CNN’s Harry Enten Marvels At Democrats Leading In 3 Southern Senate Races: ‘Could Be a Historic Year!’

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten marveled at how well several Democratic candidates were doing in Senate races in Southern states, commenting that this year’s midterm elections could prove to be “historic.”

“The fight for control of the Senate is in full swing,” said anchor Sara Sidner as she introduced Enten on Thursday’s episode of CNN News Central, adding that President Donald Trump’s approval ratings had hit “new lows,” and this was allowing Democrats to “see an opening to try and make some significant gains” in November.

After some banter back-and-forth about Enten’s “very colorful, colorful map” and Sidner apparently missing a call from him and not calling back, he dug into the “new Southern strategy” the Democrats were deploying with “their map to take back [the] majority runs through the South.”

Enten highlighted three Democrats who were leading the polls in their Senate races: incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), and Texas State Rep. James Talarico (D), who were up 13 points, nine points, and two points, respectively.

“So, three southern states, three former confederate states, and you see that Democrats are leading in them all!” said Enten. “There has not been a Senate Democratic win in North Carolina since 2008. And in Texas, you have to go all the way back since 1988. So it could, in fact, be a historic year for Democrats in these three Southern states.”

Sidner asked how “unusual” it would be for all three of these Democrats to win their races in November.

Enten noted that Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) was also “heavily favored” to win re-election, and “we’re looking at something historic potentially here.”

Democrats are “up right now in four states, the most Dem wins in a year in the former confederacy, in a midterm in the 2000s,” Enten continued. “This century is only two. They could potentially win double the amount of races than they have in any midterm cycle, this entire century in the southern United States, when you add together Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, and the great commonwealth of Virginia.”

Sidner asked if there was a specific group that was “helping to push Democrats into this unusual position in those states?”

The answer, replied Enten, was “White college voters,” because this group had been shifting from Republican to Democrat. He pointed out a roughly 30-point shift with this voter demographic in each of these states from Trump’s last election in 2024 to now.

All these meant that “when you put it all together and we look at the entire map,” said Enten, “the odds are moving in the Democrats’ direction.” He noted the Kalshi prediction market had given Republicans a “56% chance a month ago,” but “now it’s basically dead even, a 51% chance to 49% chance.”

“So Democrats very much in the game because of these Southern races,” he concluded.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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