# Senate races 2026 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 28, 2025, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534 "2025-01-28T15:04:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 43
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/841 "2026-10-22T16:16:50Z")
I have no objection to violating this hypocritical, criminal POS’s privacy in general. But doing it _right now,_ with the implication that it constitutes a reason to vote against his sister, is just gross and I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually makes her more sympathetic to voters. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/843 "2026-10-22T16:21:47Z")
Welcome to the SDMB! How’s the weather in 2025? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/844 "2026-10-22T16:29:02Z")
Heh, I read FluxGamer17’s post, and I was all like “WTF?” Then I read Thing.Fish’s post, and I was all like “LOL!”. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/845 "2026-10-22T16:29:45Z")
Was gonna say they’ve had that reply sitting in an open tab for a while now, but they just joined an hour ago. Wondering if the bot farms are rebooting after the Ukrainian bombing. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/846 "2026-10-22T16:32:04Z")
Yeah, maybe they had to dust off an old server as backup while rebuilding the bot farm, and that old server still had an unsent spam post or something. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/847 "2026-10-22T23:27:25Z")
Prominent Texas personal injury attorney Thomas J Henry has endorsed James Talarico. This endorsement is especially notable because Henry had contributed 600K to Paxton back during the primary. > **[Prominent Texas lawyer who donated more than $600K to pro-Paxton PAC endorses...](https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6166806-thomas-henry-endorses-talarico/amp/)** > > One of Texas’s most prominent personal injury lawyers has endorsed state Rep. James Talarico (D) in the Lone Star State’s widely watched Senate race. Thomas J. Henry, a fixture of Texas TV ads and … I’m getting more optimistic that Talarico will win. In addition to Henry’s endorsement, it looks like Trump and co. are worried. Trump and Vance will be coming here to Corpus Christi next week to campaign for Paxton. IMHO the fact that they are doing so doesn’t bode well for Paxton. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2026, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/848 "2026-10-22T23:51:43Z")
Trump was in Wichita earlier this week. Now Vance will be in Topeka next week. Obviously the Pubs are worried about the Kansas Senate seat. I’m still not confident that Hamilton will beat Marshall, but things are looking a bit more hopeful. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/849 "2026-10-23T00:15:22Z")
What’s funny is that, at least here in Texas, Trump did it to himself. Given how the race has unfolded so far, I have no doubt that John Cornyn would be sitting on a small but confortable lead right now. But Trump decided to be petty and has now most likely screwed the Republicans out of a senate seat. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/850 "2026-10-23T00:35:23Z")
Those same farmers who will be cashing those checks (if they indeed get them) are the same people who were morally outraged that Biden even thought about helping people struggling with their student loans. Rural voters are the biggest suckers at the government teat. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/851 "2026-10-23T01:11:29Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > What’s funny is that, at least here in Texas, Trump did it to himself. Given how the race has unfolded so far, I have no doubt that John Cornyn would be sitting on a small but confortable lead right now. But Trump decided to be petty and has now most likely screwed the Republicans out of a senate seat. I’ve been thinking the same thing. Except i suspect that Cornyn would have a very comfortable lead. ---
**Author:** ![JDYanYan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jdyanyan/32/21663_2.png) [@JDYanYan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JDYanYan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/852 "2026-10-23T01:29:55Z")
The things that make this election look very good for Dems is that they won a lot of house seats, and flipped all the swing state senate seats (except Florida, but I refuse to believe that’s a real state) in 2018 thanks the environment, and way overperformed in 2022 thanks to awful GOP candidates. This year the environment is even more democratically friendly than 2018, and the Republican candidates are as bad or worse than 2022. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/853 "2026-10-23T01:40:27Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > The people releasing this is some YouTube channel called “The Young Turks”. They’re trolls. We can safely disregard whatever it is they’re saying, unless they bring cites to some actual reliable source. > [@Thing.Fish](#): > > But doing it _right now,_ with the implication that it constitutes a reason to vote against his sister, is just gross and I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually makes her more sympathetic to voters. That might be their actual reason. The Young Turks claim to be liberal, but (like most trolls) they seem to have actually embraced the Party of Trolls. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/854 "2026-10-23T03:12:55Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > IMHO the fact that they are doing so doesn’t bode well for Paxton. I’m sure he’s crossing his fingers he won’t be wearing anything too ungainly for Trump in Corpus Christi. Or get called a pain the ass. Of course, the phrase “too ungainly for Trump” could be a tad unfathomable. Maybe Trump will somehow catch the prevailing winds and will try to sign an EO to swap Paxton for Cornyn. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/855 "2026-10-23T13:32:30Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > But Trump decided to be petty and has now most likely screwed the Republicans out of a senate seat. It would be some nice schadenfreude if the Democrats manage to take the Senate as a direct result of trump’s meddling, just as in 2018: > **[The Price Republicans Paid in Georgia](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/01/georgia-senate-results-trump-hurt-republicans/617568/)** > > President Trump is the reason the GOP will likely lose its Senate majority. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/856 "2026-10-23T13:53:24Z")
Would like to note about the Lindsey Graham news… > **** > > If there is video of LG with under aged boys, that explains why he went all MAGA after 2016. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/857 "2026-10-23T16:26:42Z")
> The Department of Justice sued to prevent Alaska state officials from certifying election results if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses in November, an escalation of the Trump administration trying to use the power of the federal government to influence the midterms. > > In a [lawsuit filed Thursday](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.akd.80263/gov.uscourts.akd.80263.1.0.pdf), DOJ argued that the presence of an independent candidate also named Dan Sullivan constitutes a purposeful effort to mislead voters. --[https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/23/trump-administration-alaska-election-certification](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/23/trump-administration-alaska-election-certification) ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/858 "2026-10-23T16:58:36Z")
Wonder if they got the idea from Season 5 of Fargo (episode 8) where someone did exactly that to mess with a rival. > **[Fargo season 5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fargo_season_5)** > > The fifth season of the American black comedy crime drama television series Fargo, billed as Fargo: Year Five and Fargo: Installment 5, aired on FX from November 21, 2023 to January 6, 2024, totaling ten episodes. The series is an anthology about violent crime in the American Midwest, with each season acting as a self-contained story within the show's shared continuity. Set in the fall of 2019, Year Five follows Dorothy "Dot" Lyon, a seemingly typical Midwestern housewife living in Sc The seaso... ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/859 "2026-10-23T19:44:32Z")
The Fargo scene was hilarious. But Florida Republicans have also run this scam a couple of times in the recent past. So far there’s been no evidence of Dem chicanery in Alaska. ---
**Author:** ![Jihi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jihi/32/17768_2.png) [@Jihi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jihi)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/860 "2026-10-23T20:12:31Z")
Why waste time with an election when you can just pre-emptively declare a winner a week ahead of time before a single vote is even counted. 🤬 (RE: that Alaska BS) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2026, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534/861 "2026-10-23T20:28:55Z")
> **[Trump says he ordered the Justice Department's lawsuit over Alaska's US...](https://apnews.com/article/alaska-senate-race-sullivan-name-lawsuit-certification-d8f4a3c7b5247cc427a05f796d7c0d82)** > > President Donald Trump says he ordered the Justice Department lawsuit over Alaska’s U.S. Senate race. > The Alaska Supreme Court [rejected a previous Republican effort](https://apnews.com/article/alaska-senate-dan-sullivan-primary-ballot-01906fdc5d1eadf2e9b69c98baf1ec9a) to remove Daniel J. Sullivan from the ballot, and the state’s Republican officials made the decisions about how to list him on the ballot. He will appear without a party designation next to his name, while the senator will be listed as the Republican incumbent. Alaska’s ranked choice voting system also will allow voters to select both of the men if confused…The senator received more than 68,000 votes in the August primary, while the challenging Sullivan got 4,107, about 2% of the total vote. Peltola, who had previously served one term in the House, was the top vote-getter in the nonpartisan primary. Both parties expect that whoever wins in November will do so by a tight margin in a state of 738,000 people. The lawsuit is totally bogus. But oddly it is a standard Republican trick. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534.md?page=42) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/senate-races-2026/1013534.md?page=44)