Las Vegas – Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana), chairman of the Senate Republican Campaign Committee, has said for the first time that Republicans will retake control of the Senate in the November elections.
“We're going to win the Senate majority,” the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
“Fifty-one is the number we want to get to. Obviously, there are opportunities to exceed it, but 51 is the number we have to get to,” Daines said Thursday on the sidelines of the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership meeting in Las Vegas.
Democrats control the Senate by a slim 51-49 margin, giving Republicans an advantageous position this year, with Democrats set to defend 23 of the 34 seats at stake.
Senate Democratic Campaign Chairman Speaks One-on-One with Fox News
One of those seats is in West Virginia, a heavily Republican state that former President Trump won by nearly 40 points in 2020. Republicans are all but certain to retake the seat because moderate Democrat-turned-independent Sen. Joe Manchin (a former governor) is not seeking reelection.
Additionally, in Daines' home states of Montana and Ohio, states that Trump won handily four years ago, Republicans are looking to defeat Democratic Senators Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown.
Republican support grows as Republicans seek to retake Senate seats held by Democrats
Five more Democratic-held seats are at stake this year in key battleground states in the presidential election.
Former Republican Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Democratic-leaning state, entered the Senate race late in February, creating an unexpected headache in a state previously considered safe as Democrats try to protect their fragile Senate majority. Hogan left office in early 2023 with very high approval ratings and favorable ratings.
Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership conference on September 5, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Minutes into the Fox News interview, Daines appealed to big donors and influential conservative activists to close the funding gap between Republican and Democratic campaigns.
“We need your help to close the fundraising gap,” Daines emphasized while speaking to an audience at the Republican Jewish Coalition. “We have the right candidates. Let's give them the money they need to win.”
Daines pointed to the Republican fundraising gap in the polls and acknowledged, “This is something that concerns me.”
“Right now, we're so short on funds that we may not be able to run a winnable campaign to the end. We're literally two months away from the most important election of my lifetime,” Daines said. “That's why we're working so hard to sound the alarm for our donors.”
Democrats are raising and spending more than Republicans in the 2024 Senate majority battle and, with an eye to the future, are putting even more money into booking ads in the final two months before Election Day on Nov. 5.
Senate Democrats and the outside groups that support them have significantly increased their post-Labor Day ad bookings in four of the seven key Senate battleground districts. Advertising impactIn Wisconsin, Nevada, Michigan and Arizona, Democrats are spending at least twice as much on reserved ads as their respective Republican opponents, posing a major obstacle for GOP candidates who already face name recognition challenges and the hurdle of challenging incumbents.
Check out the latest FOX News 2024 election poll here
Overall, Democrats plan to spend about $348 million on key races across the country ahead of Election Day, compared with more than $255 million for Republican senators.
Republican spending in Wisconsin, Nevada, Michigan and Arizona appears to be the result of Republican-leaning senator ad purchases being prioritized in Montana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Republicans are outspending Democrats in these states, but their opponents still plan to spend just as much. In Ohio, Republicans have reserved $81.9 million compared to Democrats' future spending of $78.3 million, not far behind. Advertising impact.
Democratic presidential candidates Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden arrive at a campaign event at the IBEW Local 5 union hall in Pittsburgh on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin) (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin)
In the month and a half since Vice President Kamala Harris took over from President Biden as the party's top bid for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination to challenge former President Donald Trump, Democrats have seen a surge in enthusiasm and fundraising, fueling a financial gap.
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“It's become clear in the last 48 hours that Kamala Harris has announced that she will be directing $25 million of her presidential campaign funds to lower-ranking candidates, including $10 million to Democratic senators,” Daines said. “There's not a lot that Kamala Harris is good at, but she is good at fundraising, so this should be of concern to us.”
But Daines said there were some positives about Harris replacing the 81-year-old Biden in the race for the White House.
“Age won't be an issue in this election because that's one of the reasons Biden did so poorly. Age was more of a factor than anything else,” Daines said. “Now we can focus on policy. This election will be a policy contrast. For the first time in decades, we'll be up against the results of two different administrations: four years of President Trump and four years of Kamala Harris. Two very different administrations, two very different results. That contrast will be very helpful to us in the crucial Senate elections.”
Get the latest 2024 campaign updates, exclusive interviews and more on Fox News Digital's Election Hub.
