Sep.04

electoral-vote.com

Dem 47

   

GOP 53

Candidate News: U.S. Senate

A number of 2026 Senate races are in flux, with Maine, Iowa, Georgia and New Hampshire being today's entries.

• Maine: In Maine, not everyone is waiting for Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) to make up her mind. If she wants to clear the field, she needs to get moving fast (and it may already be too late). Yesterday, the cofounder of the Maine Beer Co., Dan Kleban, jumped into the Democratic primary for the nomination to oppose Susan Collins. He is joining oysterman Graham Platner, who got in earlier this week. Platner was immediately endorsed by (oyster-loving?) Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Only in Maine could the founder of a craft brewery and an oysterman be serious Senate candidates. Also in are Jordan Wood, former chief of staff to Katie Porter, and David Costello, a former USAID official.
  
  Platner is going to run a campaign aimed at working-class voters. Kleban is going to focus on small businesses, pointing out that he and his brother started the brewery after losing their jobs during the Great Recession. He is also going to hammer Collins on her votes to confirm Brett Kavanaugh and Robert Kennedy Jr. Both men are going to talk a lot about the struggle to make ends meet.
  
  Majority Forward, a Democratic super PAC, is not taking sides here, but is running $700,000 worth of negative ads attacking Collins on congressional stock trading and other things.
  
  
• Iowa: In Iowa, the new entrant is on the Republican side: Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA). Her entrance has been long expected. She is not all that Trumpy, but felt she needed to act that way now, tweeting: "I'm all in. I'm running for the United States Senate to fight alongside President Trump and deliver on the America First agenda."
  
  Hinson isn't the only Republican in. Former state Sen. Jim Carlin is in. He suspects the Republican establishment will back Hinson and said Iowa voters don't need a handpicked candidate. He's right. Iowa House Majority Leader Bobby Kaufmann backs Hinson, as do U.S. Sens. Jim Banks (R-IN), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) and Katie Britt (R-AL). House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) are also in her camp. She is definitely the establishment candidate and favorite to be the GOP nominee unless Donald Trump endorses Carlin.
  
  The Democratic establishment seems to be lining up behind state Rep. Josh Turek, who was born with spina bifida and has been in a wheelchair his whole life. He won gold medals in the paralympics in wheelchair basketball in 2016 and 2020, so he clearly is a fighter.
  
  
• Georgia: No new entrants in the Republican senatorial primary in Georgia, but still some action. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) just launched a seven-digit ad blitz to get Donald Trump's endorsement. He is on statewide television, on streaming, and on direct mail saying how much he loves Trump. Carter's main opponent is former football coach Derek Dooley, who has been endorsed by Trump's nemesis, Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA). A football coach? This is Georgia, not Alabama. What's wrong with this picture? If Trump endorses Carter, then the Carter-Dooley fight will be quite a show and Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) can forget it.
  
  
• New Hampshire: Republicans tried to get former governor Chris Sununu to run for the empty Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). He refused, presumably because he is planning to run for president in 2028. Plan B was to ask his brother, John Sununu, who represented New Hampshire in the Senate from 2002 to 2008, when he was defeated by former-governor Shaheen. He seems interested, but hasn't committed to a run yet. He would definitely put the seat in play.

It's still early, so more candidates could jump in, especially on the Democratic side in Maine if Mills takes a pass. (V)