Reid aims for at least four pickups in Senate

DENVER - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Searchlight) today said Democrats aimed to win to at least four U.S. Senate seats but stopped short of saying the party could win a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority.

“We’re going to work with whatever we have,” Reid told PolitickerNV.com when asked of the importance of hitting the 60 mark.

“I’m going to downplay expectations rather than overplay expectations,” he added. “I’d like to win at least four, so we’ll see what happens.”

With Democrats holding 49 seats and the chamber’s two Independents caucusing with the party, Reid will need to claim nine seats this fall to obtain a filibuster-proof majority. The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan Washington tip sheet, currently places three Republican-held seats as tilting in the Democrats’ direction with as many as another seven GOP seats within reach.

Earlier in the morning, Reid said at a breakfast meeting of Nevada delegates said that Democrats were competing competitively in 11 Republican held seats.

Reid’s hesitancy to guarantee a 60-seat majority has not been reciprocated by the chief of the party’s Senate campaign arm, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). In July Schumer appeared slightly more bullish, saying, “It’s very difficult, but it’s not out of the question. We expect to pick up a whole bunch of seats.”

Democrats will have to proactively defend just one incumbent this fall. Republicans are contesting the seat held by U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), with Cook categorizing the race as “lean Democrat.”