Despite crashing poll numbers and flagging enthusiasm among Democratic Party voters, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer still predicted that Democrats will hold the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.
Schumer said Democrat voters will buck a wave of Republican enthusiasm for gaining control of Congress in the midterm elections.
The Democratic leader told The Associated Press he’s confident Democrats will be able to win the battleground states being contested — and potentially pick up Senate seats from Republicans.
Schumer’s prediction defies all polling trends, critics point out. Left-leaning polls grossly underestimated Republicans both in the 2016 and 2020 elections — and those same polls are showing a “red wave” is almost certain on Tuesday.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., even admitted that Democrats are getting “destroyed” by their messaging to voters and are almost certain to lose in the midterm elections.
Republicans have gained momentum as they work to flip control of the evenly split Senate and narrowly divided House. GOP candidates are capitalizing on President Joe Biden’s lagging approval ratings, inflationary pressures on households, and history — the party in the White House typically loses congressional seats in the president’s midterm.
538’s polling aggregate predicts Republicans will win both the Senate and U.S. House. RealClearPolitics predicts even bigger wins for the GOP in Congress.
“It’s tight,” Schumer said in an interview. “I believe Democrats will hold the Senate and maybe even pick up seats.”
Schumer said he is counting on strong voter turnout and a final get-out-the-vote push to keep the majority in the 50-50 Senate, where Vice President Kamala Harris can break a tie, as she’s done at key junctures over the past two years to pass legislation and confirm Biden nominees.
Democratic incumbents are battling in Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, and New Hampshire, and trying to win open seats in battleground Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
“I don’t want to give the illusion that these are all slam dunks,” Schumer acknowledged. But Schumer said Democrats have advantages in each of the battleground states and have reversed the springtime narrative that the party would easily lose control.
“The fact that we’re in the ballpark and our Democratic candidates are defying the political environment is a testament to a few things,” he said. Voters “are seeing how extreme these Republican candidates are and they don’t like it. And second, they’re seeing the Democrats are talking to them on issues they care about, and that we’ve accomplished a great deal on things.”
Tuesday’s election will determine control of Congress setting the course for legislation and Biden’s priorities for the remaining two years of his presidential term.
The Associated Press contributed to this article