The stars appear to be lining up for Democrats who now believe they have a shot at taking control of the Senate in the 2026 midterm election.

A combination of retirements, Republican infighting and the specter of Donald Trump’s problems looming over every GOP nominee has handed Democrats a path to a Senate majority at the same time as House Democrats also see encouraging signs for retaking their own chamber.

Democrats need to flip four Senate seats, with two of them — the North Carolina seat held by retiring Sen. Thom Tillis and the Ohio seat held by Sen. Jon Husted — at the top of the list where Democrats have solid candidates lined up in former Gov. Roy Cooper and ex-Sen. Sherrod Brown.

According to a report from Politico, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has been active in recruiting big household names in their respective states and has been largely successful so far — with more expected to follow.

“Schumer’s recruitment efforts are reflective of a larger strategy to stake his party’s chances in several key states on well-established, older candidates, even as much of the Democratic base hungers for generational change. Along with Cooper, 68, and Brown, 72, Democrats are hoping to lure Maine Gov. Janet Mills, 77, into the race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins, 72,” the report notes, before adding that Texas, Iowa and Alaska are also being targeted.

“With Trump in the White House but not on the ballot, they hope, next year’s midterm elections will almost certainly be a better political moment for Democrats,” Politico’s Holly Otterbein and Nicholas Wu reported.

“I’m not going to say we’re taking back the Senate right now, but it looks more possible than it ever was,” explained Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL). “We’re recruiting great candidates and it looks like they’re not really doing the same. The map is expanding week by week.”

The wildcard in the bunch is a seat in normally conservative Texas where Republicans are looking at a costly and vicious fight for the nomination now that controversial Attorney General Ken Paxton is challenging incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.

That led Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Maeve Coyle to observe, “From nasty, expensive primaries to a string of embarrassing recruitment failures and a toxic agenda, Senate Republicans are falling apart at the seams.”

The report adds, “Democrats are still hoping for other top recruits to enter races. In Maine, Schumer has yet to persuade [ Maine Gov. Janet] Mills to get into the Senate race. Ditto for former Rep. Mary Peltola in Alaska, where she is also eyeing the gubernatorial contest after narrowly losing reelection to the House last year.”

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