Battlegrounds, primaries and potential retirements mark the key Senate races to watch in 2026
Republicans are defending a slim Senate majority in 2026, but Democrats still have a tough fight ahead to take control of the chamber.
Republicans are defending a slim Senate majority in 2026, but Democrats still have a tough fight ahead to take control of the chamber.
Democrats need a net gain of four seats to take control of the Senate in two years. And while there are 20 Republicans up for re-election in the upcoming midterms compared to 13 Democrats, many of those Republicans are running in deep-red states.
Just one GOP senator is running in a state Vice President Kamala Harris won in November, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, while two Democrats (Georgia’s Jon Ossoff and Michigan’s Gary Peters) are up for re-election in states President-elect Donald Trump won.
This class of senators will be facing a different political environment than they did in their last races in 2020, when they were running in a presidential election year with historic turnout. And the environment could also be very different from 2014, when several of these Republicans were first elected to the Senate in a red wave. The upcoming 2026 elections could be trickier for Republicans, since the president’s party historically struggles in midterms.
Another factor that could shake up the Senate map: whether longtime lawmakers like Sen. Mitch McConnell, the outgoing GOP leader, decide to retire. McConnell, 82, has not yet said if he’ll run for another term in ruby-red Kentucky, though he has committed to serving out his current term.
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