Today is Tuesday, 10/20 and the general US Elections are in TWO WEEKS.
As it stands right now, the current Senate composition is:
47 - Democrats
51 - Republicans
2 - Independents
Looking at the numbers, we COULD see a huge shift in the Senate this year, best case scenario would be:
52 - Democrats
45 - Republicans
3 - Independents
Chart Follows:
| State | Current | Occupant | Status | D Cand | R Cand | Polling 10/18 | Outcome | Polling Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado | Democratic | Hickenlooper | Safe D | John Hickelooper | Mark Baisley | D+6 | ||
| Delaware | Democratic | Coons | Safe D | Chris Coons | Michael Katz | D+29.7 | ||
| Georgia | Democratic | Ossoff | Safe D | Jon Ossoff | Mike Collins | D+8 | ||
| Illnois | Democratic | Durbin | Safe D | Juliana Stratton | Don Tracy | D+20 | ||
| Massachusetts | Democratic | Markey | Safe D | Ed Markey | John Deaton | D+24 | ||
| New Hampshire | Democratic | Shaheen | Safe D | Chris Pappas | John E. Sununu | D+7 | ||
| New Jersey | Democratic | Booker | Safe D | Cory Booker | Justin Murphy | D+22 | ||
| New Mexico | Democratic | Luja | Safe D | Ben Ray Luján | Larry Marker | D+18 | ||
| Oregon | Democratic | Merkley | Safe D | Jeff Merkley | David Brock Smith | D+25 | ||
| Rhode Island | Democratic | Reed | Safe D | Jack Reed | Raymond McKay | D+20 | ||
| Virginia | Democratic | Warner | Safe D | Mark Warner | Bert Mizusawa | D+20 | ||
| Minnesota | Democratic | Smith | D | Peggy Flanagan | Michele Tafoya | D+4 | ||
| North Carolina | Republican | Tillis | D | Roy Cooper | Michael Whatley | D+10 | Possible D Flip | D Momentum since 6/1 |
| Alabama | Republican | Tuberville | Safe R | Everett Wess | Barry Moore | R+21 | ||
| Arkansas | Republican | Cotton | Safe R | Hallie Shoffner | Tom Cotton | R+9 | ||
| Florida | Republican | Moody | Safe R | Angie Nixon | Ashley Moody | R+5.2 | ||
| Idaho | Republican | Risch | Safe R | Withdrawn | Jim Risch | R+12.1 | ||
| Kentucky | Republican | McConnell | Safe R | Charles Booker | Andy Barr | R+9 | ||
| Louisiana | Republican | Cassidy | Safe R | Jamie Davis | Julia Letlow | R+4 | ||
| Mississippi | Republican | Hyde-Smith | Safe R | Cindy Hyde-Smith | Scott Colom | R+9 | ||
| Montana | Republican | Daines | Safe R | Alani Bankhead | Kurt Alme | R+16 | ||
| Nebraska | Republican | Ricketts | Safe R | Dan Osborn (I) | Pete Ricketts | R+1 | R Momentum since 10/1 | |
| Oklahoma | Republican | Armstrong | Safe R | N’Kiyla Thomas | Kevin Hern | R+28 | ||
| South Dakota | Republican | Rounds | Safe R | Brian Bengs | Mike Rounds | R+6 | ||
| Tennessee | Republican | Hagerty | Safe R | Marquita Bradshaw | Bill Hagerty | R+25 | ||
| West Virgiia | Republican | Capito | Safe R | Rachel Fetty Anderson | Shelley Moore Capito | R+21 | ||
| Wyoming | Republican | Lummis | Safe R | James Byrd | Harriet Hageman | R+23 | ||
| South Carolina | Republican | Graham | R | Annie Andrews | Darline Graham | R+1 | R Momentum since 8/29 | |
| Alaska | Republican | Sullivan | Tossup | Mary Peltola | Dan Sullivan | D+3 | Possible D Flip | D Momentum since 8/4 |
| Iowa | Republican | Ernst | Tossup | Josh Turek | Ashley Hinson | D+1 | Possible D Flip | D Momentum since 9/10 |
| Kansas | Republican | Marshall | Tossup | Adam Hamilton | Roger Marshall | D+1 | Possible D Flip | D Momentum since 10/1 |
| Maine | Republican | Collins | Tossup | Troy Jackson | Susan Collins | D+2 | Possible D Flip | D Momentum since 7/6 |
| Michigan | Democratic | Peters | Tossup | Abdul El-Sayed | Mike Rogers | D+3 | Possible R Flip | D Momentum since 8/17 |
| Ohio | Republican | Husted | Tossup | Sherrod Brown | Jon Husted | D+4 | Possible D Flip | D Momentum since 6/2 |
| Texas | Republican | Cornyn | Tossup | James Talarico | Ken Paxton | D+4 | Possible D Flip | D Momentum since 6/1 |


Yeah, that would be something.
I think the forecasts are useful thought experiments, but it seems if you dig deep enough in the methodologies, eventually you always get to a priori premises and assumptions that can’t be supported except by intuition. It would be helpful for there to be a graphic map of those methodologies with “here be dragons” to denote when we’ve stopped using data. In any case, I’m holding onto some hope for this election despite those forecasts, but guarding it like a caveman would a fire.