Polls

NY Times -   Republicans are defending seats in Alaska, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas as they try to maintain their majority. Democrats are competitive in all six states - but not leading in enough to take the chamber.

….Democrats face an uphill battle to win control of the Senate but have pulled within striking distance of enough Republican-held seats to put the majority in play this fall, according to new New York Times/Siena polls in six Senate battleground states.

Republicans are hampered by the unpopularity of President Trump and his diminished standing on the economy, while most of the Democratic candidates are so far running ahead of their party's own struggling brand, the polls show.

Winning the Senate remains a stiff challenge for Democrats. Republicans hold 53 seats, meaning that Democrats would need to flip at least four seats while defending all of their own vulnerable ones.

The Times/Siena polls looked at the six states that are considered to be the Democratic Party's best shots at flipping Republican-held seats: Alaska, Iowa, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas. The surveys found that while all six states are close enough to be competitive, if the election were held today Republicans would be favored in enough states to keep control of the Senate.

NPR - Even though nearly one-third of Americans say they are concerned about the direction the U.S. is headed, the majority say they're "proud" or "very proud" to be an American, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll. Close to half of Americans believe the country has strayed significantly from the nation's founding principles. The way Americans feel about the country's current state is largely split along partisan, gender and generational lines. The survey of 1,340 respondents was conducted in early June and has a margin of error of +/- 3.0 percentage points, meaning results could be about three points higher or lower. NPR followed up with several participants to gather their thoughts about America ahead of the 250th anniversary. Read more about what they had to say.