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Why Republicans start out as favorites in the 2026 Senate elections

ABC News
Summary
Nutrition label

85% Informative

Democrats need to flip four seats for a majority, but have few clear targets.

Julian Zelizer : The Senate map favors the GOP heading into 2026 midterms.

He says the incoming presidential party must defend 22 of the 35 seats that will likely be up for election.

Zelizer says Democrats will be defending just 13 seats, but two of them are in states that Trump won.

Democrats need to win more seats in red-leaning states to regain the Senate majority in 2026 .

Republicans have historically held more Senate seats in comfortably red territory than they ever have.

Democrats would need to once again win in hostile territory to retake the majority in 2024 .

To make further inroads, Democrats ' best path likely involves winning some of the five seats in states Trump carried by 10 to 15 points.

Democrats are early favorites to retain control of the Senate in 2026 .

They have few vulnerable seats to defend and can afford to lose up to three without losing their majority.

VR Score

89

Informative language

90

Neutral language

32

Article tone

formal

Language

English

Language complexity

51

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

short-lived

External references

38

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