2026 United States Senate Elections (Pear's Future III)

The 2026 United States Senate elections occurred in the middle of Joe Biden's second term. The election, as a part of the 2026 midterms, were seen as a referendum on Biden and the ability for Republicans to capitalize off of President Biden's low approval ratings. Although, polls showed Biden with approval ratings under 40 percent due to the 2026 recession, many argued that Republican strength would be hindered due to a lack of strong leadership within the party. A similar conflict was seen in the 2022 midterms, where Republican infighting caused Republicans to do poorly despite President Biden's poor approval ratings. However, Republicans were able to nominate strong moderate candidates in most of their races, allowing them to expand their senate majority.

Republicans gained two seats in the Senate, one from Minnesota where they defeated incumbent senator Tina Smith, and another from Michigan where incumbent Senator Gary Peters did not run for re-election. Republicans were also able to hold their open seats in Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina and Idaho, while Democrats were able to hold their other open seats in Virginia and Rhode Island. as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel retired, Republicans nominated John Thune to be their party leader, who also became Majority Leader.