Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) remains optimistic that the Democrats will be able to defy the recent wave of enthusiasm for Republicans and maintain their Senate majority, The Associated Press reports.
Schumer believes Democratic candidates will be able to defeat their opponents in the highly contested battleground states and even sees the potential of flipping some seats.
"It's tight," Schumer said in the interview with AP. "I believe Democrats will hold the Senate and maybe even pick up seats."
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Schumer's confident forecast comes as support and enthusiasm for Democrats fall behind a boost in the polls for the GOP. Republicans are benefiting from voters' high interest in economic concerns and their dissatisfaction with President Biden's performance. Maintaining control of the Senate has been a steep battle for Democrats from the beginning, and historically the dominant party tends to lose congressional seats in the midterm elections.
Regardless, Schumer is counting on high voter turnout on Tuesday to secure the win for his party and told interviewers that Democrats have advantages in each of the critical battleground states. He emphasized that Democratic candidates are "defying the political environment," shattering the narrative that Republicans would quickly take control of the Senate.
He believes his party's endurance against the odds suggests that voters "are seeing how extreme these Republican candidates are, and they don't like it. And second, they're seeing the Democrats are talking to them on issues they care about, and that we've accomplished a great deal on things."
