With six days to go until Election Day, the battle for control of the Senate appears to be a jump ball, with the road to the majority running mostly through states President Donald Trump won in 2024. While the final Fox News Power Rankings ahead of the midterms revealed three key shifts in the direction of the Democrats, their hopes of retaking the Senate hinge on flipping seats in so-called Trump Country. As they fight to hold their slim House and Senate majorities, Republicans are fighting political history, as the party in power in Washington has traditionally lost seats during midterm election years.
The GOP also faces a challenging political climate fueled by persistent inflation tied in part to what polls show is an unpopular war with Iran and Trump's increasingly negative approval ratings. FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: AS IRAN LOOMS LARGE, CAN THE GOP KEEP THE FAITHFUL? Republicans currently control the Senate 53-47, with the Fox News Power Rankings rating the race for Senate control a toss-up.
Both parties are three seats short of a majority, according to the forecast. Democrats are favored in 48 seats and Republicans are ahead in 47. The GOP needs to hold 50 seats to retain control of the chamber, since Republican Vice President JD Vance is the tie-breaking vote in the Senate.
If Democrats ride a blue wave to victory by winning most or all of the competitive races, they could potentially come away from the midterms with up to 53 seats. But if Republicans have a good night and defy expectations, the GOP could hold the majority with up to 52 seats, according to the forecast. Ohio is one of the three shifts Fox News made in the final Power Rankings.
It shifted from toss-up to Lean Democrat. Meanwhile, South Carolina moved from Likely Republican to Lean Republican, and Mississippi from Solid Republican to Likely Republican. DEMOCRACY 2026: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB In red-leaning Ohio, former longtime Democratic Sen.
Sherrod Brown is challenging appointed GOP Sen. Jon Husted in the race to fill the final two years of the Senate term then-Sen. In solidly Republican South Carolina, Democratic challenger Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, is taking on appointed Sen.
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