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.
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.
Georgia has become a major concern for Republicans . Republican strategists are privately discussing whether the Senate race there may have moved beyond the party’s reach. Democrat Jon Ossoff is running for re-election against Republican nominee Mike Collins, and Collins has trailed Ossoff in polls. 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. Democrats say winning some of these deep-red districts could give them a larger House majority. These races may not decide control of Congress by themselves, but Democratic gains in traditionally Republican areas could increase the party’s majority if they win enough seats.
Republicans defend more red states
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. 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.
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.
