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Democrats are hoping for a 'blue wave' in the midterm elections, but they are defending more than they are challenging. Will they lose seats?
USA TODAY
President Donald Trump supports Rep. Marsha Blackburn at a rally in Chattanooga, Tenn.(Photo: Caitie McMekin / News Sentinel)
WASHINGTON – Democrats' hopes of taking over the Senate all but collapsed in Indiana, Tennessee, North Dakota and Texas.
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Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly, President Donald Trump, lost to GOP challenger Mike Braun, according to Associated Press projections.
In Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn Republican captured the seat of retiring Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., In what was supposed to be a potential pickup for Democrats, the AP forecast.
Meanwhile, ABC, NBC and Fox News reported that Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer would beat incumbent Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.
Democrats would have needed to hold onto these positions Democrats such as Donnelly and Heitkamp and also score up to 51 in the majority of the Senate.
But Fox, ABC and NBC Projected Texas Sen. Ted Cruz will survive a challenge from Democrat Beto O'Rourke.
And in Florida, Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson was narrowly behind GOP Gov. Rick Scott with a significant share of precincts reporting.
Donnelly, one of five Democrats who struggles to survive in states. He lost to Braun after Trump visited Indiana in the final two weeks to generate support for the Republican candidate.
"What we need to take in Washington is what works in the real world," Braun told supporters at this victory rally. The businessman and former state House member had cast himself a political outsider in the mold of Trump.
Trump had dubbed Donnelly "Sleepin 'Joe."
Republican National Committee spokesperson Michael Joyce bragged Tuesday that the party has a new nickname for Donnelly that "we think will really stick this time: train Senator Donnelly."
Although House Democrats headed into the Senate, they had 51-49 majority.
The reason? Democrats are defending 26 of the 35 seats on the ballot, including 10 in Donald Trump.
"It's the worst map for one party" wrote veteran political handicapper Stuart Rothenberg.
Besides Donnelly and Heitkamp, the other Democrats running in Trump are Jon Tester of Montana, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who survived his challenge.
The last time they were on the ballot, the nation was divided into two parts.
"People are voting in a more parliamentary way," said Charlie Cook, head of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
The incumbents focused on nonpartisan local issues – such as helping veterans – while a large number of crossover appeal, especially for female voters. They have promised to be with Trump when they agree with him and they do not know when they do not.
Red-state Democrats have had the difficult task of keeping their base of their re-election while they are attracted to their country.
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Trump focused on his final campaign on the Republican vote with the Senate Contests.
"I think I've made a big difference," the president said outside the White House on Sunday before flying to more states. "I think I've made a difference of five or six or seven."
His campaign stops did not include Wisconsin, Pennsylvania or Michigan – Trump states narrowly traveled but the Democratic incumbents have had easier re-election campaigns than expected.
Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, called them "snap-back" states. Trump's small 2016 "who has a party ID not aligned with the president."
"Given the first chance, they reassert their old selves," he said.
Democrats are hoping to get rid of pickups in Tennessee and Arizona, states where the Republican incumbent not to seek re-election after being an effective Trump.
In Nevada, where Sen. Dean Heller is the only Republican senator facing re-election in a state Trump lost, Heller has both embraced Trump and tried to create some distance.
Heller said 80 percent of what the president's done "very, very good" while "reality TV show."
Conceding that Democrats' path to winning the Senate on Tuesday was a narrow one, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, head of the campaign arm of Senate Democrats, commented on the role of the president of the United States.
"No one's talking about that right now," Van Hollen said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
The Senate does not always move in the same direction as the House in an election. In 1970, for example, Republicans gave up 10 seats in the House while gaining one in the Senate.
A goal in the Senate, according to Eric Ostermeier, author of the Smart Politics blog run by the University of Minnesota.
"This is unusual because the odds are so heavily stacked in favor of the party that is actually the least popular party," Sabato said. "The Democrats pretty much were behind the ball in the Senate from the beginning."
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