, Columnist
Democrats’ Senate Problems Are More Than Map-Deep
The out-of-power party can’t make a comeback without cracking the “Trump 25.”
Trump country.
Photographer: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty ImagesThe odds of Democrats recapturing the Senate in next year’s midterm election are long. The usual explanation is that they are confronting a “difficult map,” with few opportunities to flip seats that Republicans now hold.
That’s not wrong, but as an explanation it obscures as much as it reveals. The Democrats’ challenge in capturing a Senate majority isn’t unique to the particular states at stake in 2026, or to any other single election. Their problem is more structural and entrenched.