# Why Democrats and Republicans have hope in the Midwest

An episode of [The NPR Politics Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1057255460), 6 Oct 2026, 21 min.

Audio: https://prfx.byspotify.com/e/play.podtrac.com/npr-510310/npr.simplecastaudio.com/81c2d960-75d6-4dba-9f07-0bfade0db7ce/episodes/0b81b154-8794-48bd-998e-fe090c915e04/audio/128/default.mp3?awCollectionId=81c2d960-75d6-4dba-9f07-0bfade0db7ce&awEpisodeId=0b81b154-8794-48bd-998e-fe090c915e04&feed=iDPaKWvZ&t=podcast&e=nx-s1-5992624&p=510310&d=1232&size=19727717

Democrats see opportunity in Iowa to flip a Senate seat, while Republicans see a chance in Minnesota. We break down the state of play across those states and in Nebraska, where an independent Senate candidate squares off against an incumbent Republican. This episode: voting correspondent Miles Parks, senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro, and Minnesota Public Radio host Clay Masters. This podcast was produced and edited by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

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