Tim Scott confident GOP will keep Senate control after midterms, but House ‘is a different story’
by Max Rego - 05/05/26 7:24 PM ET
Republican Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) predicted Tuesday that his party will maintain control of the Senate in November, but he was not as certain about the House.
“Republicans will stay in the majority,” the South Carolina Republican told Fox Business Network’s Charles Gasparino at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California.
When Gasparino pressed Scott, the chair of the Senate GOP’s campaign committee, on whether the GOP will keep its majority in the Senate, the Republican lawmaker replied, “In the Senate, for sure.”
Republicans hold a 53-47 advantage in the upper chamber. In order to retake control of the Senate for the final two years of President Trump’s term, Democrats would need to flip four of the 22 GOP-held seats that are up for grabs — in the event of 50-50 splits, Vice President Vance serves as the tiebreaker.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates one of those 22 races as a Democratic lean — the open seat in North Carolina, held by retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.
Scott acknowledged that the race “will be a challenge” for the GOP, but predicted that former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley will defeat popular former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D).
A poll of 703 likely voters in North Carolina conducted by High Point University from March 26 through April 6 found that half of respondents backed Cooper, while 42 percent backed Whatley and 6 percent were either unsure or said they will not vote. Cooper’s edge in that survey is outside the margin of error of 4.3 percentage points.
Up in Maine, GOP Sen. Susan Collins (R) is seeking a sixth term in the upper chamber. She will likely face off against Graham Platner, an oyster farmer and Marine Corps veteran who is the clear favorite in the Democratic primary after Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) dropped out of the race last week.
Scott also said that Collins will be “successful” in her reelection race. He also noted that if Republican Sens. Jon Husted (Ohio) and Dan Sullivan (Alaska) win their races and the victor of the Jim Carlin-Ashley Hinson GOP primary in Iowa wins in November to succeed retiring Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), then Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) will likely keep his title for another two years.
“You do that, we’re in the majority,” Scott added. “I think we’ll be in the majority.”
When Gasparino asked him about the House, Scott said with a smile, “Thankfully, I’m in the Senate.”
He added, “I think the House is a different story. Challenging story, without any question.”
Republicans hold a 217-212 advantage in the lower chamber, with independent Rep. Kevin Kiley (Calif.) caucusing with the GOP. There are five vacancies in the House, with three of those seats held by Democrats and two held by Republicans.
But recent history is working against the majority party, despite a financial edge over House Democrats. In four of the last five midterm elections, control of the House switched hands away from the incumbent president’s party.
The only time that did not happen was in 2014, when House Republicans added to their majority.
Plus, of the 16 seats that the Cook Political Report rates as “Toss Ups,” 13 are held by Republicans.
“We’ll see what happens there,” Scott said. “There’s a sliver of hope, but there’s a lot of firepower right now against [Republicans in] the House.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5864957-scott-predicts-gop-majority/
