Top GOP senator lays out the states they are targeting – and gives his thoughts on if Kyrsten Sinema will join his party
- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told CNN Monday that he’s ‘working very hard’ not to ‘screw this up’ looking ahead to the 2024 Senate races
- Republicans have fewer seats to defend: 11 versus Democrats with 23
- McConnell told the network that Republicans will focus on four seats currently held by Democrats: In West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Montana
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that he was not confident Republicans could take back the Senate majority next year – but outlined the GOP‘s strategy in an interview Monday.
Talking by phone to CNN, McConnell said Republicans’ top targets are Pennsylvania, Ohio, Montana and West Virginia.
Overall, the map is favorable for Republicans, with Democrats needing to defend 23 seats, while Republicans will only be up for reelection in 11.
That being said, Republicans had an advantage in 2022 as well and fell short, and so when asked if he believed the GOP could flip control of the Senate next year, McConnell told CNN‘s Manu Raju with a chuckle: ‘No, no – I’m not.’
‘I just spent 10 minutes explaining to you how we could screw this up, and we’re working very hard to not let that happen,’ McConnell said. ‘Let’s put it that way.’
McConnell acknowledged that he’s walking in lockstep with Montana Sen. Steve Daines, who’s heading the National Republican Senatorial Committee this cycle.
McConnell and the last NRSC chairman, Sen. Rick Scott, publicly disagreed over policy and strategy. Scott decided to let voters pick candidates in the primaries, who would then get support from the national party.
This time around, McConnell said he and Daines planned to play a bigger role in who will ultimately appear on the ballot – even if that means warring with the more conservative, more-MAGA parts of the party.
‘We don’t have an ideological litmus test,’ McConnell told CNN. ‘We want to win in November.’
‘We’ll be involved in any primary where that seems to be necessary to get a high-quality candidate, and we’ll be involved in every general election where we have a legitimate shot of winning – regardless of the philosophy of the nominee,’ the top Senate Republican added.
He said ‘we know that we are going to compete in four places heavily, and that would be Montana, West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.’
Three of the four states Republicans are focusing on voted for Trump in 2020, but have Democratic senators up for reelection.
In Ohio and Montana, Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester have already announced reelection bids.
Sen. Joe Manchin, who’s also mulling a 2024 presidential run, has yet to announce if he’ll run for his seat again next year.
The fourth state, Pennsylvania, had the most closely watched Senate race in 2022 – between Republican TV personality Dr. Mehmet Oz and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, with Fetterman coming out on top.
Now Democratic Sen. Bob Casey is on the ballot.
Pennsylvania Democrats are hoping that the far-right gubernatorial loser, Doug Mastriano, jumps into the race, which would practically ensure Casey a fourth term.
But McConnell and the GOP plan to back David McCormick, who narrowly lost the 2022 Pennsylvania GOP primary to Oz.
‘I think everybody is entitled to run,’ McConnell answered when asked if he was concerned about Mastriano getting in the race. ‘I’m confident the vast majority of people who met Dave McCormick are going to be fine with him.’
There are other states Republicans are eying, but how much attention McConnell’s group, the Senate Leadership Fund, pays to them will depend on how the primaries shake out.
‘I didn’t mention Wisconsin; I think clearly you’d have to have an outstanding candidate,’ the Kentucky Republican said. ‘And I think there are some other places where with the right candidate, we might be able to compete – in Nevada, Arizona.’
In Wisconsin, Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin is up for reelection. She announced her reelection bid last month.
In Nevada, Republicans would have to beat Sen. Jacky Rosen, who also announced her reelection bid last month.
In Arizona, Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is up for reelection – and hasn’t yet announced if she’ll vie for her seat.
That race will be one to watch as Sinema’s political future is already being threatened by Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego.
McConnell said he didn’t believe Sinema would change parties – though he would have welcomed it.
‘I think that decision was made when she ended up continuing to caucus with the Democrats,’ McConnell said. ‘We would love to have had her, but we didn’t land her.’
Republicans potentially mulling a Senate bid include last year’s losers: Blake Masters, who lost to Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, and Kari Lake, who lost her governor’s race to Katie Hobbs and then, like former President Trump, pushed false election fraud claims.
McConnell wouldn’t say much when asking about Lake or Masters jumping in the race, saying there was a ”high likelihood’ he and the NRSC would wait until the primary is over in Arizona.
‘What I care about in November is winning and having an “R” by your name, and I think it is way too early to start assessing various candidacies that may or may not materialize,’ McConnell said.
But one candidacy is known about – and that is that Trump wants back on the top of the ticket.
McConnell, who had a falling out with Trump during the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, said, ‘Look, I’m going to support the nominee of our party for president, no matter who that may be.’
He added that he believed having Trump’s name on the ballot could help Republicans in some states.
‘Whether you are a Trump fan or a Trump opponent, I can’t imagine Trump if he’s the nominee not doing well in West Virginia, Montana and Ohio,’ McConnell said.
At the same time, McConnell didn’t mention a slew of important states that rejected Trump in 2020: Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin and Michigan – all which have Senate races next year.
‘We do have the possibility of screwing this up and that gets back to candidate recruitment,’ McConnell acknowledged. ‘I think that we lost Georgia, Arizona and New Hampshire because we didn’t have competitive candidates. And Steve Daines and I are in exactly the same place – that starts with candidate quality.’