Senate Democrats are privately worried about their prospects of saving Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), a crucial part of their razor-thin Senate majority, amid recent polls that show him down by mid to high single digits against GOP challenger Tim Sheehy.
According to Axios, they are planning to expand the map and go after some less likely pickups to save their majority: Texas and Florida.
"Democrats are signaling they want to expand the playing field and be in a position to steal Republican seats in states like Florida. Yes, it's still red, but former President Trump isn't expected to win by double digits," reported Hans Nichols and Stephen Neukam. "They are also eyeing Texas, where a recent poll has Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) up by three points against Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas)."
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All of this comes as Democrats in other key battlegrounds, like Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) have gotten a string of solid polls that show them favored to retain their seats, and as Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) looks increasingly likely to win the seat of retiring independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
The Senate map in 2024 is inherently skewed in favor of Republicans, as the vast majority of seats with Republican incumbents are in solidly Republican-favoring states that are not expected to host competitive races, making Texas and Florida some of the Democrats' only outside shots at a pickup. An independent candidate, Dan Osborn, has also fielded a surprisingly close race in Nebraska, but even if he manages to win, it's unclear whether he would caucus with Democrats.