McConnell Raises Concerns About Incumbent ‘Advantage’ in 2024 Elections

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., cautioned Republican candidates looking to challenge incumbent Democrats in the upcoming 2024 general election that their opponents have the upper hand.

Recent polls show that former President Donald Trump, the anticipated GOP nominee, is ahead of President Joe Biden, the expected Democratic candidate, in key swing states. However, Republicans running against existing Democrat senators in those battleground states, like those vying to unseat Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., are behind in recent polls.

“I think being an incumbent, as we saw in ’22, gives an advantage. Not a single incumbent lost in ’22,” McConnell stated at a press conference with National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Steve Daines, R-Mont. “Sen. Daines and I were never under the illusion that this would be easy.”

“We have to defeat the incumbents in Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and wherever else we can, but we never promised it would be a walk in the park,” he added.

McConnell’s remarks align with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who responded to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll.

“In all four battlegrounds they surveyed, all of our Democrats were leading, and that’s because our Democrats are exceptional candidates,” Schumer said. “Every week, they are building on the progress we made in 2022, 2021, and 2023.”