Dem
47
GOP
53
Everybody seems to be dumping on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) now because he cajoled Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) into running for the Senate at 78 and she ran out of money and dropped out. See, for example NYT, Politico, and The Hill. Democrats up and down the line are crying in their beer.
In Schumer's defense, we would like to point out three other races where he got his favorite candidate. In North Carolina, another (former) governor, Roy Cooper, is leading in virtually every poll. In Alaska, Mary Peltola has a slight lead in the polls. In Ohio, Sherrod Brown is about 2 points behind, but any other candidate would be about 11 points behind (Donald Trump's margin in 2024). Brown still has a good chance against appointed senator Jon Husted (R-OH), who is embroiled in a major corruption scandal. That scandal will be on the front pages in Ohio in October when the crooked electricity company executives who bribed their way to rate increases (with Husted's help) go on trial. We'd say Schumer got three out of four right, for a .750 batting average that would make Ted Williams jealous.
Further, if not Mills, who should Schumer have backed? An unknown, unproven oysterman nobody had ever heard of with a Nazi tattoo and a long trail of "edgy" postings to social media? As it turns out, he is quite popular and could well win, but that certainly wasn't a sure thing last October.
So, who should Schumer have backed? Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME)? If he had backed Golden, progressives would have gone through the roof since Golden is practically a Republican. Maybe the other representative, Chellie Pingree (D-ME)? She is an actual Democrat, but she is 71 and known only in a small part of the state. Besides, Pingree ran against Collins in 2002 and lost by 17 points. Some random state senator? Probably worse. Without the benefit of 7 months hindsight, we don't see what else Schumer could have done back in October that made any sense then. If the Democrats take back the Senate, On Nov. 4, people will be hailing Schumer as a political genius.
Even if that happens, though, Schumer's best days are behind him. He is up in 2028. It could be interesting. It is widely believed that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) could challenge him in a primary. But it is possible that she won't be the only one. If John Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg, Jack to his friends, is elected to the House by a wide margin, he might also decide to run for the Senate in 2028. His track record wouldn't be as long as hers, but he has the Kennedy name and hair. (V)