Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he’s not confident Republicans could retake the Senate majority next year — but outlined the GOP’s strategy in an interview Monday.
In a phone call to CNN, McConnell said the Republicans’ main targets are Pennsylvania, Ohio, Montana and West Virginia.
Overall, the map is favorable for Republicans as Democrats have 23 seats to defend while Republicans will only have 11 up for re-election.
That being said, Republicans also had an advantage in 2022 and fell behind. When asked if he thinks the GOP can take control of the Senate next year, McConnell told CNN’s Manu Raju with a chuckle, ‘No, no — I don’t.’
“I just spent 10 minutes explaining to you how we can screw this up and we’re working very hard not to let that happen,” McConnell said. ‘Let’s put it this way.’
In a phone interview with CNN published Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he’s working “very hard” to avoid screwing up the 2024 Senate races after Republicans fell short in 2022
McConnell’s top Senate Democratic targets for 2024 include Sen. Jon Tester in Montana, Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Sen. Joe Manchin in West Virginia, and Sen. Bob Casey in Pennsylvania
McConnell acknowledged that he is stepping in step with Montana Sen. Steve Daines, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee this cycle.
McConnell and the last NRSC chair, Senator Rick Scott, publicly disagreed on policy and strategy. Scott decided to let voters choose candidates in the primary, who would then be endorsed by the national party.
This time, McConnell said he and Daines plan to play a bigger role in who will ultimately appear on the ballot — even if that means fighting 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 will be involved in any primaries where it appears necessary to find a high-caliber candidate, and we will be involved in any general election where we have a legitimate chance of winning – regardless of the candidate’s philosophy. added the top Senate Republican.
He said, “We know we’re going to be competing strongly in four places and that would be Montana, West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.”
Three of the four state Republicans are focused on voting for Trump in 2020 but have Democratic senators up for re-election.
In Ohio and Montana, Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester have already announced re-election bids.
Senator Joe Manchin, who is also considering running for president in 2024, has yet to announce whether he will run for his seat again next year.
The fourth state, Pennsylvania, had the most closely watched Senate race in 2022 — between Republican television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz and Lt. gov. John Fetterman, with Fetterman coming out on top.
Now Democratic Senator Bob Casey is on the ballot.
Pennsylvania Democrats are hoping far-right loser governor Doug Mastriano jumps into the running, which would effectively land Casey a fourth term.
But McConnell and the GOP plan to support David McCormick, who narrowly lost the 2022 GOP primary in Pennsylvania to Oz.
“I think everyone has the right to run,” McConnell replied when asked if he was worried about Mastriano entering the race. “I am confident that the vast majority of people who have met Dave McCormick will get along well with him.”
There are other states Republicans are keeping an eye on, but how much attention McConnell’s group, the Senate Leadership Fund, gives them will depend on how the primary goes.
“I didn’t mention Wisconsin; I think you would clearly have to have an outstanding candidate,” the Kentucky Republican said. “And I think there are some other places where we can compete with the right candidate – in Nevada, Arizona.”
In Wisconsin, Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin is up for re-election. Last month, she announced her re-election bid.
In Nevada, Republicans would need to beat Senator Jacky Rosen, who also announced her re-election bid last month.
In Arizona, independent Democrat Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is up for re-election — and has not yet announced if she will fight for her seat.
This race will be closely watched as Sinema’s political future is already under threat from Democrat MP Ruben Gallego.
McConnell said he didn’t think Sinema would switch parties – although he would have welcomed it.
“I think that decision was made when she eventually continued to partisan with the Democrats,” McConnell said. “We would have liked to have had them, but we didn’t land them.”
“We would have liked to have had her,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said of Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic Party to become an independent party but still works with Democrats
Republicans who may be considering 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 the former President Trump, made false claims of voter fraud.
McConnell wouldn’t say much when asked about jumping Lake or Masters in the race, saying there was a “high probability” that he and the NRSC would wait until the Arizona primary was over.
“What interests me in November is winning and having an ‘R’ next to your name, and I think it’s way too early to start evaluating various candidatures that may or may not materialize,” McConnell said .
But one candidacy is known – and that is that Trump wants to be at the top of the ticket again.
McConnell, who fell out with Trump after the 2020 presidential election, said, “Look, I’m going to support our party’s nominee for president, whoever that may be.”
He added that he thinks having Trump’s name on the ballot could help Republicans in some states.
“Whether you’re a Trump supporter or a Trump opponent, I can’t imagine Trump not doing well as a candidate in West Virginia, Montana and Ohio,” McConnell said.
At the same time, McConnell didn’t mention a number of key states that opposed Trump in 2020: Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin and Michigan – all with Senate races next year.
“We have an opportunity to screw this up, and that goes back to candidate recruitment,” McConnell acknowledged. “I think 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.”