Senate Republicans facing contested reelections are concerned that President Donald Trump’s coronavirus response could cost them their jobs and the party’s control of the Senate.
The Hill reports that GOP incumbents that are trailing in polls say they are losing support because of Trump’s handling of the outbreak.
Recent polling shows Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., behind his Democrat challenger Gov. Steve Bullock. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is neck-and-neck in polling with opponent Theresa Greenfield, a Democrat.
Incumbent Republican Sens. Cory Gardner of Colorado and Martha McSally of Arizona are also trailing. Other races that could go either way, according to recent polling, are races in North Carolina and Maine.
Democrats need to net three seats and the White House to take over control of the Senate.
One Republican lawmaker told The Hill “there’s concern” over Trump’s job performance during the coronavirus outbreak. The lawmaker cited a recent poll showing that “Every governor and every world leader is way up the polls but Trump isn’t.”
The Harvard, Northeastern and Rutgers Universities poll of 22,000 voters in 50 states found voters across all states are more likely to approve of their governor’s job performance than Trump’s or Congress’.
Governors' gaining popularity may be problematic for Senate matchups facing governor opponents like Daines and Gardner.
A Senate Republican strategist told The Hill that GOP candidates will have to get away from campaigning on Trump’s performance and make the election about choosing between Republican and Democrat ideologies instead.
“Republicans need the presidential campaign to shift from what is currently a referendum on President Trump to what will certainly become a choice between Joe Biden and President Trump,” the aide said. “When the presidential race becomes a choice, then the faithful on both parties’ sides will go back to their own corners and each state will be decided based on its own fundamentals.”
Another GOP senator told The Hill that senators who had a positive view of Trump before the pandemic tend to support his response efforts more than those who have been critical of the president in the past.
“Members of Congress who approved of his other actions approve of his response but not others,” the lawmaker said.
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