Less than seven weeks before the 2026 midterm elections, the political battlefield has expanded into deeply Republican states and districts, including places that President Donald Trump carried by double-digit margins. Republicans are now defending Senate and House seats in states that were once considered safely Republican.
Republicans say the Iran war has also hurt their political position. He argued that many voters who supported Trump do not know what the Republican-led Congress has accomplished. Democratic leaders are pointing to the poll as evidence that Republicans are vulnerable. Both parties consider numerous House and Senate contests to be tossups, meaning the overall congressional map remains fluid.
Because many races are still close, but control of Congress remains uncertain.
Richard Hudson, the North Carolina Republican who leads the House Republican campaign operation, said the war with Iran was “not helpful” for the party. Hudson said Republicans also have a messaging problem. “A lot of voters don’t know the policies we passed,” Hudson said. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Republicans were facing serious risks in both the House and Senate.
Republicans defend more red states
Georgia was once seen as one of the Republican-held Senate seats most likely to be competitive, but other races are now drawing Republican money too. Georgia is also showing a major difference in campaign spending. Some Republicans are discussing whether to move money away from Georgia and spend it elsewhere. At a recent donor meeting in Dallas, a presentation listed four Republican Senate candidates as key recruits: Ashley Hinson in Iowa, Michael Whatley in North Carolina, former Representative Mike Rogers in Michigan and former Senator John E. Sununu in New Hampshire. Collins’ campaign rejects the idea that Republicans are pulling back.
Senate contests in Michigan and New Hampshire, where Democrats currently hold the seats, are also becoming more competitive for Republicans, according to strategists from both parties. As of Wednesday, it was the only one of the nine leading Senate battleground states where Republicans had not reserved more advertising money than Democrats, according to AdImpact data. Collins was not included on that slide, according to an attendee who photographed it. Meyer Siegfried, a spokesman for Collins, said Republicans have continued investing in the race and called claims otherwise inaccurate. Hamilton said Vance’s visit showed Republicans were taking the race seriously. “The fact that they sent the vice president,” Hamilton said, was a sign that Republicans recognized the race was competitive.
