McConnell: GOP chances of keeping Senate control ‘dicey’
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is warning Republicans that their chances of keeping control of the Senate are “very dicey,” acknowledging they face a difficult map in November.
“I may or may not be calling the shots next year,” McConnell told a civic group in Louisville, Ky., on Thursday, according to The Associated Press. “I’m hoping that we can make this election about Hillary Clinton. I think if we do, we can win.”
{mosads}The GOP is defending 24 Senate seats, including a handful in purple states previously carried by President Obama. Democrats need to flip five seats — or four if Clinton wins the White House — to take back the majority.
McConnell said Republicans are in a “dogfight” and on “the defense.” He listed New Hampshire, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida and Indiana as “very competitive” races.
Democrats hope GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump will be a drag on down-ballot races. McConnell, who has been increasingly critical of Trump, said Thursday that he hopes the businessman “settles down and follows the script.”
When Trump “says something I have to speak up on, I will. But that doesn’t mean I don’t support him,” McConnell told the group.
The Senate Republican leader also hinted that the future of the Supreme Court was at stake in the November election. Democrats have pledged to make the GOP blockade of Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland an election issue.
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