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Democrats eye narrow path to capture Senate majority, but one wrong move could sink them
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Senate Democrats are publicly laying out their roadmap to reclaim the chamber in the 2026 midterm elections, arguing that President Donald Trump’s agenda and an expanded battleground map give them multiple paths back to the majority.
Charging that «President Trump is creating a toxic agenda that’s harming people,» Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand told Fox News Digital she’s «optimistic that we have a shot to take back the majority.»
Democrats need a net gain of four seats after Senate Republicans flipped four seats in the 2024 cycle to secure a 53-47 majority. But party leaders say recent Democratic overperformances in the 2025 elections, combined with GOP-held seats now in play, have widened the map far beyond initial expectations — even as Republicans insist the political environment still favors them.
REPUBLICAN SENATORS, IN FIRST 2026 ROAD TRIP, TOUT BORDER SECURITY, TAX CUTS
An exterior view of the Senate side of the U.S. Capitol, on Jan. 12, 2026. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
A DSCC memo titled «Senate Democrats Carve Out Path to Senate Majority in 2026,» which was released on Wednesday, highlights that «at the start of 2025, Democrats had two clear offensive targets: Maine and North Carolina. Over the past year, the DSCC expanded the battleground map significantly and created multiple potential paths to the majority.»
Gillibrand charged that Trump «is creating this massive backlash because of his bad and hurtful and harmful agenda,» which she said «adds more to the map.»
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the longtime party leader in the chamber, agreed, telling The Associated Press, «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.»
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in the chamber, is optimistic about his party’s chances of winning back the majority in the 2026 midterm elections. (Rod Lamkey, Jr./AP Photo)
Gillibrand, in her interview with Fox News Digital, and the DSCC in its memo, touted the party’s top recruits for three GOP-held seats they’re working to flip: former three-term Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, former two-term North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and two-term Maine Gov. Janet Mills.
And Gillibrand highlighted the DSCC’s most recent recruiting success, Monday’s landing of former Rep. Mary Peltola, who was twice elected statewide to Alaska’s at-large House seat, which could potentially put the red-leaning state in play this year.
The DSCC also has its eyes on battleground turned red state Iowa, where there’s an open GOP-held seat, and Texas, where longtime Republican Sen. John Cornyn is trying to survive a competitive and combustible primary as he seeks re-election.
But Democrats are also facing crowded Senate primaries.
4 KEY SENATE SEATS REPUBLICANS AIM TO FLIP IN 2026 MIDTERMS TO EXPAND THEIR MAJORITY
Democrat Gov. Janet Mills announced that she will run for Maine’s Senate seat in October 2024. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Mills is facing a formidable rival on the left in Graham Platner, an oyster farmer and military veteran who is backed by progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders.
There are also competitive Democratic Senate primaries in Texas, Iowa and Michigan, where Democrats are playing defense as they aim to hold the seat held by retiring two-term Sen. Gary Peters, Gillibrand’s predecessor at the DSCC. Republicans in the Great Lakes State are mostly rallying behind former Rep. Mike Rogers, who’s making a second straight bid for the Senate.
Asked whether her party’s Senate primaries will impede success in November, a confident Gillibrand said, «I think we will have the best candidates in each one of these states.»
While the party in power — clearly the Republicans right now — traditionally faces political headwinds in the midterm elections, and with Democrats riding a wave of momentum following a slew of ballot box victories in 2025, a current read of the 2026 map indicates the GOP may be able to go on offense in some key states.
Gillibrand’s counterpart, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, told Fox News Digital last month that «54 is clearly within our grasp right now, but with a little bit of luck, 55 is on our side.»
GOP SENATE CAMPAIGN CHIEF AIMS TO EXPAND 2026 MAP IN THIS BLUE-LEANING STATE
Asked about Scott’s aspirations to pick up one or two seats, Gillibrand quickly responded, «No chance.»
«I’m very optimistic that with the quality of candidates that we have, with the recruiting failures and the poor candidates the Republicans have, and this very harmful climate that President Trump is creating, we have all the makings of a blue wave,» Gillibrand emphasized.
NRSC’s communications director, Joanna Rodriguez, argued that the «Democrats’ battleground map is littered with failed career politicians no longer aligned with the values of their states and messy, nasty primaries that will leave Schumer with a majority of candidates that have all pledged to vote him out.»
Democrats are also playing defense in blue-leaning Minnesota, where Sen. Tina Smith is retiring, and the party faces another competitive primary, and in swing state New Hampshire, where former governor and longtime Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is retiring.
And in Georgia, Republicans see first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat up for re-election this cycle. But a nasty three-way GOP Senate primary may hurt the Republicans’ chances of flipping the seat in the crucial southeastern battleground.
AFFORDABILITY BOOSTS DEMOCRATS AT BALLOT BOX IN 2025 AFTER INFLATION HELPED TRUMP AND GOP SOAR IN 2024
Deep concerns over inflation boosted Trump and Republicans to sweeping victories at the ballot box in 2024, as they won back the White House and Senate and kept their House majority.
But Democrats say their decisive victories in November’s elections were fueled by their laser focus on affordability.
Don’t expect any letup in Democrats’ cost-of-living messaging.
President Donald Trump speaks on inflation at Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
«Candidates that connect with their voters, candidates that are listening to the concerns that their constituents have, those are the candidates that win elections, and we saw Democrats do that across the board in 2025,» Gillibrand said. «Candidates that understand what people are going through are the ones that connect with voters, and that’s the kind of candidates we are marshaling in this election, and we are supporting this election.»
But Scott predicts the tide will turn for Republicans on the affordability issue.
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«I’ve said 2026 is a year of affordability, and the great news is President Trump has been producing time and time again,» the NRSC chair touted.
Pointing to the tax cut provisions in the GOP’s sweeping domestic policy measure signed into law this past summer by Trump, Scott said «2026 is shaping up to be the year where Donald Trump’s activities, his actions, the legislation we’ve passed, shows up for the American voter. And consumers all across the country will see a more affordable economy because of President Trump and the Senate majority and the House majority in the hands of the Republican Party.»
elections,democrats elections,midterm elections,senate elections,democratic party,republicans elections,campaigning
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A suspected retaliatory drone attack by pro-Iranian militias struck a major U.S. diplomatic facility in Baghdad on Tuesday, according to The Washington Post.
The newspaper said the strike hit the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center, and no injuries were immediately reported.
Six drones were launched toward the compound, five of which were shot down.
The Post, citing a security official and a State Department alert, reported one drone struck near a guard tower and people at the facility were instructed to «duck and cover.»
GULF STATES INTERCEPT HUNDREDS OF IRANIAN MISSILES AND DRONES, ISSUE JOINT CONDEMNATION WITH US
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey stands with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey, Gen. James Mattis, Gen. Lloyd Austin III and Sgt. Maj. Joseph Allen following a ceremony retiring the ceremonial flag at the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center on Dec. 15, 2011. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)
«Accountability is ongoing,» the alert said.
Iraq’s ministry of defense condemned the drone and missile attacks targeting the Martyr Muhammad Alaa Air Base and the Martyr Ali Fallah Air Base in a post on X but did not mention the hit on the U.S. facility or Iran directly.
«In response to these sinful aggressions, the Ministry wishes to clarify and confirm the following facts: These air bases are fully sovereign and Iraqi, subject entirely to the authority of the state and the law, and there is no representation of any foreign forces in them under any designation,» the government account wrote.
The security official told The Washington Post the attack was likely conducted by militias affiliated with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose umbrella group of Iran-aligned Shiite armed factions that have claimed responsibility for attacks on U.S. forces in the region.
US EMBASSY STRUCK BY DRONES IN SAUDI ARABIA AS AMERICANS INSTRUCTED TO SHELTER IN PLACE
A billboard featuring a photo of Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader who was killed in U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, is seen along a street in Baghdad on March 9, 2026. (Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu via Getty Images)
At the start of Operation Epic Fury, the State Department had urged Americans to depart immediately from more than a dozen countries across the Middle East, warning of «serious safety risks» as the Iran war intensified.
Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said on March 2 that U.S. citizens should leave Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The department said Americans who need help arranging departure via commercial means can contact the State Department 24/7 at +1-202-501-4444 from abroad or +1-888-407-4747 from the U.S. and Canada.
IRAN PROXIES WAGE WAR ON ISRAEL, THREATEN US INTERESTS AS IRAQ SLAMMED FOR NOT DISARMING THEM
Protesters walk through tear gas during clashes with Iraqi security forces near a bridge leading to the Green Zone in Baghdad on March 1, 2026. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP/ via Getty Images)
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Officials warned conditions in the region remain volatile, and security situations could change quickly as fighting tied to the conflict continues.
At least nine U.S. missions, including Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar and Israel, issued repeated shelter-in-place directives or advisories at the outset of Iran’s retaliatory attacks against U.S. forces and Israel.
iraq,war with iran,middle east,state department
INTERNACIONAL
Texas conservatives tout record-breaking school choice signups after long battle with teachers unions
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After a decades-long battle with Democrats, teacher unions, and even a few Republicans, Texas conservatives are celebrating the successful launch of what is likely to become the largest school-choice program in the country.
The Lone Star State’s school choice program, called the Texas Education Freedom Accounts, saw record-setting registrations in its first days. Within one hour of the program opening, it had already garnered 8,000 registrations. By the end of the day, it had notched 42,000 signups and three days in, it was sitting at around 62,000 signups. The program is expected to hit 100,000 by its March 17 deadline.
To Texas Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock, chief administrator of the program, the program’s early success represents a win for what he called «educational freedom.»
«We figure in the State of Texas, we lead the nation in economic freedom, we might as well lead the nation in educational freedom,» he said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
SAN FRANCISCO SCHOOLS ON VERGE OF CLOSING OVER POSSIBLE TEACHERS STRIKE
The Lone Star State’s school choice program, called the Texas Education Freedom Accounts, saw record-setting registrations in its first days. (Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images; Getty Images)
School choice was a major legislative priority for Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed the measure establishing the program into law last May. Under the program, families will receive $10,000 per year to help pay for their child’s private school tuition or costs for home-schooling and virtual learning programs. Children with disabilities can qualify for as much as $30,000 per year.
Though showing early signs of success, getting a school choice program to pass in a state the size of Texas was not easy. As a parent himself, Hancock said he has been an advocate for school choice for the last three decades.
«We got close at times in the state of Texas, where we thought the votes were there, and then we wouldn’t get there. And frankly, a couple of years ago, before Gov. Abbott got involved, I myself was like, ‘OK, I don’t know that we’re ever going to get there,’» he admitted.
While proponents believe the measure gives parents more options by allowing them to take their children out of poor-performing public schools in favor of alternative public or private school choices, others argue it pulls financial resources from Texas’ public school students and subsidizes the private education of wealthy families.
The program saw fierce opposition from the state’s leading teachers unions, including the Texas American Federation of Teachers (Texas AFT) and the Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA).
Ahead of the program launching, Texas AFT issued a statement calling it a «growing billion-dollar boondoggle.»
TRUMP DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ROLLS OUT LATEST STEP TO EXPAND SCHOOL CHOICE NATIONWIDE
Gov. Greg Abbott laughs during a bill signing in the State Capitol on April 23, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
TSTA argued that Texas could not adequately fund both its public schools and the school choice program, saying, «Our underfunded public schools need all the tax dollars that lawmakers spend on K-12 education.»
In a statement shared with Fox News Digital, TSTA President Ovidia Molina vowed to «continue working to kill this expensive and discriminatory program.»
She knocked the state for «most» of the religious schools approved to participate in the program being Christian, which she said, «restrict admission or give preference to children of their own faith.» She also said that «some of these schools refuse admission to LGBTQ students.»
«These schools will use public tax dollars to discriminate against children whose families pay these tax dollars. Public schools do not discriminate. They accept every student who lives in their district, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, family income or whatever, and only public schools should receive our tax revenue,» said Molina.
Hancock, however, pushed back on the idea that the program pits public and private schools against each other. He said Texas, which operates on a constitutionally required balanced budget, was able to fund the school choice program «at the same time that we had record investment in public education and $4 billion in teacher pay, which was a record investment in going directly to paying for our teachers there within the public setting.»
MAJOR CITY SCHOOL DISTRICTS LOSING STUDENTS AS PARENTS SEEK BETTER OPTIONS
School choice was a major legislative priority for Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed the measure establishing the program into law last May. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
«We want to be number one, not only in this program, but in education as a whole, both our public schools, our charter schools, and home schools, and private schools,» he explained. «We’re willing to give that investment, and we have our eyes set on it.»
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He framed the opposition to the program as attempts to maintain the status quo and eliminate competition in education.
«It’s the standard pushback, and the reality is no change, no competition, we want the system as is, we don’t want any changes to be involved in it,» he said. «Look, I’m a businessman, and I would love it if in the business I’m in that I had limited or no competition, that I have government protections, that had government funding me, that lived within all those protections. I mean, let’s face it, who wouldn’t want those protections? But that’s not good for… the students, the children.»
«What’s the best for children is competition,» he went on.
Further, he believes the huge number of signups indicates how badly needed the program is.
«I think by opening this up and then the enormous turnout we had, the record turnout we hit, that what it shows is we’re meeting the customers’ needs and the customers are Texans.»
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.
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INTERNACIONAL
Una mujer policía murió de un disparo en la cabeza en Brasil y su marido dijo que se suicidó: investigan si la mató
La muerte de una mujer policía de 32 años, Gisele Alves Santana, a mediados de febrero en San Pablo, Brasil, desató una ola de sospechas y contradicciones que ponen en jaque la versión inicial de que se trató de un suicidio y ahora investigan un femicidio.
El caso involucra a su esposo, el teniente coronel de la Policía Militar Geraldo Leite Rosa Neto, de 53 años, quien estaba en el departamento cuando ocurrió el disparo fatal y ahora es considerado sospechoso.
Leé también: Impactante video: una joven de 26 años cayó por la ventana de un colectivo en Brasil y murió
La decisión se tomó después de que un nuevo informe de autopsia, realizado tras la exhumación del cuerpo de la víctima a pedido de su familia.
Las pericias revelaron lesiones en el rostro y el cuello de la víctima causadas por presiones de los dedos y marcas de uñas.
Según los peritos, hay indicios de que Gisele se desmayó antes de recibir el disparo en la cabeza y de que no se defendió. Gisele Alves Santana tenía 32 años. (Foto: gentileza g1).
El horario de la muerte y las dudas sobre la versión del esposo
Una vecina declaró que escuchó un fuerte ruido a las 7:28 de la mañana del 18 de febrero, media hora antes de que el esposo llamara por primera vez a las urgencias.
En esa llamada, realizada a las 7:57, Neto afirmó: “Mi esposa es policía. Se mató con un tiro en la cabeza. Manden una ambulancia y un patrullero, por favor”.
Minutos después, a las 8:05, volvió a comunicarse, esta vez con los bomberos, y dijo que la mujer aún respiraba. Las autoridades llegaron al lugar a las 8:13.
La posición de la pistola y la escena del crimen
Según el diario Metrópoles, uno de los bomberos que atendió la emergencia declaró que “no era una típica escena de suicidio”.
El cuerpo de la mujer estaba entre el sofá y el mueble de la televisión. Según dijo, el arma estaba “bien encajada” en la mano de la víctima, de una manera que nunca había visto en casos similares.
Por lo inusual de la escena, decidió tomar fotografías. Además, notó que la sangre ya estaba coagulada cuando llegaron y que no había casquillo de bala en el lugar. Un bombero notó que la escena era sospechosa y decidió tomar fotos. (Foto: gentileza g1).
Contradicciones y la actitud fría del esposo
Geraldo afirmó que su esposa tuvo una “reacción negativa” después de que él le pidiera el divorcio y que la mujer agarró un arma y se mató.
El teniente coronel declaró que se estaba duchando cuando escuchó el disparo, pero los primeros bomberos que ingresaron al departamento aseguraron que él estaba completamente seco y que no había rastros de agua en el piso.
Un sargento con 15 años de experiencia afirmó que encontró a Neto en bermuda, sin camisa y seco. Otro oficial de la PM que llegó al lugar también señaló que ni el esposo ni la víctima parecían haberse bañado antes del disparo. Geraldo Leite Rosa Neto dijo que Gisele se suicidó cuando le pidió el divorcio. (Foto: gentileza Metrópoles).
Los rescatistas también se sorprendieron por la falta de desesperación del teniente coronel: no lo vieron llorar ni parecía alterado.
Otro bombero señaló que Neto hablaba con calma por teléfono, cuestionaba el accionar de los bomberos y exigía que la víctima fuera trasladada rápidamente al hospital.
Además, no tenía manchas de sangre en el cuerpo ni en la ropa, lo que indicaría que no intentó asistir a su esposa tras el disparo. La madre de Gisele dijo que su yerno era «abusivo» y controlador con su hija. (Foto: gentileza Metrópoles).
El testimonio de la madre de Gisele refutó la versión de su yerno. Marinalva Vieira afirmó que la pareja tenía una “relación turbulenta” y que el teniente coronel era “abusivo y violento”.
También dijo que el hombre no dejaba que su hija usara lápiz labial ni tacones altos y que controlaba sus conversaciones en las redes sociales.
La madre afirmó además que, una semana antes del incidente, su hija había pedido, en una llamada telefónica, que sus padres la fueran a buscar porque “no soportaba la presión” y quería separarse.
Llamada a un juez y movimientos sospechosos
Entre los contactos que hizo Neto esa mañana, uno llamó la atención de la familia de la víctima: llamó al juez Marco Antônio Pinheiro Machado Cogan, del Tribunal de Justicia de San Pablo.
El magistrado llegó al edificio a las 9:07 y subió al departamento con el teniente coronel. Según el abogado de la familia, José Miguel da Silva Junior, el juez fue la primera persona contactada tras el disparo y deberá explicar su presencia en el lugar.
Leé también: Pese a la advertencia de Trump, Irán atacó barcos comerciales en el estrecho de Ormuz y crece la tensión en Medio Oriente
Las cámaras de seguridad registraron que el juez salió al pasillo a las 9:18 y que Neto apareció con otra ropa a las 9:29.
El caso, que comenzó como un supuesto suicidio, sigue bajo investigación y medios locales apuntan a la pronta detención de Neto.
Brasil tuvo un récord de femicidios en 2025 con 4 muertes por día
En 2025, una década después de aprobarse la Ley del Femicidio, Brasil alcanzó la cifra récord de 1518 víctimas, es decir, cuatro mujeres por día, según informó la agencia de noticias Agencia Brasil.
El año anterior, en 2024, el país ya había establecido un récord con 1458 víctimas, según datos oficiales del Ministerio de Justicia y Seguridad Pública.
Brasil, Femicidio, Crimen
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