Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) privately told other Democratic senators that he expects their party will lose the House, contrasting Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) public optimism about maintaining a majority.
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Schumer made his prediction during a Monday dinner at a restaurant near the Capitol, where he “spoke loudly and his remarks were overheard by other patrons in the restaurant,” according to Punchbowl News. He put the odds at “a 60% chance we hold the Senate, and a 40% chance we hold the House.”
PELOSI CONFIDENT DEMOCRATS WILL HOLD HOUSE MAJORITY
Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tom Carper (D-DE), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) were present at the dinner. They reportedly discussed with candor a wide range of topics usually shielded from the public eye, including Kelly’s race against Blake Masters, the Iowa Senate race, and New York’s redistricting.
Schumer said if billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel pledges more money to Masters, it could get harder for Kelly to maintain his lead. He blamed former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for failing to secure a favorable congressional map for Democrats in redistricting and doubted that the Democratic challenger to Sen. Chuck Grassley in Iowa would have any success.
He also predicted that Donald Trump will run for president in 2024 and said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) “sucks up” to the former president.
Pelosi said this week that she expected to pick up seats in the House following enthusiasm from the Democratic base around the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
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“I was just in 12 cities in 12 days. We’re ready,” Pelosi told Punchbowl News on Wednesday. “And understand this. Because of the leadership of [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Sean Patrick Maloney], we’re ready.”
Schumer’s office did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
Republicans were long expected to sweep the midterm elections due to historical precedent, bolstered by economic woes and President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings. Democrats got a boost from a successful legislative summer and the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which returned the regulation of abortion to the states.
