Could Loser MAGA Senate Candidates Help Democrats Keep Their Majority In 2024?
We dare to dream.
Joe Perticone at The Bulwark writes this line in a recent article that I wish were true:
Republicans’ Senate hopes just got a lot more complicated.
Well, not really …. Republicans just need to flip two seats — excluding a nightmare scenario where they only need one because thrice-indicted coup-plotter Donald Trump wins and Vice President Kari Lake is the tie-breaking vote. We have a policy here about not predicting the future and otherwise being gloomy Guses but Jon Tester and Joe Manchin are fairly doomed in Montana and West Virginia. So, that’s pretty much it.
Hell, things are so dire in West Virginia that Manchin is considering running as an independent. That way the state’s Trump voters won’t realize that independent Manchin is the same guy who voted to impeach Trump twice and confirm Joe Biden’s judges. He’s like an independent with a fake mustache.
However, Perticone still offers us hope that Republicans will face-plant with radical, bonehead candidates.
This week, two potential candidates began making moves that could land them in Republican primaries. In each case, the candidate would be in a strong position to win the party’s nomination but would almost certainly get rolled by a more moderate Democrat in the general election.
Montana Republicans are worried that they’ll botch the upcoming Senate race in a state where they have a significant partisan advantage. MAGA loon Rep. Matt Rosendale is teasing a rematch against Tester, who creamed him in 2018. Yes, that was a blue wave midterm election, but Republicans would rather not take chances with a known loser and creepy racist.
Republicans who like winning elections have lined up behind Tim Sheehy. The former Navy SEAL officer announced his bid last month. He’s suitably America First but not a blatant embarrassment like Rosendale.
Sheehy blustered to Fox News:
From inflation to our border to our deficit, America is ready for change. And I think it’s time for a new generation of leaders to step up. Leaders who understand servant leadership, which is putting the mission before yourself, and leaders who understand how to get results.
This commanding gibberish has not vaulted him to the top of the polls, alas, even with swift endorsements from fellow Montana Republicans Sen. Steve Daines, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and Rep. Ryan Zinke.
Arizona’s fake governor in exile Kari Lake is also planning a Senate run against incumbent Kyrsten Sinema from the Sinema Party and, most likely, actual Democrat Ruben Gallego. She just lost a statewide race during the red wave that wasn’t, so she’ll probably get beaten like a drum during a presidential year, even with spoiler candidate Sinema in the mix.
Oh, and here’s some absolutely delicious news: Emerson college polling shows Sinema pulling more votes away from the Republican candidate than she does Gallego. (Rebecca predicted this might happen, and I was skeptical. Rebecca knows best. Listen to Rebecca.)
Emerson specifically tested Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb and mechanical engineer Brian Wright in head-to-head matches against Gallego. He’s tied with Lamb and leads Wright narrowly, but with Sinema in the mix, Gallego pulls so far ahead they could call the race for him when the polls close.
It’s been six years and Sinema might actually get around to helping Democrats.
Sources in Arizona tell me that Republicans might soon unleash hell on Sinema if she’s not spoiling the race in their favor. Lake is a known nutcase — she suggested that Ohio’s recent special election was “rigged” and she doesn’t even go there. So, it seems Arizona Republicans are screwed no matter who runs. Enjoy the receiving end of Sinema’s massive ego, guys!
Follow Stephen Robinson on Bluesky and Threads.
Subscribe to his YouTube channel for more fun content.
Catch SER on his podcast, The Play Typer Guy.
They're all pushing for outlawing abortion nationally. They will reap what they sew.
Henlo. Birb going to cry if we lose Senate. So birb run for Senate. Let's elect a birb.