Politics
Are You Ready for . . . 2026?
Just when you thought politics was on a break, next midterms are already warming up.
N BY JOHN GIZZI
o sooner had the ink dried on election cer- tifi cates from the long, exhausting, and tumul-
tuous 2024 campaign than the 2026 cycle began. Speculation about which sen-
ators will retire and when they will make it public, who will run for their seats, and what politi- cal consultants will be orchestrat- ing their campaigns is rampant barely two years before the next midterms. The same is true about gov-
ernor races. Such high-profi le leaders as Gavin Newsom of Cali- fornia and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, both Democrats, as well as Republicans Ron DeSan- tis of Florida and Mike DeWine of Ohio are “termed out.” The race to succeed them
could produce fresh presidential hopefuls for 2028. And with the U.S. House
almost as evenly divided as its previous incarnation — the clos- est split between the parties since 1930 — there will be intensifi ed speculation on the retirement, death, and pursuit of other offi ces by members. Campaign ’26 is already here.
42 NEWSMAX | DECEMBER 2024 U.S. SENATE
Up for Grabs Again S
imple arithmetic says that a Republican hold
on the Senate will be in for rough sledding in ’26. Of the 33 seats up for
election, 20 are in Republican hands and only 13 are held by Democrats. Put another way, Republicans have to play defense twice as much as Democrats, who can play off ense in a big way. Having relinquished the
Republican leader role in the Senate after a record 18 years, Mitch McConnell is almost sure to call it quits at age 82 — Kentucky’s longest- serving senator (42 years). At least three Republicans
close to the man referred to as “the Senator” among Bluegrass State GOPers clearly want to succeed him. But all bets are off if popular Democrat Gov. Andy
Beshear makes the race. Alabama’s controversial
GOP Sen. Tommy Tuberville beats most prospective Democrat foes in early polls. But Yellowhammer State Democrats are going all out to recruit the one contender who could beat the onetime Auburn University football coach — Nick Saban, winning former football coach of the University of Alabama. Two Republican senators
who incurred Donald Trump’s wrath — Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and North Carolina’s Thom Tillis — are cinches to be challenged for renomination. There’s already speculation about prospective retirements among senators. One is Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.
Her exit would open a Republican chance of a gain in the Senate. “I’ll run for it,” former
Republican Sen. Scott Brown told Newsmax recently. Brown, 65, won a nationally watched special election in Massachusetts in 2010 after the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy. He lost a subsequent
election for a full term to Elizabeth Warren the following year. Brown moved to New Hampshire and unsuccessfully challenged Shaheen in 2014. Two GOP governors
with obvious presidential ambitions, Brian Kemp of Georgia and Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, have sent strong signals they plan to challenge Democrat Sens. Jon Ossoff and Mark Warner in their states.
BESHEAR
TUBERVILLE
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BROWN
ILLUSTRATION/SMARTBOY10 AND TRAFFIC_ANALIZER©ISTOCK / BESHEAR/TAYLOR HILL/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES / TUBERVILLE/KEVIN DIETSCH/GETTY IMAGES / CASSIDY/AP IMAGES / BROWN/SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES NEWSOM/ CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES / PRITZKER/NATASHA MOUSTACHE/GETTY IMAGES / WHITMER/PG/BAUER-GRIFFIN/GC IMAGES / DESANTIS/CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES / SEAL/KIYOSHI TANNO©ISTOCK
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