The Cook Political Report shifted its rating of three Senate races toward the left Tuesday, upgrading the chances that Democrats will win control of the Republican-held chamber in November.
Cook shifted Kansas from “Lean Republican” to “Toss Up,” New Hampshire from “Toss Up” to “Lean Democrat” and North Carolina from “Lean Democrat” to “Likely Democrat.” Those changes help move the number of possible pickups for Democrats from two to six seats, according to Cook, a nonpartisan election handicapper.
The Democratic Party needs to net four seats to win the Senate majority.
Tuesday’s rating changes are more evidence that voters, unhappy with prices and an ongoing war, are moving to punish President Donald Trump and his party at the ballot box.
In Kansas, pastor Adam Hamilton, the Democrat, is in a tightening race against the incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall. The state has a Democratic governor but seldom votes for Democrats for federal office.
In New Hampshire, where there’s an open seat now held by a Democrat, Rep. Chris Pappas (D) faces former senator John E. Sununu. Republicans have seen it as a rare state to go on offense.
In the contest for North Carolina’s open Senate seat, former Democratic governor Roy Cooper has been consistently leading in polls over his opponent, Republican Michael Whatley, prompting Republicans to pull their spending out of the state. The state has not elected a Democratic senator in nearly 20 years.
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