Date of Prediction: 2020-11-02 Version:14
Prediction Map * = Pickup via defeat of incumbent; ^ = Pickup of an open seat Confidence Map
Prediction States Won
Confidence States Won
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Predicted Senate Control (117th Congress):
Prediction Score (max Score = 70)
Analysis
Tomorrow is Election Day, and here is the state of the election. Between the packed Democratic primary, the coronavirus pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests, the economic troubles, and the death of Supreme Court Just. Ruth Bader Ginsberg, this has been a remarkable election. Eight states are now Toss-ups. Georgia, Georgia special, and Iowa are true Toss-ups, with Maine and North Carolina being Tilt Democratic, and with Kansas, Montana, and South Carolina being Tilt Republican. One thing all eight of these states have in common is that they all have Republican incumbents. In the Peach State, Jon Ossoff seems to have the edge against Sen. David Perdue. Their previous debate was such a disaster for Mr. Perdue that he cancelled the second planned debate. This shows that the insider trading attacks effective, and that the viral debate moment was indeed damaging to Perdue's campaign. The other issue dogging Mr. Perdue is his recent mockery of Sen. Kamala Harris' name, which cannot help him with undecided voters in Georgia. However, the real question is whether these issues can empower Mr. Ossoff to win the state, or at least to force a runoff. Mr. Ossoff has indeed managed to pull into a small lead. We will have to wait and see if this lead can hold tomorrow. If the race is close enough, however, it could go to a runoff. In Iowa, Sen. Joni Ernst had a similarly bad debate moment recently, when her challenger Theresa Greenfield was able to correctly name the price of corn, but Ms. Ernst was not able to name the price of wheat. Of course, this is a small gaffe, but it still highlights how out of touch she is. What might be a bigger problem is her closeness with Mr. Trump, and her COVID-19 conspiracies. However, perhaps this is not as big a problem as I thought previously, as Mr. Trump seems to be improving in the Hawkeye State. The last Selzer poll of Iowa showed Mr. Trump leading Mr. Biden by 7 points, and Ms. Ernst leading Ms. Greenfield by 4 points. I believe this is likely an outlier, but Ann Selzer is a very good pollster. Regardless, the race is a Toss-up with a small edge for Ms. Greenfield. In Georgia's special election, Raphael Warnock is almost certain to be one of the two candidates in a runoff to be held in early January 2021. The other candidate will certainly be one of the Republicans, Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Doug Collins. While Ms. Loeffler was well behind Mr. Collins in the spring, she has pulled into a small but consistent lead by tacking far to the right. This may have worked to win elections in the formerly red state of Georgia, but seems like a race to the bottom in the current swing state. This is borne out in polling for the runoff, where Mr. Warnock is beating both Republicans in hypothetical runoff polling. What the Republicans will be hoping for, then, is for the January runoff to have a more favourable electorate in order to win. We will have to wait and see how the runoff develops. However, as of now, I will keep the race with a GOP victory. In Big Sky Country, Sen. Steve Daines and Steve Bullock held a debate as well. The main topics were the pandemic and the Supreme Court nomination. Mr. Bullock accused Mr. Daines on stalling the second coronavirus relief package, and rejected the nomination of Ms. Barrett to the court. Mr. Daines promised a free COVID-19 vaccine when it is approved, and warned that packing the Supreme Court would endanger 2nd amendment rights. Overall, Daines didn't do much to differentiate himself from the GOP as a whole, or to appear somewhat independent. Meanwhile, Mr. Bullock has garnered some positive news recently, winning a lawsuit to speed up the USPS. Perhaps this is one reason why Mr. Bullock raised $26.8 million in the third quarter, over twice as much as the $11.5 million raised by Mr. Daines. In North Carolina, Cal Cunningham's sex scandal does not seem to have moved the polls much. While his supporters were certainly disappointed by Mr. Cunningham's behaviour, the pandemic and the economy are much more important issues than a candidate's personal failures. The race seems to have tightened a small amount, but not enough to put Sen. Thom Tillis in the lead. On the important issues, the antipathy for Mr. Trump and Mr. Tillis is palpable. Republicans insist that they have just begun to litigate this issue, but Mr. Cunningham seems to be weathering the storm so far. Meanwhile, Mr. Tillis has returned from his COVID-19 isolation, and is plowing on with the hearings on Ms. Barrett. In the Palmetto State, Jaime Harrison had a phenomenal debate against Sen. Lindsey Graham, where Mr, Harrison showcased his intelligence and dynamism against Mr. Graham, who appeared rusty. Following the debate, Mr. Harrison announced that he broke all Senate fundraising records by raising a whopping $57.8 million in the third quarter. Mr. Graham's pleas on Fox News seem to have worked, as he announced a very respectable $28.4 million haul in the same period. A second debate was scheduled, but it was not held after Mr. Graham refused to take a COVID-19 test. Mr. Graham, who is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also caused a stir when he referred to the "good old days of segregation" during the hearings on Ms. Barrett. Meanwhile, Mr. Harrison has taken a page out of Claire McCaskill's playbook, and has started running ads calling the Constitution Party candidate Bill Bledsoe "too conservative" for South Carolina. Mr. Harrison is doing an amazing job making the Palmetto State competitive, but it is a very conservative state, and it will be hard for him to win. In Maine, Sen. Susan Collins is lashing out after being swamped by a barrage of ads that expose her willingness to support Mr. Trump's agenda. She has been trying to stop the nationalization of the race, attacking Sara Gideon on her time in the Maine House of Representatives, and focusing on the pandemic aid she helped distribute. However, Mr. Trump remains an albatross around Ms. Collins' neck, with her vote on Justice Brett Kavanaugh being the biggest anchor on her chances. Ms. Collins, who was once the most popular politician in Maine, is trying to convince voters that she hasn't changed. However, her votes on Mr. Kavanaugh, and Mr. Trump's other judicial appointees show that she was never really a true maverick to begin with. Another factor in the race is the use of ranked ballots. The other candidates in the race are Lisa Savage, who is left-wing, and Max Linn, who is right-wing. Since Ms. Savage seems to have a greater share of the vote, and since most of her voters will likely back Ms. Gideon in the second or third round, Ms. Gideon may have some hidden strength. The Sunflower State joins the list of toss-ups, as Barbara Bollier makes the race more competitive. Many pundits wrote Ms. Bollier off after Roger Marshall won the Republican primary against Kris Kobach. However, Ms. Bollier has proven that she can be competitive even against a more typical Republican in Kansas. Ms. Bollier announced a record-breaking haul of $13.5 million in the third quarter, which has caused Mr. McConnell's Senate Leadership Fund to commit to spending $7.2 million in the state. Though Kansas has not elected a Democratic senator since 1932, Ms. Bollier represents the best chance in a long time to defeat the Republicans in Kansas. Her focus on healthcare and economic issues has made her competitive against Mr. Marshall, who has tied himself to Mr. Trump very closely. We will have to wait and see if her efforts pay off. Current average of Senate seats is 51.8 for Democrats and 48.2 for Republicans.
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