Retiring Senator Says GOP Will Win Back Senate Majority In 2022

Republican Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said Wednesday that he believes the GOP will win back the Senate majority in 2022.

“Typically, in that midterm, after a presidential election the party and power in the White House loses a bunch of seats in the Senate,” Portman said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”.

“I suspect given the makeup of the Senate races in 2022, we’re likely to pick up a few seats. So I think we’ll get the majority back. We’ll see,” Portman said.

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Portman is among several other Senate Republicans who have announced they won’t seek reelection in 2022, including Republican Sens. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Roy Blunt of Missouri and Richard Shelby of Alabama. Republican North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr said in 2016 that he would retire in 2022, according to The Charlotte Observer.

Portman said he’s confident a Republican will get elected in his state and said Ohio has become “more and more red.”

“In fact, President Trump just won it by eight points for the second time. I won by 21 points last time. So I think we’ll have a lot of really good Republican candidates in the primary,” Portman said.

“Already, seven or eight of them have said they’re interested. And, you know, all of them would be able to win a primary, win a general election,” Portman said. “So I’m not worried about Ohio and I think other states as well like Missouri where Roy Blunt is from, who just announced that he’s not running again. So I think we can not just hold but our numbers, but expand our numbers and get the majority back.”