Blue wave to blue ocean, part 2: 5 key Senate candidates
- Karen Young
- 20 hours ago
- 5 min read
It is entirely possible for Democrats to win back the Senate. And if we do, we’ll have more power to put up good legislation and shut down bad legislation, if not to get anything past the President. Democrats need a net gain of just four seats. We can do things in this midterm cycle to set us up for more power in the future. Electing the right candidates to move us forward is how we get there.
So with that in mind, here are the candidates I like best, ranked by the date of their next election.
Dan Osborn | Nebraska | Primary: May 12 | Non-Traditional Close Race Great Communicator
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Since Dan Osborn is an independent, the primary doesn’t affect him.
Nebraska is largely a farm state which is reeling from the effects of Trump’s tariffs, ag policy and the war in Iran. Senator Pete Ricketts, a millionaire Republican who was previously governor, was appointed to his seat in 2023. This is a great chance for us to make inroads in a red state, and create a lane for independents.
Democrats are not fielding a candidate, leaving Osborn, a veteran and former union leader, as the main challenger to Ricketts. Osborn promises “the strongest anti-corruption platform Washington has ever seen,” among other good policy ideas.
Currently Osborn and Ricketts are separated by only a point or two in the polls, and Osborn leads in fundraising.
We don’t have time to get into all the reasons why we need Dan Osborn in the Senate. This recent story from the American Prospect does get into it. They mention a couple of data points: Osborn just quit his job to devote more time to his campaign, even though there’s a real chance he’ll lose his house on the other side.
Also, he started an organization called Working Class Heroes “to help get like-minded candidates elected who are not drawn from law firms and CEO suites…He mentioned House candidates like fisherman Bill Hill in Alaska, union fire captain Mike Thurow in rural and exurban eastern Wisconsin, and union firefighter Nate Powell in Spokane.”
I give to Osborn monthly. Hope you will support him too! He’s the real deal.
Charles Booker | KY | Primary: May 19
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This is an open seat due to Mitch McConnell’s retirement.
Charles Booker would represent real change for Kentucky in the Senate. His slogan, “From the hood to the holler,” captures his background. He grew up poor in Louisville and has been homeless. He’s worked for Governor Beshear as the Director of Faith Based Initiatives. In 2018, he was elected to the Kentucky House, where he worked for gun safety, lower prescription drug prices, expanded voting rights, stronger labor unions, and racial justice. He also served as a Director of Administrative Services for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Kentucky matters, because Appalachia matters. It was originally settled by working-class Scots-Irish people who are characterized by a “warrior ethos,” dislike of top-down government, and commitment to personal freedom.
While Appalachia has never been pro-Black, it is very anti-elite, and sided with the Union against the slavelords during the Civil War. Kentucky and West Virginia are among the poorest states in America, with about 16% of their population living in poverty. This says to me that Democrats have a chance to win in Appalachia, with the right candidates, right approach, and investment.
Trump won KY by 30 percentage points in 2024. But the state’s current governor, Andy Beshear, is a Democrat who won his race in 2023 by five percentage points.
The fundraising leader among Democrats is Amy McGrath with about $2 million. She is a former Marine and has never run for public office before, but served as a Congressional fellow and worked for KY Rep. Susan Davis. Charles Booker is leading in some polls, and is second in fundraising with about $400K at last count.
Candidates in the Republican primary to replace McConnell include MAGA Representative Andy Barr, who recently received Trump’s endorsement, and Daniel Cameron, a former state attorney general and protégé of McConnell’s, who is Black and known for fighting against justice for Breonna Taylor.
Graham Platner | Maine | Primary: June 9 | Non-Traditional Close Race Great Communicator |
Since 78-year-old Democratic Governor Janet Mills dropped out of the Democratic primary, Graham Platner has pivoted to competing against GOP Senator Susan Collins. This is a seat Dems have to win to flip the Senate. While Platner is doing extremely well in polls and fundraising, it would be a mistake to count Collins out.
You’ve probably heard all you need to know about Platner, who is a Marine and Army veteran, oyster farmer, and chair of the Sullivan Planning Board. To keep it short and sweet, Platner says:
Maine is becoming unaffordable for thousands and thousands of us. Why? Because we have a government by, of, and for billionaires, building a “billionaire economy” that none of us can afford. I’m not just running against Susan Collins: I’m running against the billionaire class that owns her and owns Washington.
Platner has already done a lot by vanquishing Chuck Schumer’s chosen candidate. Right before Mills dropped out, Platner mentioned that Schumer had never spoken to him, showing no curiosity about how Platner had roared from complete obscurity to destroying Mills and becoming one of the most talked-about progressive candidates in the country.
Abdul el-Sayed | Michigan | Primary: August 4 | Non-Traditional Great Communicator Close Race |
Abdul El-Sayed is the progressive choice in a tight three-way race for the Democratic nomination. He is one of the few people, if not the only one, running who has ACTUALLY run government agencies – several health care agencies in Michigan - and vastly improved them. He’s been endorsed by, I believe, all the progressive movement’s leaders from Bernie Sanders on down.
He’s up against Establishment darling Haley Stevens, who served in the Obama administration and currently reps Michigan’s 11th District in suburban Detroit’s Oakland County, and Mallory McMorrow, who has served in the Michigan State Senate since January 2019.
This is an open seat. Incumbent Democratic Senator Gary Peters is not running for re-election. In this swing state which Trump barely won in 2024, there’s a real chance that a Republican could win. It seems likely that Mike Rogers, who represented a central Michigan district in Congress until 2015, will win the GOP nomination.
Right now, Stevens holds a narrow lead against El-Sayed in polls, with McMorrow trailing.
James Talarico | Texas | General: November 3 | Non-Traditional Close Race Great Communicator |
The Democratic establishment has long believed it’s not worthwhile to invest in Texas. They’re wrong. It’s the second biggest state in America with 31 million people. The state’s culture is a volatile mix of the Southern plantation mentality to the east, cowboys to the west, and Latino and Black aspiration in the north/central and southern parts.
James Talarico offers the best opportunity in years for Democrats to reclaim some power in Texas. He beat Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the primary. In the polls, he is currently leading both candidates in the upcoming GOP primary runoff: current Senator John Cornyn, and scandal-ridden TX attorney general Ken Paxton.
Talarico is a truly non-traditional candidate who is blazing a trail for the kind of candidates who could save the Democratic Party. He described himself as “an eighth-generation Texan, former middle school teacher, and Presbyterian seminarian. As a state representative, he’s led the fight against the billionaire mega-donors and puppet politicians who have taken over Texas.”
It’s the seminarian part that is most remarkable. I say this as an atheist who was raised Catholic. Rather than an evangelical conservative, he is more in tune with the Jesus who threw the money-changers out of the temple. Talarico is the real deal. Check out this video: https://x.com/i/status/2050719554142122479
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