Senate: Recent Updates

Last week we wrote that this special election contest between Democratic U.S. Rep. Ed Markey and Republican businessman Gabriel Gomez had gotten more interesting, but was not yet truly competitive. We may have spoken too soon. Yet another poll has come out showing the race in single digits. The OnMessage, Inc. (R) survey for the Gomez campaign (May 5-7 of 800 likely voters) gave Markey a t…

Democrats have had a rough few days in South Dakota. Although U.S. Attorney Brendan Johnson, son of retiring Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson, has not made a statement, the conventional wisdom is that he will not run for his father’s seat. And today, former U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin wrote in a post on her Facebook page that she would not be a candidate. Herseth Sandlin was a favorite of m…

For the past few months, the special election to fill the remainder of former Democratic Sen. John Kerry’s term has plodded along. It was as if the book on the race had already been written. U.S. Rep. Ed Markey would beat U.S. Rep. Steve Lynch for the Democratic nomination. He would then go on to defeat any of the trio of virtually unknown Republicans seeking the GOP nod in the June 25 special…

Democratic Sen. Max Baucus’ surprise decision to retire at the end of this Congress creates the sixth open seat for his party. It also provides Republicans with an opening that probably wouldn’t have existed if Baucus had run. Right now, both parties are working to recruit the strongest possible candidates into the race. For Democrats, that candidate would be former Gov. Brian Schweitzer. F…

Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions is a good example of the challenges Democrats face this cycle in their quest to pick up GOP-held seats. First elected in 1996, Sessions has held the seat easily, and has amassed a very conservative voting record. He has done both in a deeply red state where the Democratic bench of potential challengers is almost non-existent, making their chances of mounting a comp…