What about both Alaska seats? Knocking down - not literally - Dan Sullivan in 2026 and pressuring Lisa Murkowski to at least switch to Independent and caucus with us.
What about both Alaska seats? Knocking down - not literally - Dan Sullivan in 2026 and pressuring Lisa Murkowski to at least switch to Independent and caucus with us.
I think Peltola definitely puts either seat into play; Trump has never been very popular in Alaska (or similar type states even if they lean Republican)
What about Lt. Governor David Toland? He's serving as both Lt. Governor as well as KS Secretary of Commerce (the later he's been serving in since 2019).
The one caveat is that Toland has not, to my understanding, run for political office before. He was appointed by Governor Laura Kelly as KS Secretary of Commerce but ended up serving as Lt. Governor after Lynn Rogers was selected by her to be KS State Treasurer (Rogers was Kelly's running mate in the 2018 gubernatorial election).
On the other hand, Toland is in his mid 40's and has a bright future. He previously had served in the Office of Workforce and Development in Washington, DC.
She's consistently shown herself to be very conservative, just not MAGA-aligned and unafraid to piss off their base due to her write-in win a while back.
I don't see any serious possibility of getting her to caucus with us. She genuinely disagrees with us ideologically. Maybe if we had a more common parliamentary system we could get her to do something like confidence and supply...
If you watch the movie 'Game Change' which centers on McCain/Palin 2008, they wanted a running mate to excite the base and Gov. Palin was more conservative than Sen. Murkowski.
However, McCain didn’t win the election so the talk of him getting someone more conservative as his running mate didn’t help him win. Same with Mitt Romney choosing Paul Ryan as his running mate in 2012. Only Mike Pence actually United the conservative base for Republicans in 2016 when Trump selected him as his running mate then.
Hypothetically though, Murkowski would have not caused divisiveness the way Palin did.
What about both Alaska seats? Knocking down - not literally - Dan Sullivan in 2026 and pressuring Lisa Murkowski to at least switch to Independent and caucus with us.
Completely forgot about Alaska. Totally up to Mary Peltola what her 2026 plans are.
Any chance Mark Begich could try and rematch Dan Sullivan 12 years later if she doesn't run?! 💙🇺🇲
I think Peltola definitely puts either seat into play; Trump has never been very popular in Alaska (or similar type states even if they lean Republican)
What about Kansas; Roger Marshall is up in 2026?
Barry Grissom, Nancy Boyda, Sharice Davids spring to mind. Term-limited Gov. Laura Kelly has declined!! 💙🇺🇲
Absolutely, obviously the popular Democratic governor is a great choice and Sharice Davids has proven herself as a vote getter
This is another one that's tricky because I would hate to lose Davids in the house should she come up short for senate.
I don't disagree but sometimes you 'pays your money, youse take your chances'
What about Lt. Governor David Toland? He's serving as both Lt. Governor as well as KS Secretary of Commerce (the later he's been serving in since 2019).
The one caveat is that Toland has not, to my understanding, run for political office before. He was appointed by Governor Laura Kelly as KS Secretary of Commerce but ended up serving as Lt. Governor after Lynn Rogers was selected by her to be KS State Treasurer (Rogers was Kelly's running mate in the 2018 gubernatorial election).
On the other hand, Toland is in his mid 40's and has a bright future. He previously had served in the Office of Workforce and Development in Washington, DC.
I think he's more likely to run for Governor than Senate, but we'll see..
She's consistently shown herself to be very conservative, just not MAGA-aligned and unafraid to piss off their base due to her write-in win a while back.
I don't see any serious possibility of getting her to caucus with us. She genuinely disagrees with us ideologically. Maybe if we had a more common parliamentary system we could get her to do something like confidence and supply...
but she can certainly shiv Trump at every turn
I mean, Murkowski voted against confirming Brett Kavanaugh. That’s saying a lot!
That said, Murkowski has more in common with the late John McCain. Frankly, he should have chosen her as his running mate instead of Sarah Palin.
If you watch the movie 'Game Change' which centers on McCain/Palin 2008, they wanted a running mate to excite the base and Gov. Palin was more conservative than Sen. Murkowski.
Oh sure! I’m aware.
However, McCain didn’t win the election so the talk of him getting someone more conservative as his running mate didn’t help him win. Same with Mitt Romney choosing Paul Ryan as his running mate in 2012. Only Mike Pence actually United the conservative base for Republicans in 2016 when Trump selected him as his running mate then.
Hypothetically though, Murkowski would have not caused divisiveness the way Palin did.