As Democrats face a difficult Senate landscape in 2024, with 23 seats up for re-election and a handful of vulnerable senators competing in battleground states, Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the head of the Senate Democratic campaign arm, made it clear the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) will aggressively pursue the races that are tight.
He’s been keeping an eye on West Virginia, where Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin has yet to announce whether he’ll seek another term and has left the door ajar to a potential third-party presidential bid.
“If Joe Manchin runs, he will win,” Peters told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett in an interview on CBS News’ “America Decides” Wednesday.
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Peters says he’s been urging the two-term West Virginia senator to run again — and as a Democrat. Even with Peter’s support, Manchin would likely be running in a difficult general election. Rep. Alex Mooney and West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice are both running for the Republican nomination.
Peters says Justice comes with “a lot of baggage.” The leading Republican candidate has faced scrutiny over West Virginia’s Covid vaccine lotteries and his family’s coal mining company, which was sued by the Justice Department for failing to pay millions in mining violation penalties.
Vulnerable Democrats
In addition to West Virginia, there are at least six other vulnerable Democratic Senate seats that could determine the balance of power in the Senate in 2024. Peters noted that presidential battleground states are also Senate battleground states, with the exceptions of Ohio and Montana, races Peters described as “very challenging.”
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Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown will seek a fourth term in 2024. Republican challengers so far include businessman Bernie Moreno, state Sen. Matt Dolan, and Secretary of State Frank LaRose. Over the summer, Dolan launched an ad blitz targeting Sen. Brown on immigration.
In Montana, Sen. John Tester also faces GOP challenges from Reps. Matt Rosendale and Ryan Zinke, as well as former Navy SEAL officer Tim Sheehy. NRSC Chair Daines has voiced his support for Sheehy.
Peters believes candidate quality, or the lack of it, will play a role in 2024 Senate races.
“I think what really helps us in Arizona is that we have Kari Lake as the likely Republican nominee,” he said, and predicted that “she will do worse in the Senate race than she did in the gubernatorial race.”
Lake seems likely to face off against Rep. Ruben Gallego. Incumbent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who won her seat as a Democrat in 2018, announced last November she was changing her party affiliation to independent. Sinema hasn’t yet announced whether she will seek re-election.
Democrats will also have to defend Senate seats in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Michigan, all states Biden won by a single-digit margin in 2020.
Peters joked, “I will assure you as the chair of the DSCC and the senator for Michigan, we will not lose Michigan on my watch.”
While Democrats managed to hold the Senate and even gain a seat in 2022, this cycle may be more difficult.
Republicans are defending 11 out of 34 seats up for reelection in 2024.
When asked if Peters would send money to either state, he said, “I will tell every candidate, if you’re gonna win your race, I’m not giving you a penny. If you’re gonna lose your race, I’m not giving you a penny, but if you’re right on the edge and you could go either way, we’re gonna be there with everything we have.”
Watch Major Garrett’s interview with Sen. Gary Peters Wednesday on CBS News’ “America Decides.”