Mitch McConnell, Senate majority leader

摘要

In a broadening GOP civil war and with Senate control on the line in the 2018 midterm elections, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will find his political skills tested as never before. After a disastrously unproductive 2017, McConnell must manage the strains in his relationship with President Trump, showcased in the finger-pointing that followed the failed effort to replace Obamacare. He also must face down a midterm onslaught from Steve Bannon, who along with Tea Party-affiliated groups has vowed to challenge every GOP incumbent senator on the ballot except Texas' Ted Cruz. McConnell has some math on his side: Democrats must pick up three seats to take control of the Senate, and only eight GOP seats are on the ballot, vs. 23 held by Democrats. For now, only three seats appear to be even remotely in play for Democrats: those of retiring Jeff Flake of Arizona and Dean Heller of Nevada and the one in Alabama held by Jeff Sessions before he was named attorney general. Yet if Bannon continues to succeed in replacing GOP incumbents with far-right candidates, the Democrats' takeover target list could grow.