President Donald Trump proclaimed last week that there are Republicans that are competitive now that weren't a few months ago. But he neglected to mention some Republicans are falling to Democrats.
States like North Dakota and Missouri aren't looking great for the Democrats. Sen. Heidi Heidkamp (D-ND) is polling ten points below her Republican challenger while Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) is polling even with hers.
One thing the president neglected to mention, however, is that areas of the country previously considered Republican strongholds are now turning toward the Democratic Party. A new NBC News poll revealed the Tennessee Senate race is dead even with Gov. Phil Bredesen (D-TN) at 42 percent against Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
The same is true in the Georgia governor's race, where Stacey Abrams is polling at 43 percent against Brian Kemp, who is also at 43 percent.
Mississippi has two seats open after Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) announced his retirement in April. While one seat has the Democrat trailing the GOP by 14 percent, former Rep. Mike Espy (D-MS) is leading his challengers.
This only adds to problems facing Republicans like Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) and Martha McSally (R-AZ), who are both losing in GOP Senate races.
According to a Fox News poll, Democrat Kyrsten Sinema is narrowly ahead of McSally by three percent. But among women (+15 percent) and young voters (+19 percent), Sinema is crushing McSally.
Heller's problem is that he's palling around with Trump after trying to stand up to him on health care. Nevadans needed the benefits Obamacare provided, so Heller flip-flopping on the issue might cost him the seat. Polling on the race shows the two neck-and-neck with Heller narrowly leading by .4 percent
The news comes as Republican PACs are removing their support from at least four Republicans that are actually running really close in their polling.
Then there's the matter of Texas. Beloved Rep. Beto O'Rourke has managed to skateboard into the hearts of Texans looking for an alternative to their unpopular junior senator. Polls show the two are running even or O'Rourke is narrowly behind in others. Most polls aren't taking into account a Libertarian candidate in the race, who could come out in November to vote against Ted Cruz's policies.
Republicans are dumping tons of cash into the Florida Senate race, hoping they can get rid of Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), but the margin seems to be widening, according to CNN. Nelson will still have to work hard, but the state isn't happy after toxic algae made beaches dangerous over the summer. At the same time, many Puerto Ricans relocated to Florida after Hurricane Maria nearly wiped out the island. Those voters aren't likely to support Republicans during the midterm election.
