Senate GOP campaign chief Tim Scott previewed his 2026 game plan over the weekend to some of the party’s top donors at a retreat in Palm Beach, Florida. His main takeaway: It’s going to be mighty costly.
Scott, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said his team believes the battleground map will include six states — three offensive targets in Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire and three defensive ones in Maine, North Carolina and Ohio.
The top 2026 races, Scott told donors, will likely break spending records, according to a person who attended the meeting and was granted anonymity to share private details from it. And protecting the three red seats, held by Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Jon Husted (R-Ohio), will require a massive effort.
“Winning is expensive, so cash is king,” Scott said, according to the attendee, adding both parties would likely spend over “$1 billion combined” on “just two of our Republican-held states.”
He estimated Republicans and Democrats would spend “$400-600 million in Maine and $700 million in North Carolina. And in Ohio, Bernie Moreno’s race cost $550 million last year. We need to win there again with Jon Husted.”
Collins is the only Republican up in a state that Kamala Harris won, but she is a formidable incumbent, and many Democrats in the state are loath to take her on. Tillis, meanwhile, could face a serious primary challenge in addition to a competitive general election. But Ohio is quickly trending out of competitive territory.
Last cycle Moreno ousted Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown by 4 points in the state. Husted was tapped by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to fill the seat of Vice President JD Vance, and he will have to run again in a 2026 special election. But Brown was largely viewed as one of the last Democrats capable of winning statewide in Ohio, and he hasn’t indicated he’s eager to make another bid.
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