The close Senate races that might determine whether the majority will be held by Democrats or Republicans

Republican senatorial candidate Joe O’Dea from Colorado doesn’t have much appeal for Donald Trump.

The former president, who continues to be the most well-liked and powerful figure in the Republican Party, referred to O’Dea as a “stupid” RINO (Republican in name only) and claimed that his supporters wouldn’t support the first-time Republican candidate, who is running against Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in the Denver area.

O’Dea may not be highly regarded by Trump, but the Senate Leadership Fund, the leading pro-Senate Republican super PAC, appears to. The organization, which is backed by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, gave $1.25 million last week to a super PAC in support of O’Dea and claimed in a statement that it believes Bennet is “vulnerable.”

While the expensive fights in competitive states like Florida, Ohio, and New Hampshire and the high-profile Senate showdowns in competitive states like Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, and North Carolina have monopolized the national political spotlight, the Colorado race may be a sleeper in the contest between the Democrats and Republicans for the Senate majority. In addition, there may be other races in next month’s midterm elections that could provide a surprise.

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A day after O’Dea, a fiscal conservative who favors tighter border controls and increased crime enforcement but is socially moderate on issues like abortion and same-sex marriage, stated in a Sunday talk show interview on CNN that he would ‘actively’ campaign against Trump and for other GOP candidates if the former president runs again in 2024, Trump retaliated on social media by saying that “MAGA doesn’t Vote for stupid people with big mouths.”

JOE O’DEA’S COMMENTS TO FOX NEWS REGARDING BIDEN’S VISIT TO COLORADO

Hours later, O’Dea retaliated, saying, “President Trump is entitled to his opinion, but I’m my own man and I’ll call it like I see it.” in a statement to Fox News and other media outlets. This country will be torn apart by another Biden-Trump election. Haley, DeSantis, Scott, Pompeo, or other options would be preferable. Instead of repeating the events of 2020, this election should be centered on Joe Biden’s failures, which include widespread crime, a broken border, accelerated inflation, and a war on American energy.

A campaign in a state that President Biden won by 13 points two years ago has remained competitive thanks to a laser-like emphasis on inflation, energy costs, the border situation, and crime. Real Clear Politics’ average of the most recent polls of the general public shows Bennet leading O’Dea by 7.7 points.

According to Steven Law, president of the Senate Leadership Fund, “We’ve been watching Colorado and we appreciate what we see there.” We believe Michael Bennet is at risk.

However, other outside organizations are making purchases in Colorado as well. Super PACs that support Democrats have donated seven figures to Bennet’s campaign.

THE MAJORITY PARTY WILL PROBABLY BE DETERMINED BY THESE 11 SENATE RACES.

Kyle Kondik, managing editor of the nonpartisan political forecaster Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said Fox News that Colorado “is likely to be a sleeper upset prospect for Republicans.”

Colorado has gone toward the blue in recent elections, but only 15 years ago it was a hotly contested western battlefield. But in the blue state of Washington, it has been almost 30 years since a Republican has won a Senate election.

Tiffany Smiley, a first-time candidate like O’Dea, wants to end the losing pattern.

Sen. Patty Murray is currently in the upper single digits of the polls, but military wife, nurse, and veteran rights champion Smiley has raised more money than the longtime Democratic incumbent over the last three months, to the tune of $2.3 million.

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In a statement, Smiley highlighted, “I am blown away and humbled by the groundswell of support we have gotten.”
For more than a year, Republicans have maintained that Murray would be vulnerable to a strong GOP opponent and financial support.
Kondik referred to Smiley’s increase in donations and remarked, “That sort of thing attracts your mind.”
Another wild card in the fight for the Senate majority this year may be reliably red Utah.

In a contest where the Democrats choose not to run a candidate, independent challenger Evan McMullin is only a couple points behind two-term conservative Republican Sen. Mike Lee in the most recent polls. Additionally, Lee supports Trump’s efforts to reverse his loss to Biden in the 2020 election, while Republican Mitt Romney, Utah’s other senator, has notably refused to support him.

If McMullin manages to pull off the upset, the struggle for the Senate majority would become more complicated due to his promise not to caucus with either the Democrats or the Republicans.

The most recent Des Moines Register poll in Iowa’s Senate contests is making headlines because it shows incumbent Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, 89, who has served in the Senate for four decades, leading his Democratic opponent, retired Navy Adm. Mike Franken, by just three points.

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