Sen. Claire McCaskill says she “doesn’t really care” whether the Democrats win back a majority in the Senate on Tuesday, telling reporters that she’s more focused on what happens in her state of Missouri.
The vulnerable incumbent Democrat, who is in a tight race against Attorney General Josh Hawley, said during a press conference Monday that she’ll be able to get things done whether Democrats retake the Senate or it remains under Republican control.
“Honestly, I don’t really care what happens nationwide,” Mrs. McCaskill said at a news conference on Monday. “That’s not how I look at elections. I care about what happens in this state. I care about whether or not the people of this state have a representative that is willing to work in the middle.
“Whether the Republicans control or whether Democrats control, it takes 60 votes. So it doesn’t change that much,” she continued. “I’ve been there when we’ve had a bare majority, I’ve been there when they’ve had a bare majority. You know what both of them have in common? There’s usually 15 to 20 of us in the middle, trying to hammer things out to try to accomplish things.
“I don’t really see a huge difference in terms of the work of the Senate, whether it’s 51-49 Democrat, or 51-49 Republican,” she added.
Mrs. McCaskill is trailing Mr. Hawley by 6 percentage points in the Missouri Senate race, according to the Real Clear Politics average of national polls.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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