By David Morgan
WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Just over half of major party candidates in the most competitive US Senate races told Reuters they will accept election results regardless of the outcome, while some signaled a degree of uncertainty less than a month before the November 3 midterms.
Reuters asked Republican and Democratic Senate candidates and their campaigns whether they would accept election results in 13 states that could determine which party controls the upper chamber of Congress in the final
years of Donald Trump's presidency.
The news agency also sought their positions on possible election intervention by the Trump administration. Reuters spoke to some candidates in person but conducted most queries via email or text message.
The mixed responses highlight the uncertainty that hangs over the midterms nearly six years after Trump tried to overturn his 2020 election loss to former Democratic President Joe Biden. Ahead of this year’s vote, Trump has made repeated efforts to federalize state-run elections, obtain access to state voter registration rolls and voting records, and accuse Democrats of voter fraud without evidence.
Republicans currently hold a 53-47 seat Senate majority. But Trump's record-low approval rating and high prices for energy and other goods spawned by his tariff policy and the war with Iran have undermined Republicans, even in normally Republican-leaning states, raising Democratic hopes of taking control of the Senate. Democrats are already favored to win the House of Representatives, independent analysts say.
Of the 26 campaigns surveyed, those of nine Democrats, one independent and four Republicans said their candidates would accept results without conditions.
At a time when state and local election officials are preparing for the possibility of intervention by the Trump administration, some Democrats criticized Republican voting restrictions and stressed the need to ensure that all eligible votes are counted, while some Republicans accused Democrats of undermining public trust in elections.
In four contests — Alaska, Iowa, Maine, and New Hampshire — both parties' campaigns said they would accept election outcomes without condition. In five other races — Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio and South Carolina — Democrats signaled acceptance while Republicans offered conditional responses or did not address the question.
At least one campaign did not respond to Reuters queries in the remaining races: North Carolina, Georgia, Minnesota and Texas. The reasons for their reticence were unclear.
OBLITERATING INTERFERENCE
"We fully expect a fair election where every eligible Georgian can feel confident they have had their voices heard," said Ellie Dougherty, campaign spokesperson for Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff, who is seeking his second term in Georgia, a central battleground in the administration's push for voter data and election records.
"But if there are credible concerns of interference by the Trump administration, or any entity, we will put the full force of our legal apparatus behind obliterating that interference," Dougherty said in a statement.
The campaign of Republican Mike Collins, Ossoff's election rival, did not respond to repeated Reuters queries seeking comment.
Senator Susan Collins of Maine was the only Republican whose campaign addressed the possibility of intervention in the November election, saying she would "oppose any efforts to undermine the outcome of free and fair elections in Maine and across the country."
Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, one of eight Republican senators who voted to block certification of Biden's 2020 election victory, dismissed the issue of intervention, telling Reuters: "I haven't spent a moment thinking about that, and I just think it's a hypothetical, and I'm not going to go there." But he expressed concern about the integrity of voting nationwide, particularly mail-in voting.
The White House said in a statement that Trump "has done more than any other president to ensure we have free and fair elections" and underscored the president's demands for voter ID and proof of citizenship, measures that Congress has not enacted. "Anyone who illegally votes in our elections will be held accountable,” White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said.
Election uncertainty among politicians comes at a time when most American voters are confident that their ballots will be accurately counted. Seventy-six percent of registered voters voiced such confidence in a September 30 to October 5 Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll. That was up from 69% in 2022 and driven largely by increased confidence among Republicans.
MARSHALL FACES COMPETITIVE CHALLENGE
Marshall is facing an unexpectedly competitive reelection bid against Democrat Adam Hamilton. The Republican said he is "comfortable with voter integrity in Kansas, because we have a voter ID law." But his campaign did not respond to queries asking specifically whether he would accept the results.
A spokesperson for Hamilton's campaign said the Kansas Democrat "will absolutely accept the results of the election, regardless of who wins in November."
A similar dynamic appeared in Ohio, where Democrat Sherrod Brown's campaign said their candidate would accept the election results.
Brown is running against Republican Senator Jon Husted, a former Ohio secretary of state, who offered a qualified response, telling Reuters that he would accept "any certified election that is run well." Husted cut off a question about possible intervention, saying: "Stop! Stop! ... I have great confidence in the Ohio election system. Stop trying to introduce questions when there aren't any."
Husted added: "The rest of the country does not have a great system."
In North Carolina, a campaign spokesperson for Democratic candidate Roy Cooper cited new state restrictions on voting, saying: "We must make sure every vote is counted and Roy Cooper will accept the results of the election after the lawful counting process is complete."
Cooper is running against Republican Michael Whatley for the seat of retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis. Whatley, whose campaign did not respond to Reuters queries, helped lead Trump's 2024 effort to challenge state election systems as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
BELIEVE IN DEMOCRACY
In Michigan and Nebraska, Democrats offered outright acceptance of election results, while Republicans deflected the question.
"I believe in democracy. I will accept the results of this election regardless of the results," Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who is in a close race with Republican Mike Rogers in Michigan, said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Rogers campaign responded: "This hypothetical is irrelevant because Mike will win on November 3rd."
Nebraska independent Dan Osborn, who is running against Republican Senator Pete Ricketts, would "yes, absolutely" accept the outcome of the election, according to a campaign spokesperson.
The Ricketts campaign responded: "Nebraska has free and fair elections and voters can be confident in them. Senator Ricketts plans on winning this race."
South Carolina Democrat Annie Andrews will accept the results of her contest, according to her campaign.
Her opponent, Republican Senator Darline Graham, who is running as a permanent replacement for her late brother, Lindsey Graham, "is taking nothing for granted this election," according to her campaign spokesperson, who predicted she would win.
In the hotly contested race for Senator John Cornyn's Texas seat, neither the campaign of Democrat James Talarico nor Republican Ken Paxton responded to queries seeking comment.
(Reporting by David Morgan in Washington; Editing by Michael Learmonth and Matthew Lewis)
