycle.
I have eight Tossup races for Senate. I doubt I will get them all wrong but I also doubt I will get them all right. Most likely, I will be off on two or three, and thus it is possible Republicans could maintain a narrow Senate majority. Frankly, since the Democrats are certainly taking over the House and Donald Trump will be a lame duck, that means nothing much will really be coming out legislation wise in the next two years regardless of who has the majority in the Senate. I am fine with that. While I definitely believe Republicans deserve to lose almost all elections and am thus rooting for Democrats to take the Senate, I would not be crushed if they did not. They have some political lessons to learn and perhaps I would still be happy with conservative federal judges who will be around long after Trump is gone. I just sort of have the feeling though that Tuesday could wind up worse for Republicans than even I am expecting.
Now, a brief cursory look at the eight Tossup races:
Alaska- So many headlines about the "fake Dan Sullivan" and potential involvement from the Peltola campaign. Unethical politics? Absolutely. Illegal? Likely not. I just do not think anyone, outside of the politically passionate even cares about something like that at this point. Republicans across the country are grasping at straws and this point and they found a talking point here. Perhaps, American should not like that sort of attempted political chicanery, but I think they just chalk it up to politics as usual and shrug during this era of Trumpism. It just may be well into December before we know for sure who is taking this seat.
Iowa- Here is one of two where I have changed my predictions. I hope to be wrong here and that Josh Turek will defeat Ashley Hinson. I just have a slight hunch she will squeak by, ironically enough due to split ticket voters, as it seems a new given that Iowa is sending a Democrat to the Governorship. Hinson has taken some steps in the last couple of weeks to try to distance herself from Trump. She likely could not have been happy he reschedued a previously cancelled in person rally for her. I have a feeling the rallies are not having the effect Republicans were hoping for, but tonight, Trump at least did manage to compliment Hinson on her body and the weight she apparently lost. Recently, he has just been giving it up for the bodies of male candidates. Must be a proud moment for her.
Kansas- I am changing my prediction here going on vibes. Yes, there is a poll showing Adam Hamilton with a large lead now but that might not be accurate. There is just a lot going in Kansas right now economically due to Trump's policies. The Governorship could flip from blue to red, which is I what I am predicting, but that is a Tossup also.Split ticket voters, like the reverse in Iowa, could help the Democrat here. Hamilton is just a unique sort of candidate who with his religious background appeals to a lot of non-Democrats also. Roger Marshall is just not a good politician, at least not when he is panic mode, as he seems to be lately. The rally for tonight was canceled, which many saw as a recognition that this race could be gone for Republicans, but Trump did not like the narrative of him quitting a rally so it is literally going on right now, and Trump has of course mostly been talking about candidates in other states. A Democrat has not won a Senate race since 1932, so I will not be remotely surprised if Marshal pulls it off, but I am just getting a feeling that it has slipped away from him.
Maine- Six years ago, I did not even call the race a Tossup. I said it was Leans D and then Susan Collins went and won pretty easily. That alone is making me stubbornly say she will win again, even as the polls and the betting markets are saying something differently. Frankly, I am a bit agnostic about it. If there is one Senate Republican candidate in the country I would vote for in 2026, it would be Susan Collins, but national trends might be enough to sink her this time. The bottom line for me is that Troy Jackson is pretty far to the left and has not exactly run an inspired campaign. I do not have any real confidence about this prediction, but I will stick with Collins being able to appeal to enough Independents in order to pull it off again.
Michigan- This has turned into an absolute soap opera, especially after today with Haley Stevens endorsing Republican Mike Rogers over Abdul El-Sayed, the person who narrowly beat her in a Democrat primary. I have a lot of thoughts about the entire thing that I cannot get into. I posted a bunch of them on Twitter today. Basically, while Mike Rogers and the hateful campaign he is associated with is not worthy of an endorsement, one has to understand why she retracted her endorsement of El-Sayed and his hateful campaign. She seemed to give him every opportunity to make a basic statement denouncing an antisemitic campaign done by a supporter and he was not willing to do so and basically told Stevens to go to hell and they do not need her support. So, guess what happened? It is Politics 101. This cross-party endorsement (which feels like something out of professional wrestling) might help Rogers to a small extent, but I doubt it matters. People are voting based on what they think about Trump above all else. Antisemitism is just too normalized unfortunately these days to matter. So while polls overestimated El-Sayed in terms of black voters and others in a Democrat primary, I do not think the same will be true of a general election, and he seems to be in position to benefit from anti-Republican headwind. This will make it possible for him to win in 2026. If it were a normal cycle, he would be losing. I hope he does. Not that I have any love at all for Rogers, but El-Sayed is just a horrible corrosive voice in our politics and I do not look forward to him being a Senator. I hope I am wrong, but I hope he wins. Finally, while Haley Stevens seems to be going through some stuff right now, I applaud her sincerely for what she did. Country over Party was right when a few Republicans stood up and did it against Trump and it is right for a Democrat to do it against El-Sayed.
Ohio- Just how powerful is Jon Husted's ass? It is all the talk of the campaign homestretch thanks to Donald Trump? Ohio has been a red state, but I think Sherrod Brown, ousted by the voters just two years ago, will win due to a much different national political environment. I do not recall even seeing any coverage of Brown recently. Ohio stories have just all been about Husted's ass and the despicable Vivek Ramaswamy ad featuring Amy Acton's deplorable birth mother. The backlash there could hurt other Ohio Republicans, including Husted. There are still tons of jokes to be made, and while I cannot call other than a Tossup now, it would be a surprise to many if this is not a Democrat pickup.
South Carolina- This is a sad race in many ways. Darline Graham does not really want to be a Senator for six years. I doubt she even wanted to be one for six months, but she agreed to run and because South Carolina is the state that it is, she is more likely than not to survive. Her opponent Annie Andrews has some real political skills, but might just be a bit too far to the left to flip it here. Of course, a huge wave could prove me wrong. I would be happy to see it happen. Republicans though should not be happy that Donald Trump got them in the position that he did in regards to Darline Graham.
Texas- Speaking of situations Donald Trump got his party into....Democrat James Talarico is way to my left, but for a ton of reasons, with the possible exception of wanting to see Ramaswamy lose the Governorship of Ohio, I am all in in hoping he defeats Ken Paxton in Texas. Paxton is a horrible person and Talarico at least seems pretty decent, at least to me, and the attacks against him have been nothing short of pathetic. Winning in Texas statewide as a Democrat might be on par with the Brewers finally winning a World Series (I will not compare it to the Chicago Cubs winning a World Series ten years ago tomorrow.) The polls look very promising for Talarico but it is still Texas and a flip would still be astonishing in many ways. I am sticking with my gut and thinking it will happen.
Past Results:
2006: 31-2 (94%)
2008: 34-1 (97%)
2010: 34-3 (92%)
2012: 28-5 (85%)
2014: 36-0 (100%)
2016: 31-3 (91%)
2018: 33-2 (94%) 2020: 33-2 (94%)
2022: 33-2 (94%)
2024: 32-2 (94%)