The Senate Republican campaign chair has a stark warning for his party as the GOP defends its 53-47 majority in the chamber in this year’s midterm elections.

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Tim Scott pointed to a ballot box deficit the GOP’s facing in a new Fox News national poll, saying it could impact specific Senate races this year.

And Scott said the toughest challenge may be in Maine, where longtime GOP Sen. Susan Collins is running for re-election in the blue-leaning northern New England state.

The straight talk from Scott, which came at a closed-door meeting Tuesday with fellow GOP senators, comes as Republicans, as the party in power in the nation’s capital, face traditional political headwinds in the midterms. But the GOP is also facing a rough political climate, with President Donald Trump’s approval ratings remaining underwater while Democrats are energized as they work to win back the House majority and possibly recapture the Senate.

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Scott, in his briefing, pointed to the Democrats’ six-point margin over Republicans on the generic ballot — which asks respondents whether they’d back the Democrat or Republican candidate in their congressional district without mentioning specific candidate names — in the latest Fox News national poll. Scott’s briefing was first reported by Axios and confirmed by Fox News Digital.

Maine, which Scott pointed to, and battleground North Carolina, where Republicans are defending an open seat in the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Thom Tillis, are the Democrats’ top two targets in the 2026 election cycle.

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“The Democrats are targeting a number of our incumbents. And so we’ve got some races that are going to be expensive and hard fought in places like Maine and North Carolina,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters following the NRSC briefing.

But Thune added, “We feel really good about… where our Senate races are.” And he emphasized that “incumbents in our conference are seasoned veterans who will outwork any of their opponents.”

The Fox News poll was the latest national survey to give Republicans pause.

More than half (54%) surveyed in the poll, which was conducted Jan. 23–26, said the nation was worse off than it was a year ago, when Trump took office, with only 31% saying the U.S. was in a better position. And only three in 10 said the economy was in excellent or good shape.

The Democrats’ brand image remains in negative territory, according to the latest polls. But thanks in part to their laser focus on the issue of affordability amid persistent inflation, Democrats scored decisive victories in the 2025 elections, and have overperformed at the ballot box in other off-year and special elections since the start of Trump’s second administration.

That was vividly illustrated this past weekend, when Republicans suffered a stunning setback at the hands of Democrats: a double-digit shellacking in a special Texas state Senate election, in a Fort Worth area district that Trump won by 17 points in 2024 just 15 months ago.

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Thune said the special election results in Texas “remind us that we need to up our game and do a better job of not only putting up a record of accomplishment for the American people, but then, being able to deliver that message. And I think if you look at what we’ve accomplished in this last year, it’s a terrific record of accomplishment for our candidates to run on.”

Thune pointed to the GOP’s sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump’s signature second-term domestic achievement, which includes numerous tax cuts that many voters will feel this spring.

“I think what happened in Texas should capture our attention and remind us that we need to up our game and do a better job,” Thune said. “We’ve got to get out and tell that story. And I think over the course of the next several months, we’ll do that.”

Scott, in a Fox News Digital interview late last year, touted that “2026 is shaping up to be the year where Donald Trump’s activities, his actions, the legislation we’ve passed, shows up for the American voter. And consumers all across the country will see a more affordable economy because of President Trump and the Senate majority and the House majority in the hands of the Republican Party.”

Democrats are happy to have that fight.

“President Trump is creating a toxic agenda that’s harming people,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand told Fox News Digital last month.

And she added she’s “optimistic that we have a shot to take back the majority.”

Gillibrand argued that Trump “is creating this massive backlash because of his bad and hurtful and harmful agenda,” which she said “adds more to the map.”

Besides Maine and North Carolina, Democrats are also trying to flip GOP-held Senate seats in Texas, Ohio, Alaska and Iowa, which are all red states.

But they’re playing defense as they defend open seats in battleground Michigan, swing state New Hampshire, and blue-leaning Minnesota. And the NRSC’s targeting battleground Georgia, where they consider first-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff very vulnerable as he seeks re-election.

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While Scott offered a sobering presentation to his Senate GOP colleagues this week, he told Fox News Digital in December that in the battle for the majority, “54 is clearly within our grasp right now, but with a little bit of luck, 55 is on our side.”

Asked about Scott’s aspirations to pick up one or two seats, Gillibrand last month responded, “No chance.”

Fox News’ Kelly Phares and Tyler Olson contributed to this report

I was introduced to Jeffrey Epstein in the mid 1990’s when I was director of the Whitney. He was a member of the Museum’s Drawing Committee. I knew him as a wealthy patron and a collector, and it was part of my job to befriend people who had the capacity and interest in supporting the museum. I retired from museum work in 2001.
In 2008 he was arrested and jailed in Florida, I emailed him to find out what the story was because this did not seem like the person I thought I knew. I emailed him when he got out of jail. He told me that he had been the subject of a political frame-up because of his support of former President Clinton. At the time, I believed he was telling me the truth.
Though I’d had no further contact with him, when years later I read that was being investigated again on the same charges, I reached out to him to show support. That was a terrible mistake of judgement. When the reality of his crimes became clear, I was mortified and remain ashamed that I fell for his lies. Like many he supported with arts and education patronage, I profoundly regret that I was taken in by his story. I continue to be appalled by his crimes and remain deeply concerned for its many victims.

David A. Ross

Citing “chaos” on the streets of cities like Minneapolis and Lewiston, Maine, and referencing the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Mayor Michelle Wu announced a series of executive actions designed to hold federal officials accountable in Boston.

Wu said in an executive order Thursday that city departments shall “work with the Boston Police Department to publicly release video footage of violence or property damage by federal officials captured by Boston Police Department body-worn cameras or other City-controlled surveillance cameras.”

The hope, the mayor’s executive order says, is to deescalate any potential confrontations.

Wu’s order comes as speculation continues to swirl around the city that a surge of federal immigration officers is imminent. Last month, the Herald photographed the delivery of scores of new SUVs to an ICE operations center in Burlington.

Wu cited violent clashes between protesters and ICE officers in Minneapolis, noting the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in her order.

“In these deployments, federal agents have fomented chaos, violated residents’ constitutional rights, and perpetrated egregious acts of violence, including the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti,” Wu’s order states.

The mayor is also seeking to restrict federal officials from using city property without a court order or warrant, declaring that Boston property, parks or even parking lots cannot “be used as an unpermitted staging area, processing location, operations base, or any similar purpose in furtherance of civil immigration enforcement operations.”

The mayor’s order was issued during a press conference Thursday at City Hall.

– Developing