Senate Republican campaign manager Steve Daines declined to talk about a red wave this fall leading to a Republican majority in the chamber.
“I want 51 people. That’s a majority,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) chairman told Fox News Digital this week when asked what he was aiming for in the November election. .
Democrats control the US Senate, But Republicans are looking at a favorable situation in the Senate this year, with Democrats holding 23 of the 34 contested seats.
Three of the seats are in red states Ohio, Montana and West Virginia that were won by former President Trump in 2020, and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin is not running for re-election.
Republicans aim to flip six key Senate seats in November
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-Va.) waves to visitors on the Senate steps as he exits the Capitol after the final vote of the week in Washington, May 4, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
“Right now, the first state we know we’re going to win is West Virginia,” Danis said. “There’s one pick-up seat there.”
There are five additional seats held by Democrats in key battleground states for the general election. Democrats are also defending an open seat in Blue Maryland, where popular former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is running for Senate.
“We like Larry’s position. We know it’s going to be a tough race because Maryland is a blue state, but first and foremost it’s Hogan’s state,” Daines insisted.
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Although the map favors Republicans, Daines, the junior senator from Montana, agrees with longtime Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who also casts cold water on hopes for a landslide victory. It seems like it is.
And he is striking a completely different tone than his predecessor, Florida Sen. Rick Scott.
Scott predicted he would win a 55-seat majority in the 2022 midterm elections, but Republicans faced ballot box setbacks in key races and were unable to regain the Senate majority they lost in the 2020 cycle. Therefore, it did not reach much.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) heads to a luncheon with Senate Republicans at the U.S. Capitol on June 1, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“If you look at the results in ’22, no one was happy,” Daines said in a sit-down interview at the NRSC’s offices. “Everyone likes to win. Nobody likes to lose. We looked at a strategy that first and foremost starts with finding a candidate who can win not only the primary but also the general election.”
Daines made headlines in an interview with Fox Digital when he was sworn in as NRSC chair in December 2022. The senator vowed to “do whatever it takes to secure a Republican majority.”
That included involving the NRSC in contentious Republican primaries, a major change from the commission’s predecessor.
A year and a half later, Daines says, “We are now in a position in most of these states to have candidates who are not only capable of winning the primaries, but are competitive in every general election race.”
Former Republican presidential candidate Trump boards a plane after speaking at a campaign rally in Freeland, Michigan, on May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancia)
Much of the blame for the setback in the 2022 Republican Senate race has been placed on Trump, who shaped the key primary battles. In some campaigns, candidates have played up Trump’s unproven claims about his loss to President Biden in the 2020 election and that his loss was due to a “fraudulent” and “rigged” election. He has repeatedly supported or reluctantly denied the re-litigation.
Herschel Walker of Georgia, Blake Masters of Arizona, Adam Laxalt of Nevada, and Mehmet Oz of Pennsylvania won their primaries thanks in part to President Trump’s support and backing. They were defeated, but both were defeated.
In 2024, the story is different, with Mr. Trump, the NRSC, and Mr. McConnell all on the same page when it comes to choosing senatorial electors.
Daines believes his “strong and productive working relationship and friendship” with Trump helped bridge the rift within the party that still exists between the former president and McConnell.
Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, speaks with FOX News Digital in Washington, D.C., May 8, 2024. (FOX News/Paul Steinhauser)
“From the beginning, the president and I have worked very closely and very carefully to find a candidate that we align with, the best candidate who can win not only the primary but also the general election,” he said. . “We compare notes… there’s trust built there and there’s constructive dialogue. We text and talk frequently… in 2024. in shaping the Senate map.”
But Daines hasn’t been able to completely avoid a competitive and contentious primary.
Trump-backed Bernie Moreno won a tight nomination battle in Ohio earlier this year, but the race was not as intense as the 2022 Republican Senate primary in the Buckeye State.
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Additionally, Republican Senate primaries are heating up in Michigan and Nevada, with President Trump and the NRSC once again endorsing the same candidate.
In Nevada, former Army officer Sam Brown, who was seriously injured in the Afghanistan war, is backed by Trump and the NRSC. But former Trump ambassador to Iceland Jeff Gunter vowed to spend “whatever it takes” to defeat Brown.
In Michigan, wealthy investor and entrepreneur Sandy Pensler, backed by President Trump, took aim at former Congressman Mike Rogers, who once chaired the House Intelligence Committee. They spend a lot of money on large-scale advertising. NRSC.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump listens to a speech by Michigan Senate candidate and former Congressman Mike Rogers at a campaign rally in Freeland, Michigan, on May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Paul Sancia)
“He has the full and complete 100 percent backing and backing of President Trump and the NRSC. That’s why Mike Rogers will win the primary,” Daines emphasized.
The rival Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee argues that articles about the NRSC’s successes so far this term may have been written prematurely.
DSCC spokesperson Tommy Garcia said in a statement to Fox News: “The Senate Republican recruiting list exposes a series of lies about their careers, financial vulnerabilities, and a lifetime of damaging statements and policy positions. I am upset by the reports,” he said. “Meanwhile, primaries in states like Nevada and Michigan are in shambles. The NRSC’s big bet to support a bunch of unvetted carpetbaggers is getting worse by the day.”
Despite the criticism from Democrats, Daines remains optimistic, and one reason for that is President Biden.
Daines said his job was made easier by Biden becoming the top Democratic candidate this fall.
Daines said Democrats “have to seriously contend with the incredible headwinds they will face with such an unpopular president. Joe Biden is making Jimmy Carter look like a superstar.” This is the real problem that Democrats have.”
Get the latest on the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more with Fox News Digital’s Election Hub.
