How’s the Senate shaping up? Nailbiters to watch out for Tuesday night

While most eyes are watching the highly contentious presidential race between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, there is another important battle to be won.

Which party will take the Senate?

A president who doesn’t have a majority in the Senate will have a much tougher time implementing the change – or the status quo if Clinton wins – when he or she takes the Oval office.

Currently, Republicans are at risk of losing the majority of Senate seats.

Fox News reorted:

Approximately a third of the Senate is up for reelection every two years. 2010 was a big year for Senate Republicans – even though they fell short of control. As a result, Republicans are defending 24 of the 34 seats in play this cycle. 2010 was not only a “Republican” year in Senate contests but a midterm year. Those two factors work directly against the GOP this year as freshman, Republican senators who won in 2010 now find themselves on the ballot in battleground states in a presidential election year.

 

Making it even harder for the GOP, the only state it could take from Democrats to make up for a possible a loss is in Nevada where Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., is in a close race against Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto.

GOP freshman Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Marco Rubio R-Fla., are well positioned to hold their seats, but it is far from a done deal.

Meanwhile, Democrats in Indiana recruited a competitive candidate to take over retiring Sen. Dan Coats Republican seat. Former Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., is giving Republican candidate Rep. Todd Young a run for his money in the Hoosier state.

Even Republican strongholds like Missouri are locked in tight senate races with moderate Democrat Jason Kander coming up close to take Sen. Roy Blunt’s GOP seat.

According to Fox news:

There are at least two Senate seats where we may not get the result Tuesday night: Louisiana and Georgia. Both require runoffs if no candidate secures 50.1 percent. The Louisiana runoff is scheduled for Dec. 10. The Georgia runoff comes Jan. 10. The latter could pose a problem as the 115th Congress starts Jan. 3. Thus, it’s entirely possible the Senate could start with one party in charge, and either move to a tie or flip depending on Georgia’s January outcome.

 

Bottom line, it will be a nail-biter election from the top down, with added emphasis on swing states. Special attention is being given to Pennsylvania where Democrat Katie McGinty is gaining on Republican incumbent Pat Toomey. At the same time, Donald Trump has been visiting the state where momentum for the GOP candidate could be swinging in his favor.

And it won’t be over Tuesday night. According to Fox News:

There is one non-election night issue that also demands attention. With Harry Reid retiring, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is poised to step in to succeed the Nevada Democrat as Democratic leader. The only question is whether Schumer will be the majority leader or minority leader. Schumer long ago wrapped up the votes to take over for Reid when the Nevada Democrat announced he was stepping aside early last year.

 

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