Underdogs: Republicans Continue Gaining Momentum in Senate Races Despite Democrats Outspending Them

DAVENPORT, IA - JULY 17: A Republican elephant prop sits in front of the Starlite Ballroom
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Wendell Husebø

Senate Republican candidates continue to gain momentum in swing state races despite Democrats heavily outspending them.

The 2022 campaign cycle promised to be a tough year for the Republican Party to retake the Senate due to the number of battleground seats demanding resources to defend. Only 14 Democrat-controlled seats are up for reelection, compared to 21 Republican-controlled seats.

Consequently, third quarter Senate fundraising totals confirm Republicans are being outspent as predicted. Republican candidates in eight swing states have spent less and have less money to spend, according to CBS News’s Sarah Ewall-Wice. In total, Republicans have been outspent by about $81 million: in Georgia ($14 million), Arizona ($18 million), Pennsylvania ($5 million), Wisconsin ($8 million), Nevada ($9 million), North Carolina ($8 million), Ohio ($10 million), and New Hampshire ($9 million).

Yet Republicans continue to outperform expectations heading into the last few weeks of the midterm campaign cycle. Recent polling shows Republicans virtually tied or leading in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Ohio, and Georgia. In New Hampshire, Democrats appear to have a slight lead, though the Republican red wave may overcome the Democrats’ lead.

For Democrats to hold the Senate, they must take North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania or prevent Republicans from winning any of five currently Democrat-held seats: Georgia, New Hampshire, Nevada, Arizona, or Washington State.

Republicans appear to be performing well in tight races because the number one issue among voters has remained inflation. In all eight battleground states of Nevada, Georgia, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Arizona, Biden’s inflation-wracked economy is the number one issue.

Americans have been severely impacted by soaring costs. According to a Heritage Foundation study, American families have lost $6,000 in annual spending power thanks to President Joe Biden’s soaring inflation. This loss represents a $1,800 increase from September, when American families had lost $4,200 in annual spending power under Biden.

According to recent polling, 67 percent of voters in Senate battleground states are dissatisfied with the direction of the nation after nearly two years of Democrats controlling the administrative state, legislative branch, and executive branch of the federal government. Just an average of 23 percent of voters in Senate swing states say the nation is headed in the correct direction.

With just about a month before the midterm elections, Biden tried to help Democrats’ chances of retaining the Senate by asking the Saudis not to cut oil production, which could exacerbate his war on American energy and further increase inflation. The Saudis refused, and energy prices began to soar again, fueling inflation’s rise.

Last week, the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in September rose 8.2 percent compared to a year earlier. Prices are up 0.4 percent from a month ago, twice what forecasters had expected.

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.

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