Using the 2024 Interactive Senate Map: Features and Tips

New for 2024: 

Independents: The Senate's three independents are up for election in 2024. Two of these incumbents - Maine's Angus King and Vermont's Bernie Sanders - caucus with the Democratic party. Arizona's Kyrsten Sinema left the Democratic party toward the end of 2022. Her association with the party, particularly for 2024 and beyond, is less clear.

Along with the usual major party options, the 2024 map allows you to choose an independent in Arizona, Maine, and Vermont. A set of purple gradients is used. Separately, you can elect how to count each independent for purposes of determining the party in control.

Vice President: The VP box is interactive for 2024. Set it as blue or red based on which party you think will win the 2024 presidential election. As the vice president can break ties, that person's party will have majority control of an evenly split (50-50) Senate. This was the case in the recently completed 117th Congress. 

Three Views: This unique map allows users to view the composition of the current Senate, make a forecast for the 2018 election and see the results of that forecast on the Senate to be inaugurated in January, 2019. Select a view at any time using the menu above the map; the active view is green. 

The Senators: Hover over a state (tap on a touch device) to see additional information just below the map. The current Senators for that state will display below the map in the Current Senate view. While in the interactive view, you'll see the major party match-up for 2018. Finally, the 2019 Senate will show any Senators with no race in 2018 plus the winner (based on your forecast) of the 2018 election. 

Interactive Map: Choose a Starting View or select any state to begin creating your personal 2018 election forecast. States will rotate between the active colors (see 'Color Rotation', below). The counter above the map will adjust as you go along. The arrows adjacent to the counter will turn blue or red when either party has gained control of the Senate. The VP box is set to Republican, as Vice President Mike Pence is the president of the Senate. He would break any ties; that can affect the party in control. The Reset Map button will clear your map and return you to the default starting view.  

Color Rotation: Use the Map Color Palette to the right of the map. icon below the map to choose 3 (safe, toss-up); 5 (safe, lean, toss-up), 7 (safe, likely, lean, toss-up) or 9 (safe, likely, lean, tilt, toss-up) colors. You can either rotate through the available colors or select one active color. More information >>

Share: Let people see your 2018 forecast by selecting the Share Map button. You can then share the map via social media or email.

Embed: Display your map on any web page. Select Share Map and then choose the Embed button.

Save: If cookies are enabled on your device, your map should be as you leave it the next time you return to that page. Another option is to select the Share Map button, which will create a permanent URL of your map at that point in time.

Below the Map: There are three tables below the map. Senate Elections 2018 is a party composition breakdown, including the current Senate and the current pro forecast for 2018.  The 'Map' row reflects the projection in the displayed map. Upcoming Elections displays a summary of the party breakdown for the 2018, 2020 and 2022 cycles. For specifics, see the final table, which shows all 100 Senators, broken down by when their seat is next up for election.