Aaron Strife
Banned
Michigan we have Gretchen Whitmer, who's terrific. Wisconsin just had a good candidate jump in in the form of Tony Evers, the state superintendent. Illinois... I agree the clown car primary right now isn't super promising, but Rauner's approval ratings are horrific. I wouldn't be surprised if even a second-stringer could knock him off.Will they?
I'm worried about candidate selection in all of the states that should be slam dunks: Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
New Jersey's a lock, Maine's quite possible if Collins doesn't decide to back out, not too worried about Pennsylvania being retained. Ohio, i just don't have the faith in their Democratic party.
Nevada's a good bet too, depending on how well Sandoval goes to bat for his successor.
Maryland and Massachusetts have GOP governors, oddly, but I think Maryland is winnable while we can afford to write off Massachusetts with how stacked the state legislature is. Not that we shouldn't run a good candidate, just if we don't win it's not the end of the world. Also in New England is Vermont and New Hampshire, and it's the same dichotomy. The Democratic Party is so strong in Vermont that the governor's office is practically a formality, while New Hampshire with its Republican trifecta is more important to try and win. It's subject to huge swings so there's a chance there.
Nevada, like you mentioned is prime for a takeover. Same with New Mexico - our prospects there are even better, I'd say.
Beyond those states, there's Florida which is an open seat and Gwen Graham should be formidable. I want to see if Iowa and Ohio are able to snap back from their hard right turns, although I'm not too optimistic. Kansas, Georgia and Arizona are in the same universe and I could see all of them being competitive for different reasons.
If we could flip:
Florida
Illinois
Maine (unless Collins jumps in)
Maryland
Michigan
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Mexico
Wisconsin
That'd probably be an okay night.