Inside Elections

2014 Senate Ratings (May 21, 2013)

May 21, 2013 · 2:26 PM EDT

The Road to the Republican Senate Majority is Easier than You Think

by Nathan L. Gonzales May 20, 2013 · 9:30 AM EDT

Republicans don’t need to win a single state that Barack Obama won in 2012 in order to have a majority in the Senate after the midterm elections.

That means all of the analysis about Republicans’ inability to appeal to swing voters or wooing moderate Democrats in blue states could be pointless.…

A GOP Senate Switch in South Dakota Looks More Likely

by Stuart Rothenberg May 16, 2013 · 3:58 PM EDT

Former Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin’s announcement that she is passing on a Senate race in 2014, combined with secondhand reports that U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson (son of retiring South Dakota Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson) has also decided against a Senate bid, must have put big…

Obama’s New Political Reality Is Bad News for Dems in 2014

by Stuart Rothenberg May 16, 2013 · 9:37 AM EDT

Forget background checks and gun control, divisions within the GOP on immigration, and Republican intransigence on negotiating a budget deal with the president. The current triple play of Benghazi, the IRS and now the Justice Department’s seizure of journalists’ phone records has the potential to…

Why can’t Latinos get elected to the US Senate?

by Nathan L. Gonzales May 15, 2013 · 2:00 PM EDT

Latinos are growing in population and electoral clout but can’t seem to grow their numbers in the U.S. Senate. And if Republican Gabriel Gomez doesn’t win next month’s special election in Massachusetts, it could be three more years before another Latino is added to the U.S. Senate.

Even though…

A Party Still in Denial?

by Stuart Rothenberg May 15, 2013 · 9:30 AM EDT

When a former GOP governor asked me the other day whether he would see another Republican elected to the White House in his lifetime, I asked him exactly how old he was.

Of course, I said, eventually there would be another Republican in the White House. It might even come soon. A Democratic…

Alaska Senate Poll: Far, Far Less Than Meets the Eye

by Stuart Rothenberg May 14, 2013 · 3:00 PM EDT

A Harper Polling survey conducted for the Tea Party Leadership Fund, an obscure conservative group that has supported Georgia Republican Rep. Paul Broun and Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul, is one of those polls probably meant for fundraising and little else.

Though writing about the poll and the…

For Campaign Moms, Politics Is Child’s Play

by Nathan L. Gonzales May 14, 2013 · 10:02 AM EDT

Alixandria Lapp and Joanna Burgos spent months of time and millions of dollars battling over House seats, but they agree on one thing: Don’t bother calling them from 5:30 to 8:30 each night.

Lapp and Burgos are two of a growing band of mothers balancing the demands of the constant campaign with…

Ratings Change: South Dakota Senate Moves to Toss-Up/Tilt Republican

May 13, 2013 · 10:55 AM EDT

Two of Democrats’ top picks to replace Sen. Tim Johnson (D) in South Dakota have declined to run, leaving the party’s hold on the seat in a precarious position. 

In the last few days, U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson, son of the senator, and former Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, indicated they…

2014 Senate Ratings (May 13, 2013)

May 13, 2013 · 10:54 AM EDT