Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said that it’s “very probable” that Democrats take back control of the Senate, arguing that the 2018 midterms will be a “change election.”
In a sit-down interview with The Nevada Independent, Reid, who retired after 30 years in the upper chamber, said that there’s a path for Senate Democrats, despite the party needing to defend 10 seats carried by President Trump in 2016.
Republicans have a narrow majority of 52 seats, compared to Democrats’ 48 seats.
“We’re two short in the Senate, and I think it’s very probable that we’ll be able to retake the Senate. And I have felt much better about the House in recent weeks,” Reid said in the interview.
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“There’s no question in my mind that this election coming up in 2018 is going to be a change election,” he continued.
Still, Democrats will have an uphill climb in regaining control of the Senate and need to defend a handful of states that went double digits for Trump. They only have two realistic opportunities to flip Republican seats — in Nevada and Arizona.
Republicans are hoping to build on their slim majority, but their efforts could be complicated by party infighting.
Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon has declared a “season of war” on the GOP establishment and has vowed to endorse primary challenges to GOP incumbents if they oppose Trump.