Opinion: Hugh Hewitt Says Seniority Is the Republicans' Quiet Edge in the Senate Toss-Ups
In a Fox News column, Hewitt argues voters should pick the candidate who can deliver for their state for six years, and that polls miss red-state strength. It is commentary, and the predictions are his.
Radio host Hugh Hewitt makes a case in Fox News opinion for how the contested Senate races could break. This is commentary, and the forecasts are his, not ours.
His test. Hewitt says voters in every contested state should ask which candidate is in the better position to help their state over the next six years. His answer, he argues, is often the incumbent or the nominee of the likely majority party, who gets committee seniority and a place in the room.
State by state. In Maine he says Sen. Susan Collins chairs the Appropriations Committee and has cast more than 10,000 consecutive roll call votes, so she should beat Troy Jackson, a Democrat chosen by the party's state committee after Graham Platner withdrew on July 10. He backs Jon Husted over Sherrod Brown in Ohio, and Mike Rogers over Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, calling El-Sayed's "white-hot radicalism" a fit for a corner of the Senate "that is empty except for Bernie Sanders." He expects Sen. Dan Sullivan to prevail in Alaska over Mary Peltola, and calls the second "decoy" Dan Sullivan on the ballot a dirty trick. He puts Ken Paxton in Texas and Ashley Hinson in Iowa in good shape, Roger Marshall in Kansas ahead of a "nice pastor," and sees a possible upset in Minnesota, where he says Michele Tafoya could beat Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.
On the polls. Hewitt says American polling "is as broken as Israeli polling," which he says missed Prime Minister Netanyahu finishing with the largest party and coalition on Tuesday. He writes that "if toss-ups turn out to be blowouts in red states, don't be surprised."
This is opinion. Hewitt says seniority plus Trump's heavy campaigning do not leave the GOP "anxiety-free," but that Republicans should not take their cues from pollsters and legacy media. Democrats and many pollsters would dispute his read of the races.