Senate Republicans See Opportunity for Blue State ‘Sleeper’ Wins

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chair Rick Scott (R-FL) says the GOP is ready to take back the Senate majority in November. “I think we’re going to have some sleepers, where people are going to say, boy, we didn’t anticipate that one,” Scott told The Hill.

Asked which states he believes could become competitive in the coming months, he pointed to Colorado, Washington and Vermont.

“You look at Colorado, I think we have an opportunity potentially in Colorado. We have a great candidate in the state of Washington,” he said.

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To be sure, Democrats are still heavily favored to win the Senate contests in each of those states, which are all deep blue and have handed Democrats statewide victories for years. The fight for control of the upper chamber is far more likely to center on well-established battlegrounds like Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Still, President Biden’s sagging approval ratings, combined with the fact that the party in power tends to lose ground in Congress in midterm elections, has Republicans looking for new offensive opportunities.

“It’s dependent on Biden’s numbers essentially staying where they are or falling even further,” Doug Heye, a Republican strategist, said. “If 65 percent of voters going into Election Day feel the country is still on the wrong track, they’re going to blame the Democratic president, Democratic House and Democratic Senate.”

Republicans only need to flip one seat to take the majority in the Senate.