Republicans apparently surrender doomed races as election map gets grimmer: analysis

With the midterms a day away, strategists in both parties have written off several races once billed as top contests, according to a report from Politico.

More than a dozen Senate and House races have been triaged, and the report says they're now expecting an awful night for Republicans.

In nearly every race where the party pulled back, the report stated, Republican candidates have had trouble overcoming national headwinds. The clearest examples are the Senate races in North Carolina and Georgia. The GOP-aligned Senate Leadership Fund put $35 million into TV ads in each state before leaving to bolster incumbents in deep-red Kansas, South Carolina and Mississippi.

Democrats scaled back there as well, since each party watches the other’s spending.

Republicans also abandoned several House contests. The Congressional Leadership Fund ended spending against Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar, Greg Landsman and Kristen McDonald Rivet, conceded retiring Rep. Don Bacon’s Nebraska seat, and dropped plans for NC-11 as it gave up on holding Rep. Chuck Edwards’ open seat. Democrats’ House Majority PAC followed shortly after.

The report says CLF redeployed funds elsewhere, including moving New York City ad reservations meant for NJ-09 and NY-04 toward GOP Rep. Mike Lawler’s race in NY-17. Its nonprofit arm, American Action Network, spent $1.2 million on ads in the races of Reps. Susie Lee and Josh Riley, but only $100 combined in October. CLF also pulled support from Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, who won in 2024 by under 800 votes, and shifted its FL-25 reservations to No Going Back PAC, linked to MAGA Inc.

Republicans are reportedly already preparing to blame President Donald Trump for expected losses.