Schumer: Fight for Senate is ‘neck and neck’

Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Friday that the battle for the Senate is “neck and neck,” adding recent comments on ObamaCare from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have been a “gift” to Democrats. 

“This election is neck and neck. And as I said, McConnell gave us a gift. That’s a game changer when he shows who he is and wants to really hurt people on health care,” Schumer said during an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” 

{mosads}Democrats have pounced on remarks this week from McConnell on health-care and entitlement reform. 

McConnell defended the Trump administration’s decision to join a lawsuit that seeks to overturn ObamaCare and its protections for people with pre-existing conditions. In a separate interview, he said Republicans could try again to repeal ObamaCare next year if they keep control of Congress. 

Schumer said McConnell “showed who the Republican Party really is.” 

“That’s a game changer, what McConnell did the last three days is a game changer for us,” he said. 

Republicans hold a 51-49 majority in the Senate, meaning Democrats need to pick up two seats if they want to gain control of the chamber. But they face a challenging map, defending several seats in red and purple states won by President Trump in 2016. 

“In the House, it’s not neck and neck, but we had a tough map,” Schumer said. “You know, a year ago, if I came on the show and would have said it’s neck and neck, you would have said forget about it,” he added. 

Schumer argued that the reason Democrats are able to keep races close in states that Trump won by double digits is because of concern from voters and Republican messaging on health care. 

“We’re closing on that issue and it’s going to help us just have victory in state after state after state including places that people didn’t expect,” he said. 

But the New York Democrat declined to say what combination of states could help them win a majority, saying while he wouldn’t “get into specific states” that “across the board, we’re doing better in places that we never thought we could.”

In addition to holding onto 10 vulnerable seats currently held by Democratic incumbents, Democrats would need to flip seats that are currently held by Republicans.

Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) is the only Republican running in a state won by Hillary Clinton. Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) are retiring at the end of the year, creating more competitive races for their seats in Arizona and Tennessee, respectively.