The 9 most competitive Senate races of the 2026 midterms | CNN Politics

A quiet April will soon give way to a jam-packed primary season where the fight for control of the Senate will come into sharper focus. No primaries take place this month, but the intensity of each contest is picking up. Three of the four premier battlegrounds – Georgia, Maine and Michigan – feature contentious primaries that may help shape the Senate map. The campaigns also are in the midst of reporting quarterly fundraising hauls, offering a snapshot of support and resources available to their operations in a critical stretch. And outside groups are beginning to flex their spending power across the Senate map. Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, unveiled a $342 million investment across eight states they view as key to maintaining their majority. The group plans to pour $236 million into defending five Republican-held seats: Ohio, North Carolina, Maine, Iowa and Alaska. Another $106 million is set to target three Democratic-held seats: Michigan, Georgia and New Hampshire. Missing from the initial investment: Texas, which features a messy primary between Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton. The early allocation