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U.S. Senate battlegrounds, 2022
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November 8, 2022 |
Elections for 34 U.S. Senate seats took place in 2022.[1]
Following the 2020 Senate elections and the January 2021 runoffs in Georgia, Democrats and Republicans split the chamber 50-50. This gave Vice President Kamala Harris (D) a tie-breaking vote, and Democrats control of the U.S. Senate via a power-sharing agreement.
Ballotpedia identified 12 races as general election battlegrounds. Of the 12 seats, four had Democratic incumbents and eight had Republican incumbents heading into the election.
These battleground races were selected using the following criteria. For more information on our methodology, click here:
- the results of the 2020 presidential election in each state,
- whether the incumbent was seeking re-election,
- whether the incumbent was serving his or her first term in the U.S. Senate, and
- how the Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales rated the race.
In addition to the competitiveness data above, races were included if they were particularly compelling or meaningful to the balance of power in governments for other reasons.
In 2020, Ballotpedia identified 16 U.S. Senate battleground races: four Democratic seats and 12 Republican seats. Democrats won four of the Republican-held seats, and Republicans won one of the Democratic-held seats. To read more about the 2020 battleground races, click here.
Click on the links below to learn more about battleground races of other types:
- U.S. House battlegrounds, 2022
- Gubernatorial battlegrounds, 2022
- Republican Party battleground primaries, 2022
- Democratic Party battleground primaries, 2022
- Top-two and top-four battleground primaries, 2022
Battleground list
The following map displays all states that held U.S. Senate elections in 2022 shaded by the incumbent's or most recent incumbent's political affiliation. Battleground races are highlighted in brighter colors. Hover over a state for more information.
| Battleground U.S. Senate elections, 2022 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Incumbent | Open seat? | 2016 margin | 2020 presidential margin | |
| Alaska |  Lisa Murkowski |
No | R+15.2 | R+10.0 | |
| Arizona |  Mark Kelly |
No | D+2.4 | D+0.3 | |
| Florida | Marco Rubio |
No | R+7.7 | R+3.3 | |
| Georgia | Raphael Warnock |
No | D+2.1 | D+0.2 | |
| Missouri | Roy Blunt |
Yes | R+2.8 | R+15.4 | |
| Nevada | Catherine Cortez Masto |
No | D+2.4 | D+2.4 | |
| New Hampshire | Maggie Hassan |
No | D+0.1 | D+7.3 | |
| North Carolina | Richard Burr |
Yes | R+5.7 | R+1.3 | |
| Ohio | Rob Portman |
Yes | R+20.8 | R+8.1 | |
| Pennsylvania | Pat Toomey |
Yes | R+1.5 | D+1.2 | |
| Utah | Mike Lee |
No | R+41.0 | R+20.5 | |
| Wisconsin | Ron Johnson |
No | R+3.4 | D+0.7 | |
Race ratings
The following table compared the race ratings from The Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections. The following table compared U.S. Senate race ratings from The Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections prior to the November 2022 elections.
Presidential and gubernatorial election data
The following section compares data from the most recent presidential and gubernatorial elections with the party of the incumbent in each 2022 Senate battleground race. These trends can be used as an indicator of expected competitive Senate races in the 2022 elections.
- There were two states with a Republican incumbent that Joe Biden (D) won in 2020: Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. There were no states with a Democratic incumbent that Donald Trump (R) won in 2020.
- Four were states with a Democratic incumbent that Joe Biden (D) won in 2020: Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and New Hampshire. There were two states with a Republican incumbent that Donald Trump (R) won in 2020: Florida and North Carolina.
- Three battleground seats were held by Republican senators in states with Democratic governors: North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
- Three battleground seats were held by Democratic senators in states with Republican governors: Arizona, Georgia, and New Hampshire.
Change log
This section lists every change that was made to our battleground list between the publishing of this page in February 2022 and the end of the 2022 election cycle.
- October 21, 2022: Added Utah.
- July 1, 2022: Added Alaska, Missouri, and North Carolina.
- May 9, 2022: Added Ohio.
- February 2, 2022: Published initial version of the page with eight battlegrounds.[2]
2020 battlegrounds
- See also: U.S. Senate battlegrounds, 2020
Ballotpedia identified 16 races as general election battlegrounds. Of the 16 seats, four had Democratic incumbents and 12 had Republican incumbents heading into the election.
The map and chart below highlight the states with battleground elections in 2020 and whether the seat changed party hands.
| Battleground U.S. Senate elections, 2020 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Incumbent | Open seat? | 2014 margin | 2016 presidential margin | 2020 election result | |
| Alabama | Doug Jones |
No | R+94.5 | R+27.7 | R+20.4 | |
| Arizona (special) | Martha McSally |
No | R+13.0[3] | R+3.5 | D+2.4 | |
| Colorado | Cory Gardner |
No | R+1.9 | D+4.9 | D+9.3 | |
| Georgia | David Perdue |
No | R+7.7 | R+5.2 | D+1.2 | |
| Georgia (special) | Kelly Loeffler |
No | R+13.8[4] | R+5.2 | D+2.0 | |
| Iowa | Joni Ernst |
No | R+8.3 | R+9.4 | R+6.5 | |
| Kansas | Pat Roberts |
Yes | R+10.6 | R+20.6 | R+11.4 | |
| Kentucky | Mitch McConnell |
No | R+15.5 | R+29.8 | R+19.6 | |
| Maine | Susan Collins |
No | R+36.2 | D+3.0 | R+8.6 | |
| Michigan | Gary Peters |
No | D+13.3 | R+0.2 | D+1.7 | |
| Minnesota | Tina Smith |
No | D+10.2 | D+1.5 | D+5.2 | |
| Montana | Steve Daines |
No | R+17.7 | R+20.5 | R+10.0 | |
| New Hampshire | Jeanne Shaheen |
No | D+3.2 | D+0.4 | D+15.6 | |
| North Carolina | Thom Tillis |
No | R+1.6 | R+3.7 | R+1.8 | |
| South Carolina | Lindsey Graham |
No | R+17.7 | R+14.2 | R+10.2 | |
| Texas | John Cornyn |
No | R+27.2 | R+9.0 | R+9.6 | |
See also
- Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2022
- United States Congress elections, 2022
- United States Senate elections, 2022
- United States Senate
- Battlegrounds
Footnotes
- ↑ This did not include the special election for the remainder of Kamala Harris' term, which included the final weeks of the 117th Congress.
- ↑ The initial battleground list included Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
- ↑ This seat was last up for regular election in 2016. Incumbent John McCain (R) won re-election by a margin of 13.0 percent.
- ↑ This seat was last up for regular election in 2016. Incumbent Johnny Isakson (R) won re-election by a margin of 13.8 percent.
