Republican Senate

Today, Missouri State Auditor Claire McCaskill (D) announced that she will challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Jim Talent next year. McCaskill enters the race having lost last year’s Gubernatorial race 51-48 to Matt Blunt. McCaskill shouldn’t be underestimated as a candidate, as she successfully unseated incumbent Gov. Bob Holden in the primary. Even so, Talent is […]

As expected, Gov. Mark Warner (D-VA) has decided not to challenge Sen. George Allen. Warner is widely rumored to be considering a 2008 Presidential bid, and though he had the lead in recent polls, Allen remains a fairly popular incumbent in a Republican state, making an unnecessary Senate bid extremely risky. Warner’s decision clears […]

If you’re one of the few regular visitors to this site, then you have probably heard by now that the BRAC voted 8-1 against closing Ellsworth Air Force base in western South Dakota. While other blogs have discussed the major implications for Sen. John Thune, who defeated then-Sen. Minority Leader Tom Daschle by making […]

Many Republicans have unfortunately taken the position that we need to artificially expand the Party by compromising on principle and allowing anybody to say anything so long as they keep an “R” next to their name. In 2001, Republicans learned the hard way what happens when precious Republican ballot slots are given to people who […]

Ken Salazar’s 2004 Senate bid was as disingenous as his campaign promise to support an up-or-down vote on the President’s judicial nominees. Salazar clearly wanted to be Governor, not Senator. Even so, it comes as little surprise that he has decided against running for Governor just two years into his first Senate term. […]

Former Rep. Joe Scarborough has passed on the chance to challenge Rep. Katherine Harris in the Republican Senate primary in Florida. Scarborough follows Florida House Speaker Allan Bense in being recruited only to decline the opportunity.
Rep. Mark Foley continues to consider a bid, but had for good reason initially been ignored by the establishment, especially […]

It’s been a bad month for Senator Mike DeWine. First, one of the most powerful interest groups in the country, the NRA, spoke openly about the possibility of backing potential Democrat challenger Rep. Tim Ryan over DeWine. Then, former AK Steel Corp. President John Hritz announced his intention to challenge DeWine from the right in […]

I’ll be away for the next week. Blogging will resume on or about Aug. 16.

How about Ambassador to Mongolia? Today Allan Bense and David Brandon announced that they will not challenge Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), respectively. These are just the latest in a long series of recruiting failures for NRSC Chair Elizabeth Dole. So far, Dole has blown the recruitment of […]

While not a Senate race, the special election in Ohio’s second congressional district is worthy of some attention because of the dramatic shift that it shows in American politics. Liberals have actually redefined victory by claiming that every near-miss is a win. First it was the Scream, er, Dean campaign when People Powered […]