Republicans have ‘giant hill to climb’ after Reeves drops out of U.S. Senate race

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- With a little more than ten months until Election Day, Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, says Virginia Republicans may have a problem when it comes to next year’s U.S. Senate race. 

“This is a giant hill to climb, really, it’s a mountain,” Sabato told 8News. “More like Mount Everest.”

That’s partly because the party's most well-known candidate, State Senator Bryce Reeves (R-Orange), dropped out of the race, citing family health concerns, leaving only three lesser-known Republicans in the race.

Sabato said while more Republican candidates could throw their hats in the ring early next year, pushback against President Donald Trump’s first two years in office likely means 2026 will be a good year for Democrats, regardless of who the Republican nominee is. 

“For any Republican, there is a great risk there, you blow your one chance at statewide office, and potentially you lose by such a wide margin that you’re never considered again,” Sabato said.

Sabato added that unseating an incumbent like Democratic Senator Mark Warner (D-Virginia) also presents serious challenges for the GOP.

“The challenge is to believe in the impossible dream, and you really do have to believe it; you have to communicate that to everybody else and convince them that you actually have a chance, and that’s not easy, in fact, it’s nearly impossible,” Sabato told 8News.

Several lesser-known Democrats have also announced their plans to challenge Warner for the Democratic nomination.