Democrats are hoping that their challengers and incumbents in a handful of Senate races — plus their impressive fundraising hauls — will notch them over the finish line in November, in what has already been considered a challenging political environment for the party.
Democrats are facing unquestionable headwinds: President Biden continues to suffer low approval ratings and two polls out this week show voters are not enthusiastic about a 2024 presidential bid. On top of that, inflation has increased more than nine percent from last year. And there's a general precedent that the president's party generally suffers some losses in the midterms.
But as The Hill's Julia Manchester writes, Democrats are feeling optimistic about their prospects among several Senate candidates who are raking in large sums in the second quarter fundraising of this year and as news reports or past comments dog several Republican campaigns.
Among some of the Senate candidates who could stand to gain right now are Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), as well as Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D), running in the Keystone State, among others.
In Georgia: Warnock more than doubled Walker's second quarter fundraising for 2022, posting an eye-popping more than $17.2 million compared to Republican challenger Herschel Walker's nearly $6.2 million. Reporting from last month that Walker had three children who were previously unknown to the public despite the fact that the former football star is a critic of absentee fathers has dogged his campaign. Plus, a new poll out by the AARP's Georgia chapter shows Warnock edging past Walker 50 percent to 47 percent respectively, though that's within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
In Nevada: Cortez Masto reported on Thursday an impressive second-quarter haul of over $7.5 million, according to The Nevada Independent; fundraising figures have not yet been released by former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt's (R) campaign. A poll released on Wednesday by KLAS TV/The Hill/Emerson College also found that the Nevada incumbent edged past Laxalt in a head-to-head matchup (44 percent to 41 percent respectively and just outside the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.) Some of his past comments, including one in which he suggested Black people were to blame regarding gun violence, have also made headlines.
In Pennsylvania: Fetterman this week posted an impressive $11 million — a record for any fundraising quarter for the Pennsylvania lieutenant governor. Oz's campaign has not announced his figures for the latest quarter. Fetterman's campaign has attacked his Republican challenger over his ties to the state, the latest of which has included an ad and an airplane banner trolling Oz. And polling in recent weeks shows the Pennsylvania lieutenant governor leading his Republican challenger.
"Republicans are not exactly sending their best," one Democratic strategist told Julia. "Their lineup this cycle looks like a who's who of 'why him?'"
There's still several months until the November midterms, meaning that the dynamics of the upcoming Senate races could play out differently soon. Some are also questioning if Democratic challengers can pull ahead in November despite rising inflation and Biden's low numbers.
"They come with very real vulnerabilities," Republican strategist Doug Heye told Julia, regarding some of the Senate GOP candidates. "The question is can they overcome it, and will the atmosphere allow that, too. Is running against Joe Biden at 9.1 percent inflation enough? And it may be just given how bad his numbers are."
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