Nathan Gonzales, Jacob Rubashkin, and Meg Kinnard of the Associated Press talk about the political dynamics and implications for President Donald Trump’s cabinet choices, analyze the initial 2026 Senate battleground including the five most important races and handicap how difficult it will be for Democrats to win the majority, and…
By Nathan L. Gonzales & Jacob Rubashkin
Republicans not only gained control of the Senate in 2024, but they may be insulated from a difficult midterm election by the size of their majority and the paucity of competitive races in 2026.
With a target-rich map of Senate races in GOP-leaning…
Alabama. Tommy Tuberville (R), elected 2020 (60%). The former Auburn football coach ousted Democrat Doug Jones in 2020 by 20 points. Trump supported Tuberville in that primary over former U.S. Attorney General/former Sen. Jeff Sessions. And there’s no indication Trump would rescind that support from Tuberville this cycle. Solid Republican.
…Kentucky. Mitch McConnell (R), elected 1984 (50%), 1990 (52%), 1996 (55%), 2002 (65%), 2008 (53%), 2014 (56%), and 2020 (58%). McConnell withstood a $100 million from Democrat Amy McGrath in 2020, winning by 20 points. But this cycle will be very different. The 82-year-old former majority leader has had multiple…
North Carolina. Thom Tillis (R), elected 2014 (49%) and 2020 (49%). Tillis came from behind to defeat former state Sen. Cal Cunningham by 2 points in 2020. All eyes are on former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to see if he’ll challenge Tillis this time in what would be a competitive…
Florida’s 7th District. The House Ethics Committee is investigating GOP Rep. Cory Mills, but it’s not clear what he potentially did wrong. Mills just won re-election by 14 points in the Central Florida seat, and Donald Trump finished ahead of Kamala Harris by 12.5 points, according to elections analyst Matt…
Nathan Gonzales and Jacob Rubashkin talk about what they got right (and wrong) in the 2024 elections, do a deep dive into one of the most competitive House races in the country and how Rep. Don Bacon was able to survive, and look ahead to the 2026 fight for the…
Nathan Gonzales, Jacob Rubashkin, and Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter discuss the 2024 election results including the fights for the White House, Senate, and House. In addition, Jacob finally gets around to watching L.A. Confidential, Amy talks about the hottest ticket in Washington, D.C. and…
Arizona. Open; Kyrsten Sinema (I) did not seek re-election. Rep. Ruben Gallego, a Democrat from Phoenix, defeated former news anchor and 2022 GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake by 2 points, 50-48 percent, even as Trump carried the state at the top of the ticket.
California. Open; Laphonza…
The 2024 elections were going to humble one party, and voters called Democrats to the carpet. It will take days to get final results and probably weeks before there’s a full understanding of what happened, but there are more than a few points that can be made in the wake…
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