Political expert tells Morning Joe: 'The Senate map is perilous for Republicans'

Source: Alternet.org · Bias: Left

Summary

While Republicans have managed to make inroads in the Congressional maps for U.S. House of Representatives races, the U.S. Senate map is growing increasingly worse for the GOP. Speaking to "Morning Joe" on Wednesday morning, David Drucker addressed his recent Bloomberg piece, in which he recalled the 2018 elections during President Donald Trump's first term. In that case, Democrats gained 40 seats. However, that was before GOP states were allowed to redraw congressional lines. "But the Republican majority grew by two seats [in the Senate] because they picked up some seats in red states. So, even though the president wasn't doing well in red states, he was doing just fine," Drucker said. "And that's how this election was unfolding. Democrats are looking very good in the House still. Republicans [are] looking very good in the Senate except for a couple of places."Things are changing as problems continue in the U.S. economy. "What we are beginning to detect in my conversations with Republicans, which — who would, you know, to be clear, prefer this doesn't happen. Is that the playing field on the Senate map is becoming perilous for Republicans," Drucker continued. "Now, the reason why Democrats shouldn't jump for joy is because if they're going to have a good election on the Senate side, it's going to be in defined red territory."Outside of Maine and North Carolina, gains must be made in reliably red states like Iowa, Ohio and others. Co-host Joe Scarborough asked specifically about long-shot states like Iowa and Texas, which he called "fool's gold." Drucker explained that Texas will be heavily contested, but agreed that it isn't as likely. Where things could change is in the Republican runoff on May 26. What he called "super interesting" is Alaska. Drucker said that it's been a spot that Republicans have been concerned about since 2024. Former Rep. Mary Peltola, the Democrat, has already won the statewide race for the at-large congressional seat. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) appears to "know that," with a voting record that has evolved recently. He votes with the Trump administration 100 percent of the time, VoteHub showed. Fellow Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted with Trump 90.8 percent of the time. Her numbers have been lower in the previous administration, closer to a 78 percent alignment with Trump. Whereas Sullivan has never dropped below 91 percent alignment.

Related Coverage

Daily Analysis

Read the full Parallax Pulse for May 12, 2026 — an AI-powered analysis of how Left and Right media covered the biggest stories this day.

More Headlines From May 12, 2026

arallaxNews.io
Political expert tells Morning Joe: 'The Senate map is perilous for Republicans'
Alternet.org

Political expert tells Morning Joe: 'The Senate map is perilous for Republicans'

Left

While Republicans have managed to make inroads in the Congressional maps for U.S. House of Representatives races, the U.S. Senate map is growing increasingly worse for the GOP. Speaking to "Morning Joe" on Wednesday morning, David Drucker addressed his recent Bloomberg piece, in which he recalled the 2018 elections during President Donald Trump's first term. In that case, Democrats gained 40 seats. However, that was before GOP states were allowed to redraw congressional lines. "But the Republican majority grew by two seats [in the Senate] because they picked up some seats in red states. So, even though the president wasn't doing well in red states, he was doing just fine," Drucker said. "And that's how this election was unfolding. Democrats are looking very good in the House still. Republicans [are] looking very good in the Senate except for a couple of places."Things are changing as problems continue in the U.S. economy. "What we are beginning to detect in my conversations with Republicans, which — who would, you know, to be clear, prefer this doesn't happen. Is that the playing field on the Senate map is becoming perilous for Republicans," Drucker continued. "Now, the reason why Democrats shouldn't jump for joy is because if they're going to have a good election on the Senate side, it's going to be in defined red territory."Outside of Maine and North Carolina, gains must be made in reliably red states like Iowa, Ohio and others. Co-host Joe Scarborough asked specifically about long-shot states like Iowa and Texas, which he called "fool's gold." Drucker explained that Texas will be heavily contested, but agreed that it isn't as likely. Where things could change is in the Republican runoff on May 26. What he called "super interesting" is Alaska. Drucker said that it's been a spot that Republicans have been concerned about since 2024. Former Rep. Mary Peltola, the Democrat, has already won the statewide race for the at-large congressional seat. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) appears to "know that," with a voting record that has evolved recently. He votes with the Trump administration 100 percent of the time, VoteHub showed. Fellow Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted with Trump 90.8 percent of the time. Her numbers have been lower in the previous administration, closer to a 78 percent alignment with Trump. Whereas Sullivan has never dropped below 91 percent alignment.

Read Full Story at Source
Political expert tells Morning Joe: 'The Senate map is perilous for Republicans' | ParallaxNews.io