GOP's Rick Scott bullish on Senate majority, sees path to 55 seats

"I’m optimistic it’s going to be a good night and we have good candidates, they’re running good races. There’s a lot of energy."
Rick Scott
By Ben Whedon

National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Rick Scott is optimistic that Republicans will take a majority in the Senate during the November midterm elections and even sees a path to claiming 55 seats in the upper chamber.

"It starts right here, we’re going to get 52 Republican senators, we have to win here," the Florida Senator said a get-out-to-vote event with North Carolina GOP Senate candidate Ted Budd, per The Hill. "I think we can get 53, 54, 55."

Scott's reference to "52 Republican senators" leaves it somewhat unclear which races he believes will break red, though The Hill relayed comments from Scott seemingly putting North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Georgia in the Republican column.

The Florida Republican also pointed to races in New Hampshire, Nevada, Washington, and Colorado as potential GOP pickups. "Adam Laxalt has been up consistently, every [poll]," he said of the Nevada GOP nominee. "Joe O’Dea’s barely behind," he said of Colorado's Republican candidate facing Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet. "Tiffany Smiley is down two," he said of Washington's Democratic senator, referencing a September Trafalgar Group poll.

"I’m optimistic it’s going to be a good night and we have good candidates, they’re running good races. There’s a lot of energy," Scott said at a New Hampshire event, per the outlet.

Recent polling suggests that Scott's projection of a five-seat majority may not be terribly farfetched, with the RealClearPolitics projecting the GOP to secure 53-seat majority, holding seats in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, and Wisconsin, while notching wins in Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona.

The polling aggregator currently rates contests in Washington, Connecticut, and Colorado as "leans Democrat" though each incumbent senator in those races maintains a single-digit lead.

Scott's bullishness contrasts somewhat with comments from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has expressed more limited expectations.

"In every election every year, this year, past years, it’s great to have terrific candidates. We’re in a bunch of close races. I think we have a 50-50 shot of getting the Senate back. It’s going to be really, really close either way, in my view," he said in September, per The Hill.