New poll numbers from the states of Ohio and Wisconsin are very good news for Mitch McConnell and very bad news for Chuck Schumer. Panic appears to be setting in among Democrats as they watch their chances of retaining control of the Senate dwindle.
In Ohio, Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown consistently trails his Republican rival Bernie Moreno in polls. RedState reported last week on an RMG Research poll that showed Moreno leading Brown by a 48 percent to 46 percent margin. New Opinion poll The exit from ActiVote confirms Moreno’s lead. According to the new data, Moreno is at 51.1 percent while Brown is at 48.9 percent. That’s a fairly consistent lead of over 2 percent for the Republican challenger with just under five weeks until Election Day.
There were signs that Democrats were preparing to give up on Sherrod Brown, most notably the lack of funding the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) poured into his campaign. The DSCC appeared to divert funds from Ohio to the Senate race in Montana, where incumbent Jon Tester faces stiff competition from Republican Tim Sheehy.
Seeing that its chances of retaining Senate control were fading, the DSCC decided to do so focus to the races in Texas and Florida, where Republican incumbents Ted Cruz and Rick Scott are up for re-election. This could well be a “Hail Mary” pass from Democrats desperate to keep Chuck Schumer as majority leader.
Democrats haven’t completely given up on Ohio yet, as PACs are pouring a lot of money into the state from abroad, but there has been some recent fundraising appeal seems to confirm that the party is hitting the panic button:
“This is bad,” the Ohio Democratic Party said in a campaign fundraising email shortly after the polls were released. “We can’t let Bernie Moreno gain any more ground – not if we want to keep the Senate blue.”
They might have a tough time keeping the Senate blue if Opinion poll from Wisconsin turns out to be true. Democrat Tammy Baldwin is hoping for a third term in the Senate, but recent internal polls show this is the case lose significant ground for Republican Eric Hovde.
Baldwin leads by just two points in internal Democratic polls, a source familiar with the campaign told Axios. That’s much closer than what public polls have shown for months.
‘Alarm bells’: Democrats are now panicking about Senate races in Wisconsin
Retaining Baldwin’s Senate seat shouldn’t be a challenge for Democrats; Unlike Sherrod Brown’s race, the DSCC put money into her campaign, to the tune of 7 million dollars. One person who sees an opportunity for Republicans in Wisconsin is Mitch McConnell, whose Senate Leadership Fund is seizing the opportunity by investing $17 million in Hovde’s race. Mitch would love nothing more than to put Chuck Schumer right back into the minority, a possibility that seems to be getting closer and closer to reality. That would be almost as satisfying to watch as watching Nancy Pelosi have to give up the speaker’s gavel…twice.
(By the way, that is race The replacement of Mitch McConnell as majority/minority leader is underway, with options now restricted to the “three Johns”: John Thune, John Cornyn and John Barrasso.)
It looks like Chuck Schumer’s days as majority leader are coming to an end, and that’s a good thing. If Democrats win the White House, a Republican-controlled Senate would be a major check on the radical agenda that is sure to be pushed by the executive branch.
