NYT: How the Trump Effect Could Lift Democratic Senate Candidates [View all]

[SoonerPride]

Republican incumbents in swing states have struggled to disentangle themselves from President Trump, whose voters are loyal but represent a minority of the electorate.

The G.O.P. has tightened its ranks; its reliable voters, hovering at around 40 percent of the electorate, tend to approve of almost anything President Trump does.

Yet throughout his term, from the 2017 battles over health care and tax cuts to his impeachment and subsequent acquittal early this year, very few people from outside the party have been coming aboard.

Mr. Trump has led the charge, but his effects are being felt far down the ballot. Two years after Democrats swept the midterm House elections by a historically wide margin and with historically high turnout, polling suggests they have a shot at a similar showing this year.

And in the high-stakes Senate, G.O.P. incumbents in swing states have struggled to disentangle their numbers from Mr. Trump’s stubbornly minoritarian status. That is putting Democrats in a strong position as they look to take back the Senate in the midst of a pandemic.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/us/politics/polling-senate-races.html?referringSource=articleShare