Samuel Case, FISM News

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Republicans are hoping to take back the Senate in 2024 by targeting four specific states, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told CNN on Monday, while warning it could be an uphill battle with incumbents. 

In an interview with CNN’s @mkraju, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he’s not confident that Republicans will take back the Senate majority in 2024.

“We do have the possibility of screwing this up and that gets back to candidate recruitment,” McConnell said. pic.twitter.com/fgc2kosk6U

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Following a disappointing midterm election for Republicans, the Democrats currently hold a 51-49 Senate majority. But that could change in 2024, where 23 Democrats are up for reelection, compared to only 11 Republicans. “If you were looking for a good map, this is a good map,” McConnell said. 

“I think we know that we are going to compete in four places heavily, and that would be, Montana, West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania,” he told CNN while noting Republicans could also be competitive in Nevada and Arizona “with the right candidate.”

Despite his optimism, McConnell warned that Republicans shouldn’t underestimate the advantage held by incumbents. “I think it’s important to go into this cycle understanding once again how hard it is to beat the incumbents, no incumbent lost last year,” he said. 

Incumbent Democrats Jon Tester of Montana, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania are all running for reelection, while Joe Manchin of West Virginia is still considering a third term. 

 “We do have the possibility of screwing this up,” McConnell said, emphasizing the need for quality candidates. “I think that we lost Georgia, Arizona and New Hampshire because we didn’t have competitive candidates (last cycle).”