Senate News & Analysis

Are Republicans Completely on Board With Gabriel Gomez?

by Stuart Rothenberg May 31, 2013 · 9:53 AM EDT

Republican strategists both associated with and independent of GOP nominee Gabriel Gomez’s campaign are growing increasingly frustrated by what they see as the unwillingness of establishment donors and conservative activists to get fully behind the candidacy of the first-time candidate for Massachusetts Senate.

“Republican donors around the country…

Nebraska Senate: Osborn Likely to Announce Candidacy Soon

by Stuart Rothenberg May 29, 2013 · 10:59 AM EDT

Former Nebraska Treasurer Shane Osborn is likely to announce his candidacy for the Senate within the next few days, according to usually reliable GOP insiders.

While in the Navy, Osborn was detained by the Chinese in 2001 after the plane he was piloting was forced to land following…

Anchorage Mayor Not Running in Alaska Senate Race

by Nathan L. Gonzales May 23, 2013 · 8:39 AM EDT

Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan (R) has no interest in running for the United States Senate in Alaska, according to knowledgeable sources, even though he met with officials at the National Republican Senatorial Committee just last week.

But that doesn’t mean there won’t be a Dan Sullivan in the…

In Massachusetts Senate PPP Poll, Read the Numbers — Not the Memo

by Stuart Rothenberg May 22, 2013 · 2:31 PM EDT

Another public poll, this one from Public Policy Polling, shows a tight race for Senate in Massachusetts. But more interesting is what the Democratic firm does not discuss in its very brief memo about the June 25 special election.

The survey showed Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., leading…

Alaska Senate: Bridge to Victory

by Nathan L. Gonzales May 21, 2013 · 2:30 PM EDT

Democrats don’t win statewide in Alaska. At least not without some help.

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D) was elected to the Senate in 2008, a great Democratic year, against an incumbent senator under indictment. Begich is unlikely to have the same positive electoral environment in 2014, but he…

Sea Change Ahead?

by Stuart Rothenberg May 21, 2013 · 2:28 PM EDT

Can a week of bad news remake the political environment so completely that what looked like a relatively neutral political environment, or one that might even favor Democrats slightly, be transformed into one that will likely benefit the GOP?

We won’t know for many months, but it is…

Report Shorts (May 21, 2013)

May 21, 2013 · 2:27 PM EDT

California 15. State Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett (D) announced her challenge to Rep. Eric Swalwell (D) in this Northern California district. Some Democrats such as Corbett and Ro Khanna were preparing to run for this seat when Rep. Pete Stark (D) retired. But Swalwell took a chance and…

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…

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 smiles on the…

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 be a political game…