Hello everyone and welcome to the focus group podcast I'm Sarah

Longwell publisher of the bulwark and this week we're taking a break from the presidential

race to cover the battle for control of the United States Senate. There are a lot of

seats Democrats are trying to defend which are also in presidential swing states, Arizona,

Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

But the real battle for control of the Senate is running through states that Donald Trump won in 2020

and will win again in 2024. States like Ohio, Montana, and baby, Texas. Today we're going to talk to the former Trump voters who are

undecided in these Senate races. To help guide us through the Senate map I'm

delighted to be joined by Jessica Taylor, Senate and Governor's editor for the Cook political report.

Jessica, thanks so much for being here.

Thanks for having me.

I'm so excited to be here.

I'm really glad you're here because I got to say I have a little bit of like a Senate race blind spot right now

Because if it's not in one of the states that I'm focused on for the presidential. I am just not as focused on it.

And so I'm just going to admit that up front and let our listeners know that right now the only

information that I've got is the ones from the focus group.

So I'm super glad you're here to break it down.

Now look you provide real-time updates and analysis for each state and they're pending races

putting him you know into the category of how they are most

currently leaning for a win. This year's Senate map is a tough one for Democrats.

Give us the lay of the land. It's very tough for Democrats, you know, which third of the Senate matters, which is up, and this is a very, very difficult map.

I mean, these are Democratic senators that were elected in 2006 when Democrats flipped the Senate. They won in 2012 as Obama won

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