The Senate majority for Republicans in 2022 is being seriously challenged by a wave of retirements, as on Monday Sen. Roy Blunt (Mo.) became the fifth GOP senator to announce that he will not seek re-election next year, reported The Hill.
Republicans are in defense of 20 seats, in comparison to the 14 Democrats have. Blunt’s seat looks relatively safe for the GOP, but the retirement of a two-term senator seeks to create another line of defense, as they are hoping to defend open seats created by the retirement of Republican senators in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Alabama and North Carolina.
Democrats can add to their majority even in midterm elections, when usually the president’s party loses seats, as the retirements created a lot of space for making such a move.
It seems like Republicans will not keep the open seats in Alabama and Missouri, known as a battleground in the past, but in recent years steered sharply to the right. Ohio will also be a challenge for Democrats, as it’s known to be a swing state for a long time. Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio) is the last remaining Democrat elected to state office, and former President Trump easily won the state in both mandates.
Republicans will be also defending seats in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, states where President Biden comfortably won in the presidential elections, as well as the unpredictable states of Florida and North Carolina. The GOP will seek to attack the most vulnerable Democrat seats in Arizona and Georgia, first-term senators that went blue in 2020 for the first time in decades.
Veteran Republican strategist, Doug Haye told The Hill that he thinks “the more immediate question, in part because this will happen first is, what will happen in primaries and what candidates emerge from that?”
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