Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says Democrats now have a “clear and strong path” to retake the Senate in the 2026 midterm elections, which would require flipping four Republican-held seats. In interviews spotlighting a new Democratic campaign memo, the Brooklyn lawmaker touted Alaska ex-Re p. Mary Peltola as the fourth strong challenger for GOP seats, along with candidates in North Carolina, Maine and Ohio. “It’s a much wider path than the skeptics think, and a much wider path than it was three months ago and certainly a year ago,” Schumer said. “We have good strong candidates in the battleground states.” “We have a clear and strong path to winning back the Senate,” Schumer added in an interview with Politico at the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C. He placed red states like Iowa and Texas as longer shots in the fight to flip both houses of Congress and put a major check on President Trump’s aggressive right-wing agenda. Republicans currently hold 53 Senate seats, while the Democratic caucus has 47 members, including two independents. With Vice President J.D. Vance holding a tie-breaking vote, Democrats would need to grab four seats to win control. That’s long been viewed as a daunting task due in large part to an electoral map that strongly favors the GOP, even as some polls show independent voters swinging strongly behind Democrats and Trump saddled with increasingly poor approval ratings. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks to the media on Tuesday. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) Peltola, who won a statewide House race in 2022 but lost in 2024, is considered a credible challenger to Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska, a state that has been drifting to the left in recent election cycles. But the 49th state still strongly leans red and Democrats would need a serious national blue wave to deliver victory to Peltola, who’s running on a populist “Fish, Family and Freedom” platform. Elsewhere, Maine Sen. Susan Collins is the only Republican incumbent senator seeking reelection in a state that Trump lost in 2024. Democrats are divided between Gov. Janet Mills, another top recruit of Schumer, and progressive oysterman Graham Platner. Swing state North Carolina also looks winnable for Democrats, especially with popular Gov. Roy Cooper running for the seat that will be left empty by retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis. Ohio is a stretch even with longtime Democratic ex-Sen. Sherrod Brown returning to mount a comeback bid against Sen. Jon Husted, who was appointed to replace Vance. Other Senate races appear to be tougher lifts, Democrats acknowledge. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) looks like a strong candidate to replace retiring Sen. Joni Ernst even though Democrats have shown impressive signs of strength in special elections in the farm state. In Texas, Republicans are confident they can retain their ironclad grip on the state even if Latinos shift away from the GOP after swinging to Trump in 2024. Sen. John Cornyn is fighting off a challenge from scandal-tarred Attorney General Ken Paxton while Democrats are deciding between outspoken Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico. The House of Representatives has long been considered a smoother path for Democrats to flip, with Republicans holding only a narrow five-seat majority and about 20 Republican incumbents facing tricky reelection campaigns. ...read more read less