‘I’d Much Rather Be a Republican’: CNN’s Data Guru Breaks Down Grim 2024 Senate Map for Democrats 

CNN data guy Harry Enten offered a blunt assessment for Democrats chances of holding onto the Senate in next year’s elections: not great.

The assessment came hours after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced he will not run for reelection.

“I’ve made one of the toughest decisions of my life,” Manchin said, “and decided that I will not be running for re-election to the United States Senate.” His seat will almost certainly be won by a Republican in deep-red West Virginia, which voted for former President Donald Trump by about 40 points in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

Democrats control the Senate with a mere 51 to 49 majority.

Appearing on CNN NewsNight hosted by Abby Phillip, Enten broke down the Senate map:

There are seven Democratic Senate seats up in 2024 in states Trump won at least once… There’s Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Montana. So we have a slew of these Democratic seats in states that Trump one at least one time.

Compare that to the Republican side. You know how many GOP seats are up in 2024 that Trump lost at least once? Zero. A grand total of zero.

So, Democrats have far more vulnerable ground than Republicans do. Pretty much all the Republican seats are in safe Republican areas. And here’s the other thing to keep in mind what that’s so important – because polarization becomes such a thing in our politics. The same party won the Senate and presidential race in the state in 2016 for the first time ever? It was all of them. It was 34 out of 34. In 2020, it was 34 out of 35. Only Susan Collins in Maine was the exception.

So, the fact is that going into 2024, I’d much rather be a Republican running for Senate than a Democrat, or at least put my money on them gaining the majority.

Watch above via CNN.