The Republicans Announce Their 2026 Senate Targets

Well, the Senate Leadership Fund has spoken, so we all know which U.S. Senate seats the GOP plans to goal.

The top Senate GOP tremendous PAC is laying down a huge $342 million advert buy in an aggressive push to help Republicans keep control of the Senate, reserving airtime in eight battleground states in this yr’s midterm elections. The Senate Leadership Fund, a group with close ties to Majority Leader John Thune, announced the plan Monday.

The SLF is enjoying largely in Republican-held territory: 1) Ohio = $79 million; 2) North Carolina = $71 million; 3) Maine = $42 million; and 4) Iowa = $29 million. But it also is concentrating on three Democrat-held seats: 1) Georgia = $44 million; 2) Michigan = $45 million; and 3) New Hampshire = $17 million.

This breaking news makes it a good time for one of my periodic examinations of the 2026 Senate races.

Currently, the Republicans have a 53 to 47-seat majority in the Senate. There are 35 seats up for grabs in 2026. The Democrats need a internet decide up of 4 seats to win control of the chamber.

The MSM has been endlessly hyping Democrat possibilities to win control of the Senate. But the central drawback for them is that only two Republican seats – Maine and North Carolina – are in aggressive states. The other 20 GOP seats are in states where the Republicans have a big edge, with Donald Trump profitable them by double digits. That virtually never occurs in Senate elections, let alone twice. In the 2025 Virginia elections, the Democrats gained a landslide, but they still didn’t carry a single district where Trump gained with that margin.  

The Democrats also must not lose any of their own aggressive seats. And in the blue wave of 2018, the Democrats still misplaced in an upset of their incumbent in Florida.   

Let’s look at the Senate races chosen by SLF:

Alaska: Dan Sullivan / 54% R / Lean R

The Democrats persuaded former Rep. Mary Peltola to problem Sen. Dan Sullivan. Peltola is the best the Democrats may get for this seat. But Sullivan is common with both the GOP base and the general voters. The RCP has no polling for Alaska, and the only polls I have discovered are Democrat/left-wing efforts that have Peltola up narrowly. Peltola raised $1.5 million in the first 24 hours of her bid, more than Sullivan’s $1.4 million during that quarter, although Sullivan has a whole conflict chest of $5.8 million.

Georgia: Jon Ossoff / 50.61% D / Leans D  

The Republicans are hampered by a main right here, but now, Rep. Mike Collins (GA-10) appears to have established a stable lead over his two opponents, Rep. Buddy Carter (GA-01) and Derek Dooley. And Collins only narrowly trails Sen. Ossoff. The large benefits Ossoff has are the divisiveness of the GOP main and the huge “$25.5 million in his war chest — numbers that are substantially higher than all of his GOP rivals combined.” Collins himself raised only $825,000. 

Iowa: Joni Ernst (retiring) / Lean R

The Democrats have the aggressive main right here, with Bernie Bro state Sen. Zach Wahls having the sting over the more reasonable state Rep. Josh Turek. However, all the polls are from events. The GOP is pushing for Wahls, while Democrat Senate Leader Schumer desires Turek. Rep. Ashley Hinson (IA-02), the possible Republican candidate, has a large $5.1 million conflict chest, while the 2 Democrats have a lot smaller quantities.

Ohio: Jon Husted / Appointed in 2025 / Lean R

Former Sen. Sherrod Brown is attempting to win back a Senate seat, a feat that last occurred in 1988. But Brown faces an appointed incumbent, Jon Husted, who himself has gained quite a few minor statewide workplaces, and Ohio has since change into closely Republican. Brown is retaining issues close in the polling, as he only narrowly trails Husted. However, in his shedding race in 2024, Brown led most of the marketing campaign. Brown is, however, closely dominating the fundraising battle. 

Maine: Susan Collins / 50.98% R / Tilt R

Apparently, the Nazi Democrat has determined, based on his own polling, that his Democrat opponent, the sitting governor, is completed, so he can focus on Republican Sen. Susan Collins. The RCP average appears to agree with him. Meanwhile, Sen. Collins is taking full benefit of her incumbency, her chairmanship over the Senate Appropriations Committee, stockpiling money, and accumulating more unfavourable bombshells against the Nazi. Platner has the sting in the final election polling, but in 2020, Sen. Collins trailed persistently in the public polling, only to win convincingly on election day.  

Michigan: Gary Peters (retiring) / Lean D

The Democrats have three candidates, each with a credible path to the nomination, and each raising a credible quantity of money. But only one of those candidates leads the Republican, former Rep. Mike Rogers, in common election polls. Rogers, who narrowly misplaced the other Senate race in 2024, has no Republican main. He has “$3.45 million on hand, which puts him in a better position this cycle than during the same period in 2024.” Rogers can also get pleasure from watching the Democrats beat the hell out of each other. Rogers also has other exterior help, in addition to the SLF – “the group Sentinel Action Fund said it would spend $15 million with an allied group, Right Vote, to boost Rogers ― money that will reportedly go to advertising, voter outreach and early-vote operations across Michigan.”

New Hampshire: Jeanne Shaheen (retiring) / Lean D

Recently, New Hampshire has shifted considerably in direction of the Democrats in federal races. However, former Republican Sen. John Sununu, the son and brother of common Republican New Hampshire governors, who was ousted by Shaheen in 2008, is making a strong comeback. Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01), the Democrat who represents half of the state, only has a 47% to 44% RCP edge over Sununu. But Sununu still has to win his main, where he has a stable lead over former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown. Sununu has also raised $1.7 million, which can be a report. Meanwhile, Rep. Pappas has raised more than $2.27 million. 

North Carolina: Thom Tillis (retiring) / Tilt D

Democrat Former Gov. Roy Cooper is still outraising former RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and still leads him in the RCP average by a stable margin, but Whatley hasn’t began promoting yet, so he’s mainly just getting the generic Republican vote. In the new century, the GOP has dominated Senate races in this state, with only one Democrat profitable in 2008, and Cooper does have some weaknesses.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will decide the destiny of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must keep control of both chambers of Congress.

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