With more money gathering in their war chests, Democratic candidates for Senate seats currently held by republicans are causing nerves to fray, according to reporting from CNN.
Many seats thought to be “safe republican” are now battlegrounds, according to both polling and fundraising figures. For example, in South Carolina, Democrat Jaime Harrison raised $14 million in the second quarter. His opponent, republican Lindsey Graham, hasn’t released his second quarter haul yet, but Harrison outraised him in the first quarter, $7.3 million to Graham’s $5.7 million.
Democrats need to pick up only four seats to achieve a majority in the Senate (with Independents caucusing with Democrats), and republicans are defending nearly twice as many seats as Democrats this cycle.
The Cook Political Report rates five republican seats as toss-ups, with one Democratic seat, Doug Jones in Alabama, currently as a “lean republican”. Many recent polls, however, have republican leads eroding or disappearing, including Joni Ernst’s in Iowa.
Republicans fear that the fundraising advantage foretells a “wave” loss in November, as happened in the 2018 midterms.