Michigan Senate faces tie vote as Democrats try to defy political gravity after Biden’s ouster
![Michigan Senate faces tie vote as Democrats try to defy political gravity after Biden’s ouster Michigan Senate faces tie vote as Democrats try to defy political gravity after Biden’s ouster](https://www.cookpolitical.com/sites/default/files/styles/og_image/public/2024-07/2CK32RE.jpg?h=5185f460&itok=v3SaGbM-)
After Joe Biden’s performance at the debate two weeks ago, many Democrats’ concerns were not about whether the president would win re-election – a fading prospect – but whether he would drag down lower-ballot Democrats with him.
Of the three parties – the House, the Senate and the White House – the upper chamber has long been the most vulnerable. Democrats hold a 51-49 majority, but with the open seat in West Virginia expected to easily flip from Democrat to Democrat, the fight for the Senate is virtually 50-50.
A fundamental truth is becoming increasingly obvious to Senate Democrats as they become increasingly unlikely to become president: There is virtually no way they can keep their majority in the Senate unless Biden is re-elected. If former President Donald Trump wins, his vice president would decide a tie vote.
So even if every vulnerable Democrat in the Senate is re-elected, it would not be enough to preserve their majority. Democrats still consider it unlikely to capture Republican-held seats in Texas and Florida (we rate both as likely Republican), but if Biden crashes nationally, such a scenario seems fanciful.
Democrats already