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[whyamihere]

For all of us who were maybe outraged at John McCain's latest comments, there's something we can actually do about that: We can elect a Democratic Congress. This is actually in the realm of possibility, especially now that the top of the ticket looks like such an electoral romp.

I'll post links to their donation pages below. But also, if you live in these states, I would really implore you to get involved. Go phonebank. Go canvass on a weekend. We really need these seats in order to get Democratic control of the Senate.

1. NORTH CAROLINA: DEBORAH ROSS

Challenger: Sen. Richard Burr (R) (i)
538 Chances of winning: 49.5%
Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/contribu...de=website_splash&recur_weekly=true&amount=25
Volunteer: https://www.deborahross.com/landing/get-involved/

About this race: This was initially a very low profile race. The top choices for Democrats -- ex-Sen. Kay Hagan and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx -- both passed on the race, feeling that Burr was a strong opponent. The Democrats eventually found their candidate in ex State Assemblywoman Deborah Ross, who also used to lead the NC ACLU chapter. She was low profile, but Democrats thought they might have an outside chance like in 2008 when little-known state senator Kay Hagan beat incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole.

Ross has outraised Burr every quarter (I believe) this year. She's caught up in the polls to the point where it's literally a dead-even race. Unlike many southern Democrats, even ones in 2016, Ross is extremely progressive. Her history as director of the state ACLU has received scorn from Burr ("she's defending criminals!"), but her true-blue progressive stances have earned her the backing of Bernie's "Our Revolution". She's one of 3 senators who have been backed by the group.

This was not supposed to be a race. And now it's a dead heat.

Endorsement: The Charlotte Observer

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/editorials/article108296372.html

After leaving her ACLU post, Ross, 53, served five terms in the state House representing a Wake County district. Most recently, she served as legal counsel for GoTriangle, the region’s transit agency. Ross entered the race after more prominent Democrats declined, and she has taken Burr by surprise with her energetic campaigning and her pride in being a civil liberties advocate. In an embarrassing but predictable response, Burr has tried to make that advocacy an issue by focusing on Ross’ role in trying to make sex offender registries more just and more protective of victims.

Ross has dismissed Burr’s attempts to distort her record. “People are smarter than these ads,” she says. “People like someone who is going to stick up for what’s right.”

In this Senate race, voters have a choice of vivid clarity. Burr and Ross differ on virtually every key issue. To name a few, Ross supports the Affordable Care Act, more regulation of the financial industry, increased efforts to halt climate change, more federal spending to spur growth, the Iran nuclear deal, tighter gun controls, a higher minimum wage, increasing taxes on corporations and the wealthy and holding hearings to consider Obama Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.

Burr does not.

Ross has rightly focused on Burr’s comfort in office and his distance from the everyday concerns of North Carolinians. As she has campaigned across the state, she has encountered widespread dismay over the direction the state has taken under Republican leadership and the gridlock in Congress because of the GOP’s relentless opposition to President Obama.

As a former leader of the ACLU, as a progressive and effective state lawmaker and as a dynamic candidate, Ross has demonstrated that she will fight for what’s right and what’s needed, not what’s popular or what’s easy. North Carolina needs her smarts, her energy and her courage in the U.S. Senate. We urge you to put her there.

2. PENNSYLVANIA: KATIE McGINTY

Challenger: Sen. Pat Toomey (R) (i)
538 Chances of winning: 63.5%
Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/km-contribute
Volunteer: http://katiemcginty.com/volunteer/

Sen. Pat Toomey is the former president of Club For Growth, a radical-right PAC that: "According to its website, the Club for Growth's policy goals include cutting income tax rates, repealing the estate tax, supporting limited government and a balanced budget amendment, entitlement reform, free trade, tort reform, school choice, and deregulation." It's a destructive right-wing economic policy that Toomey has waded in for the past 6 years during his time as Senator.

Besides the fact that Toomey sucks, one reason why McGinty would be a great Senator is her focus on environmental issues. She was the Pennsylvania Secretary of Environmental Protection and, before that, Chairperson of the Council on Environmental Quality for Bill Clinton. If you care about global climate change, McGinty is going to be a fighter in the Senate and has the experience for meaningful environmental reform.

Most polls have had McGinty with a slight-yet-durable lead, but it's important to put her over the top and get McGinty in the Senate.

Endorsement: The Philadelphia Inquirer

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinio...orial__Katie_McGinty_for_the_U_S__Senate.html

If corporations were people, Pennsylvania's Republican freshman Sen. Pat Toomey would be the right senator for them. His approach to governance is to slash regulations and taxes to help companies, which he believes would provide good paying jobs. But that hasn't worked for average people struggling with flat wages, job insecurity and wondering why so little of the good economic news isn't about them.

Toomey, 54, would eliminate Obamacare and let the marketplace decide to provide benefits like covering children up to age 26. He'd kill an agency that keeps lenders from preying on consumers and return to the days of low-regulation and low-oversight of Wall Street, which led to the financial meltdown.

He opposes forcing companies to clean up greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming, a factor in the spate of floods and wildfires ravaging the country. And, he favors Supreme Court decisions that allow unlimited corporate funds to persuade voters in elections.

A product of the radical right, Toomey voted to shut down the government over raising the debt ceiling rather than find a civil solution. But, in a stellar moment, he crossed the aisle to seek background checks for those who wish to purchase guns. He failed, but says he'd try again if re-elected. Let's hope it's with more conviction than his politically expedient equivocation over whether to support his party's presidential nominee, Donald Trump, an admitted serial molester.

McGinty, 53, wants to raise the minimum wage, expand child care credits and fight for equal pay for women. She would invest in research, skilled manufacturing and renewable energy. McGinty wants to expand pre-kindergarten, improve public schools, make college affordable and training available to adults. She would lower health care costs by decreasing co-payments and high deductibles and cut abusive drug pricing.

3. MISSOURI: JASON KANDER

Challenger: Sen. Roy Blunt (R) (i)
538 Chances of winning: 60.1%
Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/jason-kander-3
Volunteer: https://www.jasonkander.com/get-involved/

So, behind Deborah Ross, this is my favorite race of the year. Kander is the current Secretary of State of Missouri, is an Iraq vet, and is lauded as one of the best recruits by Dems this cycle. It's hard not to see why since he put out the best ad of the campaign cycle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wqOApBLPio

Watch it. Watch it again.

He's running one of the best campaigns of the cycle, and is neck-and-neck with Sen. Roy Blunt in what should be a generally sleepy race. Blunt doesn't really have any scandals, but like Richard Burr, absolutely hates campaigning and has largely ignored this race until now. The other interesting thing about Kander's race is that it's almost impossible (except for a few very rare circumstances) for a Senate challenger to beat an incumbent where the incumbent's party's presidential candidate wins the state. This would be huge.

Endorsement: The St. Louis American

http://www.stlamerican.com/news/edi...cle_f876328a-90d8-11e6-8756-a36b005ff5a6.html

National Democrats sense a possible Democratic takeover of a Senate seat, leading to possible Democratic control of the Senate. Kander’s race is one of the most important to Democrats, who must pick up four Senate seats and the White House (with the vice president getting a vote in the Senate) to gain a majority. U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) stumped for Kander this week in Ferguson, where they met privately with local elected officials to discuss policy issues of concern to the African-American community, and in St. Louis, where they talked to Harris-Stowe State University students about addressing the student loan debt burden. Booker eloquently defined the crises of our cities and enthused over the boost Kander would bring to his efforts in the Senate to reform criminal justice and urban education. He cited Kander’s leadership in removing the “felon check” box from applications to work for the secretary of state’s office under his administration. “With a partner like Jason on legislation, we would be able to get some creative things done,” Booker said. It was a ringing endorsement for Kander, who grew up in Kansas City, to deliver on issues of concern to our community. We will add our ringing endorsement just as loudly – and emphasize, along with Booker, that it’s only an especially strong black voter turnout in this red state on November 8 that can elevate Kander to the Senate. We strongly endorse JASON KANDER FOR U.S. SENATE.

4. NEW HAMPSHIRE: MAGGIE HASSAN

Challenger: Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) (i)
538 Chances of winning: 59.1%
Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/hassan_website?refcode=web
Volunteer: http://maggiehassan.com/take-action/

Here's the funny thing about New Hampshire: Every single one of their state-wide elected politicians is popular. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is popular. Gov. Maggie Hassan is popular. And Sen. Kelly Ayotte is popular. So when someone had to run against the very-popular Sen. Kelly Ayotte, the only person who could possibly win was the very-popular Governor.

To be fair to Ayotte, she doesn't suck as majorly as a lot of the other people on this list, but she's not great. On the other hand, Gov. Hassan is very much in the mold of Shaheen -- probably a three or four touches more liberal than her state, yet still is a pragmatic Democrat. This one of the rare races where the top of the ticket is a bit divorced from the downballot race, but Ayotte was the one who said that "Donald Trump is absolutely a great role model" during a debate, which of course has been plastered everywhere by Hassan's camp. Most polls have shown a tight race, with a slight edge to Hassan.

5. NEVADA: CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO

Challenger: Rep. Joe Heck (R) (i)
538 Chances of winning: 61.6%
Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/ccmbutton
Volunteer: http://action.catherinecortezmasto.com/page/s/get-involved#_=_

Cortez Masto is the hand-picked successor of the retiring Sen. Harry Reid, and this race has been sort of a proxy war for the Reid-Koch Brothers spat that has bubbled over the past few years. While it had seemed as if the Koch-backed candidate Rep. Joe Heck might have the lead, Cortez Masto has surged recently. This is due to a pretty fantastic debate performance (watch here, she murders him: https://www.c-span.org/video/?416810-1/nevada-senate-debate) and Heck's unendorsement of Donald Trump after being one of his bigger backers.

To continue on this trend of "if you care about this...", Cortez Masto will probably be one of the biggest proponents of comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate that creates a pathway to citizenship. She also served for two terms as the Attorney General of Nevada and has been singled out by both Nevada Democrats and Republicans alike as being one of the most effective Attorney Generals the state has had in recent memory, and fought to curb domestic violence during her time as AG. She's a great candidate, and I'm proud to see her surging during these past few weeks.

Endorsement: Las Vegas Sun

Her crackdown on domestic violence and human trafficking — a crime that plays out on the streets of Las Vegas — earned her the congratulations of our Republican governor, Brian Sandoval. And when Cortez Masto finished her second term as attorney general and stepped down, her successor, Republican Adam Laxalt, was quoted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal saying that she was “a role model in how she has run the office during the past eight years.”

Her efforts for Nevadans also showed in her creation of the Mortgage Fraud Strike Force to investigate and prosecute fraudulent foreclosure-rescue and loan-modification scams, and her administering $1.9 billion to help foreclosure-fraud victims in Nevada, thanks to the national mortgage settlement with big banks.

In other words, Cortez Masto has a history of working directly on behalf of Nevadans.

Moreover, her election will help bring the Senate back under Democratic control. When combined with a Republican House led by deal-making Speaker Paul Ryan and a president in Hillary Clinton, who works both sides of the aisle, the nation can finally exhale and move forward, with its leaders desiring compromise for the betterment of the country and to restore confidence in our institutions of government.

For her part, Cortez Masto can work on issues important to Nevadans: immigration reform that will keep families intact; funding for cancer screenings and other vitally important women’s health care provided by Planned Parenthood; and the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice who will reaffirm opinions involving a woman’s rights over her own body, guarding against guns falling in unqualified hands while protecting the Second Amendment, and transparency in campaign funding so money-stoked special interests can be smoked out of hiding.

Perhaps most important to Nevada, Cortez Masto will not give an inch to the nuclear power industry, which wants to store used fuel rods — still highly radioactive, and the deadliest material known to man — inside Yucca Mountain, after coursing through Clark County. Just why a state that has no nuclear power plants should get stuck with other states’ nuclear waste remains unclear except that, when the idea surfaced in the 1980s, Nevada didn’t have the political muscle to fight it.

6. INDIANA: EVAN BAYH

Challenger: Rep. Todd Young (R)
538 Chances of winning: 69.0%
Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/eb-signupredirect
Volunteer: http://evanbayhforindiana.com/contact/

A few things are true:

1. Evan Bayh sucks.

2. Evan Bayh is one of the few Democrats who can win statewide in Indiana for federal office.

3. Evan Bayh will vote for most Democratic proposals.

Evan Bayh is every progressive's least favorite Democrat. After dropping out of his 2010 Senate race because he was going to lose, he jumped back in (and caused ex. Rep. Baron Hill to drop out) because Democrats finally convinced him to jump back in. He's popular (though not as much as he used to be) and... whatever. Okay, look. We need him.

7. FLORIDA: PATRICK MURPHY

Challenger: Sen. Marco Rubio (R)
538 Chances of winning: 28.7%
Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/patrickmurphyforsenate?refcode=homepage&amount=25
Volunteer: https://www.murphyforflorida.com/get-involved/

Unfortunately for Rep. Patrick Murphy, this race got much harder for Democrats to win once Sen. "Lil'" Marco Rubio jumped back in. I know there are some Dems not hot on Murphy, but I also don't really see anyone else doing better. Rubio had a national profile and huge backing of establishment Republicans who wanted to keep this seat.

I'm not ready to write Murphy off just yet -- the Trump tapes have been a shot in the arm to Democrats, and Murphy isn't as hopeless as, say, Ted Strickland or Ann Kirkpatrick. There is a debate tonight that's getting a decent amount of coverage for a Senate debate, so we'll see if the higher profile can change things. If this is a wave election, it's quite possible that we could see a surprise win in Florida for Murphy.

8. ILLINOIS: TAMMY DUCKWORTH

Challenger: Sen. Mark Kirk (R) (i)
538 Chances of winning: 89.8%
Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/tduckworth?refcode=homepage
Volunteer: http://action.tammyduckworth.com/page/signup/take-action?refcode=homepage

So the next two people are pretty much guaranteed beat their Republican challengers, but it's important to mention them anyway.

Rep. Tammy Duckworth is an Iraq War veteran who lost both legs during an RPG attack on her helicopter in Iraq. She's a boss. This is her riding her rainbow scooter (with a rainbow fake leg!) during Chicago Pride this year:

https://www.facebook.com/YahooCanada/videos/10153465082816371/

Duckworth ran on a platform vehemently opposing the Iraq War, and has been an advocate for veterans since she entered Congress. She's a great congresswoman, and would be excellent for the Senate. Thankfully, it's very likely she'll end up there.

Endorsement: The Chicago-Sun Times

http://chicago.suntimes.com/opinion/endorsement-duckworth-the-better-choice-for-u-s-senate/

Duckworth is a second-term member of the U.S. House, where she can claim a number of small-bore achievements, especially in the area of reducing wasteful military spending. She sponsored a particularly ingenious bill, for example, that required the different branches of the military to settle on common uniform camouflage patterns. The U.S. Government Accountability Office estimates this simple reform will save taxpayers $4.2 billion over five years.

We are reminded of how Harry Truman made a name for himself as a senator in the 1940s by going after military waste. When we asked Duckworth about that, she acknowledged that “Give ’em Hell, Harry” was an inspiration.

But it is Duckworth’s remarkable life story that gives us reason to believe she might have what it takes to be a real force in the Senate, not just another back-bencher.

She joined the Army National Reserve Officers’ Training Corps as a graduate student at George Washington University in 1990 out of a simple desire to serve her country. She chose to fly helicopters because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women.

She lost her legs when her helicopter was shot down in Iraq. Her life was changed forever, but she was not defeated. As a patient in a military hospital, she met a visiting senator, Dick Durbin of Illinois, and before long she took to pestering him about all the problems her fellow wounded soldiers were having — hassles with government paperwork and the like.

Durbin invited her to attend President George W. Bush’s 2005 State of the Union Address. She wore her dress uniform — with an IV line concealed underneath. She went on to become director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and, later, assistant secretary in the federal Department of Veterans Affairs.

Like Duckworth, Mark Kirk is an honored military veteran; and, like Duckworth, he has fought his way back from a devastating physical setback, in his case a severe stroke in 2012. We respect the man for his military service, of course, and we admire the tenacious way he has worked his way back to better health.

But Mark Kirk has long been a mystery to us. This is nothing new. We said exactly that six years ago when we declined to endorse Kirk in his first Senate run. We were unsure then — and less sure now — whether he’s a man of convictions or a weather vane. And we wondered then — and wonder more now — how he can be so careless in his words and claims.

9. WISCONSIN: RUSS FEINGOLD

Challenger: Sen. Ron Johnson (R) (i)
538 Chances of winning: 93.9%
Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/feingold2016?refcode=web.splash
Volunteer: http://action.russfeingold.com/page...splash&utm_campaign=web.splash&utm_medium=web

This is a really important one for me. In one of the closest races of 2010, Ron Johnson beat out then-Sen. Russ Feingold during a Republican wave. This is a rematch of that race.

Sen. Ron Johnson is one of the worst members of Congress and votes like he's a Senator from Oklahoma, not a lean-blue state. On the other hand, Russ Feingold was one of the best Senators that we had during his time in office. He authored McCain–Feingold (campaign finance reform), and was the only Senator to vote against the PATRIOT Act. He's one of the best civil libertarians that we could have in the Senate, and is a stalwart progressive in the mold of Paul Wellstone.

It's absolutely imperative that we send Russ Feingold back to the Senate.

--. CALIFORNIA: KAMALA HARRIS

Challenger: Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D)
538 Chances of winning: 91.4%
Donate: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/kdharrisforca?refcode=home&recurring=true
Volunteer: http://kamalaharris.org/take-action/

California is very weird. One of the weird things about California is that it uses a top-two primary system. Whichever candidates, regardless of party, get the top two votes in the primary go on to the general. This year, that was two Democrats: CA Attorney General Kamala Harris and Rep. Loretta Sanchez.

Harris is, far and away, the more progressive of the two. Sanchez is a blue dog Democrat who's trying to court Republican votes in order to win, taking up Republican talking points on Muslims and has been endorsed by various Republicans as the more moderate of the two. Because California is so blue, sending a moderate Democrat to Congress seems like a waste when Harris has earned the endorsement of Labor groups, EMILY’s List, and environmental groups, plus almost every major Democrat in California.

 

[Alucrid]

toomey also hasn't withdrawn his endorsement of trump, so add that to the list

edit: didn't see that the inquirer went over that point

 

[TomServo]

+1 for Rubio here.

 

[Geist-]

Thanks for doing this, it's good to let people know they have options because it's easy to forget that the GOP incumbents aren't invincible. I live in a state with a chance to replace the single republican senator and I'll be doing my part to make sure that it happens.

I was going to vote for Kander anyway, but thank you for letting me know about that video. I hadn't seen it before. So good.

 

[whyamihere]

toomey also hasn't withdrawn his endorsement of trump, so add that to the list

I had to remove some things to get it all to fit in one post.

HOW ABOUT THE WONDERFUL PHOTO OF LORETTA SANCHEZ DABBING DURING A DEBATE

 

[Gobias]

I already voted for Ted Strickland. Me and 10 other people

 

[Nosgotham]

Whatever. I do what I want

 

[VendettaRed07]

Thank you for this.

Winning the Presidency almost doesn't even matter if we don't win the Senate.

the SCOTUS will be killed and we'll get no appointments for 5 years if we don't. Seriously not even hyperbole.

There is no mechanism in place to force the senate to appoint the SCOTUS. So they just won't if they don't want to.

 

[Meowster]

I've been donating to Kander since the day he started running but I'll make sure to give some money to other Senate candidates across the country. Great thread.

 

[Laevateinn]

I can't believe people like Marco Rubio. He's whiney. He hasn't accomplished anything. He's a pathetic loser. It blows my mind.

 

[Sou Da]

I can't believe people like Marco Rubio. He's whiney. He hasn't accomplished anything. He's a pathetic loser. It blows my mind.

Ditto

 

[tearsintherain]

Thank you for this.

Winning the Presidency almost doesn't even matter if we don't win the Senate.

the SCOTUS will be killed and we'll get no appointments for 5 years if we don't. Seriously not even hyperbole.

There is no mechanism in place to force the senate to appoint the SCOTUS. So they just won't if they don't want to.

The president can do a recess appointment while the senate is on summer/winter break for any federal position, including supreme court, which is only for the remainder of his or her term and will be up again for senate confirmation next cycle. Its also pretty much throwing a grenade at the other party and would mean zero cooperation (yeah, I know) between the parties but it is an option if the republicans wouldn't pass any of President Clinton's supreme court appointees.

 

[Meowster]

I can't believe people like Marco Rubio. He's whiney. He hasn't accomplished anything. He's a pathetic loser. It blows my mind.

Not to mention he hated his job and never showed.

 

[Nelo Ice]

Filled out my nationwide ballot in CA already and voted blue down the ticket including Kamala Harris for the senate.

 

[rokkerkory]

Whatever. I do what I want

It's just all about you!

 

[Version 3.0]

Hopefully Clinton's coattails (or Trump's anti-coattails) can sweep in most of these.

Great OP. I'm in Nevada, surprised Cortez-Masto is rated with such a high probability. I thought she was trailing. The attack ads are brutal, and I figured probably pretty effective. Except for the one that just says "she'd vote exactly like Harry Reid did". Uh...guy was our senator forever, and popular, how is that not an endorsement?

Gotta watch that debate, thanks for the link.

 

[Captain Rage Quit 69]

How coincidental, I was spending time today looking into my options for the Senate given it's the more interesting vote to me personally. Thanks for this, makes my choice a fair bit easier here in Illinois.

 

[LegendofJoe]

The Democratic women in this Senate class are something else. I'm in awe of most of them. Bring on the age of the woman.

 

[whyamihere]

The Democratic women in this Senate class are something else. I'm in awe of most of them. Bring on the age of the woman.

If all of the women in the OP women, we'd go from having 20 women in the Senate to 24. And only 6 of them are Republicans.

 

[Grexeno]

The president can do a recess appointment while the senate is on summer/winter break for any federal position, including supreme court, which is only for the remainder of his or her term and will be up again for senate confirmation next cycle. Its also pretty much throwing a grenade at the other party and would mean zero cooperation (yeah, I know) between the parties but it is an option if the republicans wouldn't pass any of President Clinton's supreme court appointees.

Unfortunately impossible. The current Republican Senate has started using weird rules so that they are always technically in session, making recess appointments impossible.

 

[duderon]

NC will be a toss-up. Hoping that the blocked voter ID law swings it for Ross.

 

[Beartruck]

.

 

[Xyrmellon]

How bout no?

 

[demon]

Looking forward to re-electing Feingold and kicking that useless shithead Johnson out of office.

 

[Blader]

I can't believe people like Marco Rubio. He's whiney. He hasn't accomplished anything. He's a pathetic loser. It blows my mind.

Not to mention he hated his job and never showed.

And on top of all that, he's very transparently using the Senate (again) as a stepping stone to the White House (again). He even said he couldn't commit to a six-year term!

 

[HarryDemeanor]

Harris has my vote in CA.

 

[demon]

And on top of all that, he's very transparently using the Senate (again) as a stepping stone to the White House (again). He even said he couldn't commit to a six-year term!

Lil' Marco knows exactly what he's doing.

 

[Aaron Strife]

You're missing Patty Judge in Iowa.

 

[whyamihere]

And on top of all that, he's very transparently using the Senate (again) as a stepping stone to the White House (again). He even said he couldn't commit to a six-year term!

He's really the worst.

 

[daveo42]

I already voted for Ted Strickland. Me and 10 other people

Ohio is essentially a lost cause for Senate seats at this point and really most House seats too. We can only hope Ohio goes Hillary on Nov 8th. Gotta get out that vote.

 

[Blader]

You're missing Patty Judge in Iowa.

Isn't Grassley way ahead?

 

[Aztechnology]

Thank you for this.

Winning the Presidency almost doesn't even matter if we don't win the Senate.

the SCOTUS will be killed and we'll get no appointments for 5 years if we don't. Seriously not even hyperbole.

There is no mechanism in place to force the senate to appoint the SCOTUS. So they just won't if they don't want to.

If the pubs pull this bullshit... I mean wow. We'll certainly have another low point. I'm assuming Hillary will put in Obama's pick and the Republicans will confirm it. But who knows.


To OP thanks a lot for doing this, midterms are so important and it's difficult to find a place where good info is available readily.

 

[Trouble]

The Democratic women in this Senate class are something else. I'm in awe of most of them. Bring on the age of the woman.

Both of my Senators are women and they are both awesome (Washington State).

 

[RustyNails]

+1 for The Duck

Go get em girl.

Also GAF, spread the word to your friends and family especially if you're in a critical swing state like North Carolina.

 

[paskowitz]

Damn, those Kander ads are phenomenal. Dude spits hot fire.

 

[hom3land]

will be voting for Ross multiple times!

 

[shintoki]

I want to say it's a damn shame Tammy has to go up against Kirk. Kirk was one of the few (R) not impeding the SC selection. Meaning one less chair they would have to fight for, but The Duck for the win.

Hoping we pull away with W's for all.

 

[Laevateinn]

I want to say it's a damn shame Tammy has to go up against Kirk. Kirk was one of the few (R) not impeding the SC selection. Meaning one less chair they would have to fight for, but The Duck for the win.

Hoping we pull away with W's for all.

If there were 49 Ds and 51 Rs, you can be damn sure that Kirk would be one of them.

 

[Stumpokapow]

I want to say it's a damn shame Tammy has to go up against Kirk. Kirk was one of the few (R) not impeding the SC selection. Meaning one less chair they would have to fight for, but The Duck for the win.

This is an unfortunate aspect of the FPTP system. If you are a strong Democrat (for the purposes of the post I'll assume you're a strong Democrat, but the example works the opposite way), then presumably the Republicans you like the least are the loudest, biggest party hacks and the Republicans you like the most are the moderates that occasionally work with the Democrats. Now, assume people are the product of their districts in some regards, and generally moderates come from moderate districts. Which districts are most likely to flip to your party? Correspondingly, the moderate districts. So even in the best case election scenario, where your party near-totally dominates, the guys you hate the most are still around and most of your victories come at the expense of people you don't mind.

For me one of the most clear examples of this is when Sen. Lincoln Chafee (then R-RI) lost in the Democratic wave of 2006. Would I personally pick Sheldon Whitehouse, the Democrat, over Lincoln Chafee? Of course! But I wish I could have punted Trent Lott instead if all else was equal.

 

[Burning Justice]

Ah, thanks for making this thread. I'm in California, looked at my ballot yesterday, noticed both of the Senate choices were Democrats and wasn't sure which of them to vote for... Now I've got a pretty good idea.

 

[Debirudog]

Florida Gaf.

Get rid of Marco Rubio.

 

[Tranqueris]

I can't believe people like Marco Rubio. He's whiney. He hasn't accomplished anything. He's a pathetic loser. It blows my mind.

Also he spends months calling Trump a dangerous conman then turns around and supports him after he insulted the hell out of him. Such bravery.

 

[Sobriquet]

Thank you so much for making this thread whyamihere! GAF plz give money to Deborah Ross (I have, repeatedly). We need her, and the race is so tight.

Thanks to gerrymandering, NC is dominated by Republicans but it's actually as purple as it gets. Early voting is looking good for Hillary, so hopefully this extends to the Senate race. And every other race.

 

[Kas]

I'm doing my part to vote Ayotte out, but I just wish Hassen was more liberal.

 

[RDreamer]

Hoping Russ pulls this off. I REALLY hate Ron Johnson. He's a sack of crap and it baffles me we even elected him in the first place.

 

[BotoxAgent]

Thanks I will donate to all of them

 

[The Llama]

There have been a ridiculous amount of ads by Toomey and McGinty on TV here in PA. Tbh the anti-McGinty ones are much better than the pro-McGinty or anti-Toomey ones, and I think that combined with her low name recognition will result in a very tight race no matter how not-tight the presidential vote is.

 

[cruets]

Gave $10 to Ross

 

[Outdoor Miner]

Sun Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) endorses Patrick Murphy

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board endorses Murphy because we mostly approve of the policy positions espoused by him and other moderate Democrats. Those include a commitment to repair, rather than kill, Obamacare; respect for the hard-won rights of women, the LGBT community and minorities; a higher minimum wage; tax policies that benefit the middle class, rather than the rich; a pragmatic approach to relations with Cuba; deep concern about climate change; protecting Medicare and Social Security from privatization; and ensuring that the Second Amendment is not corrupted into a right for terrorists to buy assault weapons.

On all of those issues, Murphy is strong and Rubio is weak.

Further, we like Murphy because we think the country will be better off if Democrats control the Senate — something that will be important if Hillary Clinton becomes president, as we hope, and perhaps even more crucial if Donald Trump is elected.

As a Republican, Rubio is a member of the party that controls both houses of Congress. Presumably, Rubio thinks he's an important member of his party and Congress since he offered himself as a candidate for president.

But we don't find that Rubio has an important record of accomplishment. Instead, we see a senator who too often adopted his party's most extreme positions. As part and parcel of that, we see a senator who did nothing to break the partisan deadlock that plagues Congress. And we see a senator who — for personal political convenience — abandons his own principles.

We endorsed Rubio six years ago, but became disillusioned with his lack of attention to the office. A year ago, his terrible attendance record led us to call on him to resign. Although we have applauded some of his recent actions — for example, his attempts to win Zika funding — it has been too little, too late and too self-serving.

 

[Psychoward]

I live in NJ and actually haven't followed the state elections too closely this year. I assume it's set to be a Dem blowout?