For Subscribers The 10 Senate seats most likely to flip in 2026

Nearly four weeks before Election Day, the fight for control of the Senate is widening as Democrats show gains in several Republican-leaning states. CNN's ranking of seats most likely to change parties now has ten entries instead of nine, adding Kansas, which has not elected a Democratic senator in 94 years. New polling shows Democrats leading or within reach in Ohio, Alaska and Texas, all of which Donald Trump carried by double digits in 2024. To take the majority, Democrats must flip four GOP seats and keep three of their own, Michigan included. Trump's approval sits at 34% in CNN's Poll of Polls, with voters frustrated over the economy and the war with Iran.

North Carolina remains the likeliest flip. Former Gov. Roy Cooper led Michael Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chairman, by 11 points in an Elon University/YouGov survey, and Republican outside groups have trimmed more than $15 million in planned advertising there.

In Ohio, Sherrod Brown holds a narrow edge over Sen. Jon Husted, 49% to 46% in a New York Times/Siena poll, and his attacks tying Husted to data centers have resonated.

Summarized by PolitiKool from CNN’s reporting. Read the full story at CNN →