The midterms were a disaster for Democrats' 2020 Senate hopes

There are a lot of reasons for Democrats to be cheery on Wednesday, but the outcome of the midterm Senate races is not one of them. With three key races (Arizona, Florida, and Montana) still too close to call, and the Mississippi race going to a runoff, Democrats are looking at a potential 45-55 make-up in Republicans' favor in 2019. "It's not the only important takeaway, but one important takeaway from last night is that it's going to be basically impossible for Democrats to have a governing coalition if they beat Trump in 2020," explained Vox's Dylan Matthews.

The math could look like this: In 2020, Democrats would need to hold all of their current Senate seats — including Alabama — plus flip six held by Republicans, including in all likelihood Arizona and Georgia, as well as places like Iowa, Colorado, Maine, and North Carolina. (As David Faris explains for The Week, "Democrats may very well be underdogs everywhere but Colorado.")

To be fair, the 2018 map never looked any good for Democrats. The party had to defend 10 seats in states President Trump won in 2016, and had hinged chamber-flipping hopes on red states like Tennessee and Texas. The math will be the opposite in 2020 — Republicans will be on the defensive, with 21 Senate seats up compared to 12 being defended by Democrats. But it is still a long, uphill battle to retaking the Senate after Tuesday night.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up