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…
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 states…
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…
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…
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 race, and he could…
California’s 9th District. Strength coach John McBride, a Republican who placed third in the 2024 all-party primary with 13 percent, filed to run against Rep. Josh Harder a second time in this northern California seat.
California’s 40th District. Art gallery owner Esther Kim Varet filed paperwork…
Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick remains the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation, and documents released by the committee last week confirm Inside Elections’s reporting on the South Florida congresswoman’s unusual campaign finances and taxpayer-funded TV ads.
On Thursday,…
How did a little-known attorney, a first-time candidate who “came out of nowhere,” defeat a mainstay of Orange County politics in one of the closest races of the 2024 cycle?
That’s the question Republicans are asking themselves in California’s 45th District after Derek Tran, a 44-year-old lawyer,…
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…
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