Key Senate Matchups Are Set

As the U.S. primary season continues full steam ahead, some of the most critical 2026 Senate matchups have already been set.

From the Southeast to New England and the Rust Belt, races are taking form that will determine the makeup of the Senate in 2027 and beyond.

Here’s the state of some of the cycle’s most important Senate races.

In Georgia, Republicans are again seeking to flip one of the state’s two Democratic seats, which have remained firmly under Democratic control since 2020.

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), elected to his first six-year term in 2020, is up for reelection, with his ultimate opponent yet to be determined.

Republicans nominated Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) to take on Ossoff.

Polls taken in the state so far have shown that Ossoff is favored to hold the seat, leading against Collins in every poll so far, with the exception of one in September 2025 by Quantus Insights that found Ossoff and Collins were tied.

In North Carolina, former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley is set to take on former Gov. Roy Cooper in one of the 2026 cycle’s most crucial matchups.

The two are vying to replace outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.)—an outspoken critic of the Trump administration who announced last year that he wouldn’t seek reelection—after locking down their parties’ nominations on March 3.

Cooper, a popular former governor, has led Whatley by at least seven points in every poll taken in the state since February.

Two polls taken in March—including a poll by Catawba College and a poll by Nexus/Strategic Partners Solutions—found Cooper leading by 18 percent.

While polling paints a rough picture for Republicans, the state remains a critical target for both parties in the 2026 cycle.

In Maine, voters selected oysterman and military veteran Graham Platner—a dark horse candidate whose candidacy forced Gov. Janet Mills to suspend her Senate primary campaign—for the Democratic nomination.

It sets him up to take on incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a long-serving political juggernaut in the state who ran unopposed for her party’s nomination on Tuesday, locking in the nominees for one of the most critical Senate elections of the 2026 cycle.

In what’s been characterized by observers as the political fight of Collins’s life, surveys have shown Collins is behind Platner in most polls conducted since March.

Platner has campaigned as a progressive candidate, winning the endorsement of key figures such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

In one of the nation’s most crucial swing states, Republicans are seeking to flip the seat being vacated this year by retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.).

The final shape of this race remains up in the air as Democrats won’t make their final picks until the state’s Aug. 4 primary.

Republicans are expected to nominate former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) for the post.

The most recent poll of the Democratic field, taken by Mitchell Research, shows that Abdul El-Sayed—an epidemiologist and former director of the Department of Health, Human, and Veterans Services of Wayne County, Michigan—is leading the nomination with 42 percent support.

Rogers has shown his strongest numbers in polling against El-Sayed. The two most recent polls taken in June show El-Sayed leading in a hypothetical matchup with Rogers by between one and three points.

In Ohio, former Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)—who was unseated in the 2024 election by Sen. Bennie Moreno (R-Ohio)—is seeking to take on incumbent Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio).

Despite the state’s sharp rightward turn over the past decade, going from a battleground state to one seen as reliably red, Brown has shown unusual electoral sway in the state.

Polls of the race between Husted and Brown taken since the beginning of 2026 paint a picture of a race whose outcome remains unclear: Both men have led in three polls each of the six total.

In the most recent poll, released by Fox News on June 3, Brown led Husted by 8 percent, with 53 percent of respondents saying they’d back Brown, and 45 percent who said they supported Husted.

The Iowa Senate race was thrown wide open after Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) announced that she wouldn’t seek reelection.

Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson, endorsed by Trump, will face off against Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek in the contest for the Senate seat.

Cook Political Report ranks the seat as “leans Republican,” but Democrats are hoping to flip the seat, which has been held by Republicans since 2008.

In the only general election poll taken in the state, Turek leads with 46 percent of the vote to Hinson’s 45 percent.

In Nebraska, Independent candidate Dan Osborn—who made national news following his close fight against Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) in 2024—is making another bid for the office.

Republicans have nominated incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.).

In the only poll taken between Osborn and Ricketts, Osborn leads with 47 percent to Ricketts’s 45 percent.

In the Lone Star State, Texas Attorney Ken Paxton is set for a November matchup against Democratic state Sen. James Talarico.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) was defeated by Trump-backed Paxton in the primary, an expensive and personal race.

Paxton’s victory sets him up for a November general election against Talarico, whose relatively strong showing in polls against Paxton has drawn national attention to the race in the Republican stronghold.

Across the polls of the matchup taken in 2026, there have been two ties, two polls showing Paxton leading, and four with Talarico ahead.

—Joseph Lord

BOOKMARKS:

The United States has begun lifting its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday. More than a dozen ships have passed through since the signing of the U.S.–Iran peace agreement, he said.

The White House said on June 18 that Vance will not travel to Switzerland on Friday for talks with Iran because plans for the discussion have not been finalized. Vance said earlier that day negotiations are likely to begin this weekend, but plans could change depending on when the Iranians are able to attend.

Fake FIFA websites have cropped up ahead of the World Cup, the FBI is warning. The websites are stealing users’ personal data and selling phony tickets.

The DHS is relocating illegal immigrants held at Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center ahead of hurricane season, a spokesperson said on Thursday. “For the safety of the illegal alien detainees, we transferred them to other facilities,” the department told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.

The DOJ has joined a group of nuns suing New York Gov. Kathy Hochul over a law that would require them to house transgender-identifying men in rooms with women. The nuns, who care for terminal cancer patients, face up to $10,000 in fines and one year in prison for violating the law.

—Stacy Robinson