Senate Republicans face a tough midterm map, with Maine and Kansas…

What BBN said about it

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   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorWelcome back, folks. Nobody sold me a car that arrives eventually, but the Senate map sure might.

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   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorHere's the one-sentence version: Democrats say a midterm wave is coming, and Republicans are spending big to protect their Senate majority.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo who's winning right now?

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   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorNobody, yet. Fox News says races from Susan Collins in Maine to the fight in Kansas are anything but easy to call.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentKansas? Like, Kansas Kansas?

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   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThat one.

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   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorDecision Desk HQ still rates it Lean Republican, with a sixty-five percent chance for Senator Roger Marshall, and no Democrat has won a Senate race there since nineteen thirty-two.

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   Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentOkay, but then why is anyone sweating?

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   Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorMoney, for one. Newsweek says Democrat Adam Hamilton raised nearly ten million dollars, and Marshall raised under one million.

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    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentUnder one million. That's a bad month for a newsletter.

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    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorAnd a centrist think tank's Jim Kessler said, quote, we're less than a month from election day and Republicans are worried about losing a Senate race in Kansas.

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    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentOuch.

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    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentWhat's the Maine situation? That's the one everybody keeps posting.

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    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorCollins is the only Republican senator up in a state Kamala Harris won in twenty twenty-four, per Wikipedia.

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    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorSuffolk University has Democrat Troy Jackson at forty-nine, Collins at forty-seven.

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    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentThat's five hundred likely voters, so it's close.

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    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorVery close.

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    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorAnd the ad spending in Maine is something to see: two hundred fifty-nine million dollars, and a hundred forty-nine million, fifty-eight percent, is pro-Republican, per AdImpact.

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    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentTwo hundred fifty-nine million dollars in ads. Nobody in Maine has seen a dog video since August.

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    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThat's a lot of local TV spots, Kenji. Good for the local stations!

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    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo, who's for it, who's against it?

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    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorDemocrats need to net four seats while defending Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire, NBC says, so it's an uphill climb.

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    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorRepublicans outspent them by one hundred eighty-eight million in battlegrounds.

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    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentWhat should people watch for?

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    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorMaine and Kansas, mainly. Election day is less than a month away, so the numbers will move.

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    Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentSo the side with the money is nervous, and the side with the wave is the underdog.

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    Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorRight! Two hundred fifty-nine million dollars of ads, and I think the ads are winning.