While Democrats publicly say they’re confident they’ll keep their slim hold on the Senate after next month’s midterm elections, they appear far less certain about their prospects in the House.
When asked Wednesday if the party could pick up the 17 seats needed to wrestle control of the House from Republicans, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz suggested her party would be lucky just to hold onto what it has.
“I think we are still really in a neck-and-neck situation in terms of whether or not we see pickup for Democrats or pickup for Republicans,” she told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “This is an election where, in every single competitive race, it’s coming down to the wire.”
When pressed if she thought Democrats would gain at least a few House seats, the South Florida congresswoman said the “best thing that I could predict is that we have an opportunity to pick up seats.”
“Beyond that, I wouldn’t make any other prediction,” she said.
Despite the modest prediction, Wasserman Schultz said Republicans were poised to significantly underachieve at the polls next month because the party not in control of the White House typically picks up almost 30 seats in midterm elections during a president’s second term.
“There’s even a question mark whether the Republicans will pick up any seats at all. In fact, they could lose seats still, and that’s because they are extreme,” she said.
The DNC chair said she “strongly disagree(s)” with predictions from some race handicappers that Republicans were poised for historic gains in the House.
“There’s not going to be historic gains (for the GOP) in the House,” she said.
