Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday said Republicans are at risk of losing control of the Senate in contests so close they are “like a knife fight in an alley.”
“We knew this was going to be a struggle. I think it’s a 50-50 proposition. The outcome of the Senate could go either way,” McConnell said in a Fox News interview.
“We have airtight races in Montana, Colorado Arizona, Iowa, North Carolina, Maine and Georgia. It’s like a knife fight in an alley in every one of these places. I feel good about where we are. But look, none of these races are either lost or won.”
The Kentucky Republican noted that Republicans are defending 23 Senate seats in November, and the Democrats are defending just 12.
McConnell spoke shortly after Senate Democrats blocked a coronavirus relief bill that would have granted new funds for unemployed workers and small businesses. McConnell accused Democrats of having an eye on Election Day, though Democrats say they opposed the bill to force a more generous package.
Prodded by Fox News anchor Dana Perino, McConnell said he was optimistic about GOP candidate John James, a black businessman and veteran, knocking off incumbent Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, a former Merrill Lynch executive, in Michigan. Recent polls show Peters narrowly ahead.
UPI“He’s a fabulous candidate,” McConnell said. “That Michigan race is the surprise race, the one to keep an eye on. James is running a terrific campaign against the incumbent. He’s out-raised him in a number of quarters, which is quite unusual against an incumbent senator, for a challenger to do that. I’m very optimistic about our chances in Michigan.”
McConnell predicted that if Republicans lose the Senate, Democrats will abolish the filibuster, which requires a super-majority of 60 votes for legislation to pass.
“They’ll admit the District of Columbia as a state and Puerto Rico as a state, giving them four new Democratic senators in perpetuity,” he said. “They’ll pack the Supreme Court, the circuit courts and the district courts — and then they’ll turn to the economy and over-regulate and over-tax like they always do, and America won’t look two years later like it does today.”
