Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) on Monday predicted that Republicans would pick up several seats and have a majority with 52 or more GOP senators after the midterm elections.
Scott, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), told Fox News in an interview that Republicans would pick up Georgia and Nevada and had a “really good chance” of flipping Arizona and New Hampshire as well.
“I think we’re going to have a great night,” Scott said at an event in New Hampshire to support Republican Senate candidate Don Bolduc. “People are fed up with open borders, high inflation and high crime.”
The latest generic congressional ballot shows Republicans leading Democrats by 5 percentage points.
The GOP has had a strong atmosphere in which to win back the Senate. President Biden’s approval ratings are low, and high inflation has hurt Democrats while giving Republicans a strong rallying cry. The president’s party also typically loses seats in a midterm election cycle.
The vulnerability for the GOP has been seen as weak candidates. Republican candidate Herschel Walker has been dogged by controversy in Georgia, while the GOP’s Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, Mehmet Oz, has been tagged by Democrats as an out-of-stater from New Jersey.
Those races are tight, however, and with victories in both the GOP would have an excellent chance of winning the Senate, which is now evenly divided between the two parties.
Scott said the closest race is in Pennsylvania. In polling this week, Democratic candidate John Fetterman was leading Oz by 2 points.
According to Scott, one sleeper race the NRSC is watching closely is in Washington state, where five-term Sen. Patty Murray (D) is fending off a challenge from the GOP’s Tiffany Smiley.
Murray leads Smiley by at least 7 points in the race, but the nonpartisan Cook Report last month shifted the race from “solid Democrat” to “likely Democrat” after the Republican candidate increased her support over the past few months.
“She’s got a real shot and she’s a great candidate,” Scott told Fox News on Monday. “I’m excited.”