With the 2026 primaries fast approaching, there are three U.S. Senate seats onlookers should keep an eye on.

Republicans are currently enjoying a supermajority after sweeping the 2024 elections, controlling the White House, the House of Representatives, and the Senate.

The freshman senator narrowly won his seat in 2020 by just one point.

After November, Republicans flipped four seats: Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Montana. These victories flipped the Senate and put Republicans in a comfortable 53-seat majority while Democrats fell back to just 47 seats.

Although the GOP has a healthy majority, there are some more potential pick-up opportunities — and losses — for Republicans going into next year's primaries.

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One of the most contentious Senate races will be for Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff's seat in Georgia. Several prominent challengers have emerged in recent months, most notably with Republican Rep. Mike Collins throwing his hat in the race back in July. Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has also been floated as a potential candidate, but she has not formally moved to run for the seat.

The freshman senator narrowly won his seat in 2020 by just one point against Republican incumbent Sen. David Perdue. Given this razor-thin margin, Republicans have set their sights on taking back Ossoff's seat, and early polling suggests it's within reach.

The Cook Political Report currently rates Ossoff's seat as a toss-up, and some polls mirror this rating. In a hypothetical race between Ossoff and Collins, the Democratic incumbent has polled with an average three-point advantage, according to RealClearPolitics. Another recent poll shows Collins trailing Ossoff by just one point, according to findings from TechnoMetrica Institute of Policy and Politics.

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Another pick-up opportunity for Republicans emerged in Michigan after Democratic Sen. Gary Peters announced his retirement in January. Several Democratic candidates, like Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, have since launched their own campaign bids, but the future nominee will inevitably have to put up a fight against Republican challengers.

Former Republican Rep. Mike Rogers is considered the frontrunner among the GOP candidates in the Michigan Senate race. Rogers previously ran and narrowly lost against Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin in 2024, but he has since relaunched his Senate campaign with the hopes of flipping the swing-state seat.

Slotkin managed to defeat Rogers by just 0.3% in November, signaling the support behind the Republican challenger. Earlier in the year, Rogers was polling several points ahead of his Democratic counterparts, and Cook Political Report has rated the Senate seat a toss-up.

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Although Republicans are poised to potentially flip some seats, there may be some warning signs in the Midwest.

Republican Sen. Joni Ernst (Iowa) reportedly will not seek re-election in 2026, leaving a vacancy in the deep-red state. The Cook Political Report has rated the seat as leaning Republican, and the GOP has maintained a prominent presence in Iowa at both the local and national level.

Despite the success Republicans have enjoyed in the Hawkeye State, Democrats have begun to secure their own electoral victories. Most recently, Democrat Catelin Drey defeated Republican Christopher Prosch for an open state Senate seat, flipping the GOP's supermajority for the first time in three years.

Steve Deace, a native Iowan and host of "The Steve Deace Show" on BlazeTV, told Blaze News that this swing in favor of Democrats is taking place because Iowans are not energized by any Republican candidates they have to choose from.

"There are danger signs, because if it can happen in Woodbury County, Iowa, this can happen anywhere in America," Deace said.

"Our people are just not motivated, by and large, to vote for the Republican Party brand as a brand anymore. So you’ve got to prove to them you’re worth their time and effort for them to show up, and I think that this is a wake-up call for the next midterm."

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Trump moves to claw back billions more from USAID, foreign aid

President Donald Trump is pushing Congress to slash billions more in foreign spending with the White House's latest rescissions package.

Trump notified Congress Thursday night of his proposed rescissions package, which is set to slash nearly $5 billion in foreign aid programs, Blaze News confirmed.

'Russ is now at the helm.'

The latest cuts include $3.2 billion in USAID funding, $322 million from the USAID-State Department Democracy Fund, $521 million of State Department contributions to other international organizations, $393 million in State Department contributions to peacekeeping activities, and another $445 million in peacekeeping aid.

"Since January, we’ve saved the taxpayers tens of billions of dollars," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X.

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"And with a small set of core programs moved over to the State Department, USAID is officially in closeout mode," Rubio added. "Russ is now at the helm to oversee the closeout of an agency that long ago went off the rails. Congrats, Russ."

Trump, alongside Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, got a $9 billion rescissions package passed through Congress back in July, which similarly cut back on foreign aid spending as well as funding for public broadcasting.

The Senate narrowly passed the rescissions package 51-48 after an overnight vote-a-rama on July 17. Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine bucked their party and voted against the spending cuts.

The House promptly passed the cuts the following afternoon in a 216-213 vote. Republican Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mike Turner of Ohio voted against the package.

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Congress now has 45 days to pass Trump's rescissions package. Notably, Congress will also be tasked with tackling the budget before the September 30 funding deadline. Despite the urgency, lawmakers have been out of town for August recess and are expected to come back into session starting September 2.

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Exclusive: GOP lawmaker introduces bill barring illegal aliens from 'sabotaged' census

Republican Rep. August Pfluger of Texas is taking charge of codifying President Donald Trump's executive orders.

Pfluger, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, recently introduced a bill that would ensure only American citizens are counted in the United States census, according to bill text obtained exclusively by Blaze News. The legislation, dubbed the COUNT Act, will ensure that illegal aliens are omitted from the census in order to fairly apportion congressional seats.

'We cannot allow Democrats to weaponize our census.'

"The Biden administration sabotaged our census system to count millions of illegal aliens as American citizens, robbing congressional seats from law-abiding Republican states, including shortchanging my home state of Texas by at least one seat," Pfluger told Blaze News.

"This is nothing short of a constitutional crisis."

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Under former President Joe Biden's purview, the administration effectively rigged the census to include millions of illegal aliens into the census, skewing congressional representation in favor of Democrats. As a result, everyday American citizens were overshadowed and overlooked by Democrats' desire to secure a political advantage.

The census currently does not require individuals to provide proof of citizenship, often including illegal immigrants into the official count, which later informs congressional apportionment. Despite the clear malpractice, Democrats are keen on keeping with the status quo.

In May 2024, 202 Democrats unanimously voted against the Equal Representation Act, which requires the census to include a citizenship questionnaire designed to prevent illegal aliens from being included in the total count. Senate Democrats also unanimously defeated an amendment proposed by Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee in March 2024, which would similarly require a citizenship questionnaire on future censuses.

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"That's why I'm introducing the COUNT Act to permanently codify the executive order President Trump signed into law during his first term, creating a citizenship database that ensures only American citizens determine congressional representation and funding, because we cannot allow Democrats to weaponize our census again," Pfluger told Blaze News.

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Ex-Clinton adviser warns Democrats of dire midterm season: 'Elections have consequences'

While Democratic operatives maintain an optimistic front going into the 2026 midterms, one high-profile adviser says there are plenty of warning signs.

Doug Sosnik, a political analyst and former adviser to President Bill Clinton, said that although certain factors would suggest Republicans are at a disadvantage going into 2026, Democrats are unlikely to actually seize the moment and secure significant wins.

'For Democrats, it's all about consolidating their base which has atrophied since they lost the 2024 elections.'

In his annual big-picture memo, Sosnik noted that President Donald Trump's approval rating is lagging, and his support among independents has dipped. At the same time, Sosnik predicted that "it is unlikely that [Democrats] will have anywhere near the level of success that the out-of-power party has had in previous midterm elections with such an unpopular incumbent president."

"The reason for this has less to do with the Democrats' historically low approval rating than with a political realignment that began forming long before Donald Trump ever ran for president," Sosnik added.

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Sosnik partially attributed this realignment to education level, which has become a new political fault line. For decades, Democrats had consistently experienced a "steady erosion" of support from rural, working-class voters, prompting the party to lean on college-educated Americans to win elections. This shift puts Democrats at a massive electoral disadvantage since the majority of eligible voters in the country do not have a college degree.

This realignment is ultimately reflected in the Democrats' political class. As Sosnik noted, over half of the current Democratic senators come from the 12 states with the highest levels of four-year college degrees. Similarly, two-thirds of House Democrats come from the 100 most highly educated districts across the country.

"More than a president's job approval or the candidates on the ballot, the breakdown by education level of the electorate is what matters in determining the outcome of American elections," Sosnik said.

Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Another disadvantage staring down Democrats is the reality that the political focus is increasingly national and decreasingly local. In Congress, 419 House members and 90 senators are from the same party as the presidential candidate who won their district in 2024.

Because of this realignment, over 80% of congressional races are no longer considered competitive, narrowing Democrats' political opportunities. To add insult to injury, Sosnik predicts that the Republicans' overwhelming success in the most recent presidential election will "further tilt" the playing field in 2026.

"For Democrats, it's all about consolidating their base which has atrophied since they lost the 2024 elections," Sosnik said. "Luckily for them — when it comes to the midterms, anyway — their strongest supporters are college graduates, who are most likely to vote in off-year elections."

"The one thing that is clear is that the results in next year's midterms will tell us very little about the 2028 presidential election," Sosnik added. "That election will be a referendum on America's future as we finally move away from Politics in the Age of Trump."

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Republican senator relishes 'cray-cray' Mamdani's success: 'We've gotten lucky'

While New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's popularity continues to skyrocket, some Republican lawmakers are embracing it as a blessing in disguise.

Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said his party has "gotten lucky" with Mamdani's nomination, arguing that the "cray-cray" candidate is driving more voters away from the Democratic Party.

'That’s bad for New York, but it’s certainly good for Republicans.'

"We’ve gotten lucky — bad for America, good for Republicans — with Mr. Mamdani in New York," Kennedy told NewsNation.

"If I didn’t know better, I would think he was a Republican plant," Kennedy added. "If I didn’t know better, I’d think that Republicans had created Mr. Mamdani in a petri dish in a genomics lab."

Photo by Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Critics of Mamdani, including Republicans and even his fellow Democrats, point to his leftist and socialist policies. Because of his extremism, high-profile New York Democrats like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have refrained from endorsing Mamdani entirely.

Kennedy said that although Mamdani's policies have alienated some voters, his candidacy has ultimately has benefited Republicans.

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"He’s clearly from what I call the Gary Busey wing — the cray-cray wing — of the Democratic Party," Kennedy said. "That’s bad for New York, but it’s certainly good for Republicans."

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Defeated Democrat senator attempts a long-shot political comeback: 'Voters will reject him again'

Former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio is attempting to reignite his political career after facing a brutal electoral loss in November 2024.

Brown relaunched his Senate campaign on Monday to try to take back an Ohio Senate seat after Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno defeated him in November by over 200,000 votes.

'Ohioans just rejected Sherrod Brown's radical agenda.'

Brown will be running alongside 75-year-old millionaire Fred Ode in the Democrat primary to ultimately face off against Republican Sen. Jon Husted. Husted was appointed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine in January to fill the Senate seat vacated by JD Vance after he became vice president.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee wasted no time before calling out Brown's track record, accusing him of selling out to the "far left."

"Ohioans just rejected Sherrod Brown's radical agenda of allowing biological men to compete in women's sports, fueling mass illegal immigration, and failing to protect Ohio's good-paying manufacturing jobs," NRSC regional press secretary Nick Puglia said in a press release. "If Brown wins his primary, we remain confident voters will reject him again in 2026."

Brown boasted a steady streak of left-wing policies throughout the 18 years he served in the Senate.

The NRSC's attack ad said Brown pushed sex-change surgeries for children, "funneled money" to groups that wanted to defund the police, and embraced the open-borders, mass-amnesty policies that became commonplace within the Democratic Party.

Gaelen Morse/Bloomberg via Getty Images

"Sherrod Brown didn't stand up for Ohio," the ad said. "He sold it out."

"Ohio deserves better. Not a liberal sellout like Sherrod Brown."

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Democrat grovels after skipping Israel arms votes for Colbert show: 'I owe it to my state'

Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan issued a lengthy explanation Thursday after she skipped key Israel votes to make an appearance on Stephen Colbert's show.

Slotkin missed several votes on Wednesday, including two resolutions that would have blocked additional military aid to Israel. Rather than joining her colleagues for the vote, Slotkin spent Wednesday afternoon in New York to tape her appearance for "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," which sparked outrage among American voters.

In an attempt to address the disappointment and disapproval felt by her constituents, Slotkin clarified her position on the vote and explained away her absence.

'I owe it to my state to make clear where I stand.'

"Last night I unfortunately missed a vote series on two Joint Resolutions of Disapproval regarding the sale of weapons to Israel," Slotkin said in a statement on X. "I have struggled with this Joint Resolution of Disapproval more than any previous votes in the nearly two years since Hamas initiated the attacks on October 7. I represent a state with a large Arab and Muslim population and a large Jewish population. And over these last two years, few issues have been as raw as this one."

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"I have therefore worked very hard to call balls and strikes based on my experience and the facts on the ground, even as most people fall firmly into one side or another, and are often reluctant to consider new information. I owe it to my state to make clear where I stand: Had I made it back for the vote yesterday, I would have voted yes to block offensive weapons to Israel based on my concerns over lack of food and medicine getting to civilians in Gaza."

Photo by JACQUELYN MARTIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Slotkin reaffirmed her support for the state of Israel, but she also criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for behaving as if "there are no limits to what they can do while receiving U.S. support."

"I believe a message has to be sent," Slotkin said. "Should similar votes on offensive weapons come up in the future, I will take them on a case-by-case basis, with the hope of important humanitarian course corrections. I continue to support the U.S.-Israel security relationship and sale of defensive weapons such as the Iron Dome."

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Star Dem Candidate Leading By Only Single Digits In Key Senate Race, Poll Says

'leaves room for his campaign to define him'

Democratic senator appears on Colbert show after missing key Israel votes

While the Senate worked through several key resolutions to block arms sales to Israel, Democrat Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan apparently skipped out to tape her appearance on Stephen Colbert's show.

The Senate voted on two resolutions to block additional military aid to Israel Thursday night, both of which failed. Although Democrats had unprecedented support to bar Israel from receiving additional aid, Slotkin spent her afternoon alongside a talk show host.

'I'm not going to cut off a blanket next sale on a defensive weapon that comes through.'

Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images

The resolutions, which were spearheaded by independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, both failed in the Senate in 70-27 and 72-24 votes. Both votes were dead on arrival with or without Slotkin's support, but this is not the first time the freshman senator has been scrutinized for her position on Israel.

In an interview on "Breaking Points" on Tuesday, co-hosts Saagar Enjeti and Krystal Ball grilled Slotkin, who said she was open to blocking arms sales for "offensive" weapons to Israel.

"There is a difference between a weapon to protect a country from incoming missiles versus other types," Slotkin said. "Offensive and defensive weapons are different."

Enjeti pressed Slotkin, asking if she would be in favor of banning "offensive" weapons to Israel, which she seemed open to.

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"That certainly, to me, would be a place to look," Slotkin said. "But I'm not going to cut off a blanket next sale on a defensive weapon that comes through."

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