Another week, another great result. On my horizon:
April 21–VA redistricting
May 5–Michigan state senate special; Ohio primary turnout to see if D>R trend continues
May 19–Georgia Supreme Court; GA D Gov; hoping for runoffs for Rs in both gubernatorial and Senate race; see if our primary turnout is much higher than Republican turnout
May 26–TX runoff: praying 🙏 for Paxton; D AG; D LG
As usual, I'm watching many, many races for office. In an unusual move, to limit myself to 5, I decided to use a spin-the-wheel website to do literally just that to pick 5 out of a number of races I'm watching.
Spinning the wheel netted me:
- NY-AD-38: Following up from my comment on today's Morning Digest. Rajkumar seems to be getting desperate, and I've heard a lot of DSA are in this district. Is a primary loss brewing? Or is Rajkumar in better shape than anticipated?
- MN-Sen: Peggy Flanagan's fundraising isn't so great, yet she's leading in polls and (if a video of Angie Craig getting grilled by constituents on ICE I saw is any indication) voter enthusiasm. Will it be enough for her to win?
- CO-3: Recently, one of the election ratings outlets (Cook?) moved this from Likely R to Solid R. Was this wise? Do we truly have less of a shot? How are our candidates? This isn't striking me as a WI-1-type situation personally.
- NV-Gov: How is Aaron Ford doing? I've heard the Trump-induced tourism heat death has battered Las Vegas. That being said, the NV Dems are in bad shape, having never really recovered from the DSA vs. centrist internal battle and having failed to front any NV-SC candidates. Do we still have a shot?
- NC-Sen: I think a lot of people are watching this one. Cooper is polling amazingly -- but will it translate into votes? Will he also help other Dems on the ballot?
I think Cooper will help other Dems on the ballot, like incumbent state Supreme Court justice Anita Earls (he and Earls are campaigning together this year as much as possible). Anderson Clayton did the legwork and helped voters get Justice Riggs over the line in 2024.
With a D leaning environment, hopefully Earls wins reelection by a point or more since there won’t be two GOP candidates splitting the vote like in 2018.
I would like to see some discussion of the various entities purporting to advance Democratic fortunes in the vast field of local races. I am especially interested in officeholders who administer elections in localities. Some among these entities are Run for Something, Boosting Future Leaders Onward, State and Local Elections Alliance, and Contest Every Race. There are probably others. Maybe many others.
Any of these outfits got any kind of a track record? Any showing promise?
Good question. I don't have an answer off the top, but I have a semi-related one:
Why is James Carville endlessly taken out of cold storage and asked for his opinion on, well, anything? It's like it's Groundhog Day since the release of the actual movie (1990 or so) and he's the groundhog.
I think Charles Gaba keeps track of such things but then he has his own organization, so, meh? Who watches the watchers etc
Interesting that they haven't endorsed Pulido, he's the only Blue Dog endorsee that haven't joined. The other double endorsements are: Jasmeet Bains (CA-22), Jamie Ager and Johnny Garcia today, and Rebecca Cooke (WI-3). McCann and Molder are the first caucus endorsements in those districts, but both are on the DCCC's Red to Blue list.
Looking at the fundraising reports, I had forgotten that Van Hilleary was trying to return to Congress. I remember reading a book called The Freshmen, by Linda Killian, in the fall of 1998 as class assignment. If I remember right, Hilleary was featured prominently in the book. Worth checking out.
Another week, another great result. On my horizon:
April 21–VA redistricting
May 5–Michigan state senate special; Ohio primary turnout to see if D>R trend continues
May 19–Georgia Supreme Court; GA D Gov; hoping for runoffs for Rs in both gubernatorial and Senate race; see if our primary turnout is much higher than Republican turnout
May 26–TX runoff: praying 🙏 for Paxton; D AG; D LG
As usual, I'm watching many, many races for office. In an unusual move, to limit myself to 5, I decided to use a spin-the-wheel website to do literally just that to pick 5 out of a number of races I'm watching.
Spinning the wheel netted me:
- NY-AD-38: Following up from my comment on today's Morning Digest. Rajkumar seems to be getting desperate, and I've heard a lot of DSA are in this district. Is a primary loss brewing? Or is Rajkumar in better shape than anticipated?
- MN-Sen: Peggy Flanagan's fundraising isn't so great, yet she's leading in polls and (if a video of Angie Craig getting grilled by constituents on ICE I saw is any indication) voter enthusiasm. Will it be enough for her to win?
- CO-3: Recently, one of the election ratings outlets (Cook?) moved this from Likely R to Solid R. Was this wise? Do we truly have less of a shot? How are our candidates? This isn't striking me as a WI-1-type situation personally.
- NV-Gov: How is Aaron Ford doing? I've heard the Trump-induced tourism heat death has battered Las Vegas. That being said, the NV Dems are in bad shape, having never really recovered from the DSA vs. centrist internal battle and having failed to front any NV-SC candidates. Do we still have a shot?
- NC-Sen: I think a lot of people are watching this one. Cooper is polling amazingly -- but will it translate into votes? Will he also help other Dems on the ballot?
Thoughts?
I think Cooper will help other Dems on the ballot, like incumbent state Supreme Court justice Anita Earls (he and Earls are campaigning together this year as much as possible). Anderson Clayton did the legwork and helped voters get Justice Riggs over the line in 2024.
With a D leaning environment, hopefully Earls wins reelection by a point or more since there won’t be two GOP candidates splitting the vote like in 2018.
I would like to see some discussion of the various entities purporting to advance Democratic fortunes in the vast field of local races. I am especially interested in officeholders who administer elections in localities. Some among these entities are Run for Something, Boosting Future Leaders Onward, State and Local Elections Alliance, and Contest Every Race. There are probably others. Maybe many others.
Any of these outfits got any kind of a track record? Any showing promise?
Good question. I don't have an answer off the top, but I have a semi-related one:
Why is James Carville endlessly taken out of cold storage and asked for his opinion on, well, anything? It's like it's Groundhog Day since the release of the actual movie (1990 or so) and he's the groundhog.
I think Charles Gaba keeps track of such things but then he has his own organization, so, meh? Who watches the watchers etc
More NewDems endorsements:
-Jessica Killin (CO-05)
-Donna Miller (IL-02)
-Sean McCann (MI-04)
-Jamie Ager (NC-11)
-Chaz Molder (TN-05)
-Johnny Garcia (TX-35)
https://newdemactionfund.com/press-releases/2026/4/17/new-dems-endorse-six-candidates-in-colorado-north-carolina-illinois-michigan-tennessee-and-texas
Interesting that they haven't endorsed Pulido, he's the only Blue Dog endorsee that haven't joined. The other double endorsements are: Jasmeet Bains (CA-22), Jamie Ager and Johnny Garcia today, and Rebecca Cooke (WI-3). McCann and Molder are the first caucus endorsements in those districts, but both are on the DCCC's Red to Blue list.
Looking at the fundraising reports, I had forgotten that Van Hilleary was trying to return to Congress. I remember reading a book called The Freshmen, by Linda Killian, in the fall of 1998 as class assignment. If I remember right, Hilleary was featured prominently in the book. Worth checking out.
There's a decent chance he'll lose that Republican primary to state Rep. Johnny Garrett.