The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur predicted Tuesday that Democrats would win 55 seats in the Senate and 242 in the House, according to posts on X.
The progressive commentator posted the forecast Tuesday afternoon as polls remained open, writing that Democrat nominee Abdul El-Sayed would win “comfortably” in Michigan and that “disastrous voter turnout for Republicans” would decide the night.
The Young Turks founder said his call went beyond anything his peers were willing to put forward.
“I have my official prediction. I’m going to go further than anyone else,” he wrote.
The online host cast himself as a reluctant forecaster with a record of calling contests against his own side, pointing to past warnings about President Donald Trump, former President Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton. “I try very hard to get out of my own bubble and be as objective as I can. And I see an ass-whooping coming for the GOP,” he wrote.
His numbers ran ahead of the professional forecasters. Decision Desk HQ projected Democrats to win roughly 52 Senate seats and about 241 House seats heading into Election Day, according to NewsNation. CNN reported that a 55-seat majority would rank among the largest either party has held in the Senate since 1981.
In Michigan, El-Sayed faced questions during the campaign over describing himself as a physician without holding a medical license, yet entered Election Day ahead of Republican Mike Rogers, leading 53 percent to 42 percent in the final New York Times/Siena poll. El-Sayed would be the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report’s final rating had El-Sayed favored to win the seat and, with it, tipped the battle for the Senate majority toward Democrats, the Washington Post reported.
The commentator tied the Democrat nominee’s expected margin to the same turnout collapse he said would sink Republicans nationwide, summing up his case as “promises made, promises broken.”
Republicans entered the night defending a 53-47 majority, with Democrats needing a net of four Senate seats and three House seats to take control. Rogers, who lost the state’s 2024 Senate race to Democrat Elissa Slotkin by less than a point, is chasing a seat Republicans have not won in Michigan since 1994.
