Centrist Independent Voter has endorsed Senator Jack Reed in Rhode Island’s September 9 Democratic primary for the United States Senate.
Reed combines deep national-security experience with strong support for Ukraine, opposition to economically damaging tariffs and a record of practical bipartisan legislation. His judgment and institutional experience make him the strongest choice in the Democratic primary.
Centrist Independent Voter has endorsed Senator Chris Coons in Delaware’s September 15 Democratic primary for the United States Senate.
Coons has built the kind of record we would like to see more often in Congress: serious about American leadership abroad, willing to work across party lines and prepared to confront difficult fiscal and institutional questions rather than simply repeat his party’s preferred talking points.
He has been a strong supporter of Ukraine and America’s alliances, while supporting Israel’s security without treating support for Israel as an endorsement of every decision made by its government. He has also joined bipartisan efforts to address Social Security’s long-term finances and has opposed tariffs that raise costs for American consumers and businesses.
On immigration, Coons combines support for secure borders and enforcement with comprehensive reform and due-process protections. That approach is much closer to Centrist Independent Voter’s view than treating enforcement and humane immigration policy as opposing choices.
Coons faces three Democratic challengers, but none has made a persuasive case for replacing an experienced senator with his record of bipartisan and institutionally serious governing.
Centrist Independent Voter has endorsed Representative Maggie Goodlander in the September 8 Democratic primary for New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District.
Goodlander has served in Congress only since January 2025, but she has already demonstrated the institutional seriousness and willingness to work across party lines that Centrist Independent Voter looks for in candidates.
Her background includes service as a Navy Reserve intelligence officer, constitutional-law professor, Justice Department official and adviser to Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman. In Congress, she has worked on government transparency, Pentagon accountability, fiscal responsibility and ethics reform.
Goodlander also supports Ukraine, favors immigration reform that combines secure borders with a legal path for long-established undocumented residents, and has signed the Promise to America, whose principles include capitalism, fiscal responsibility, free speech, secure borders and continued American leadership abroad.
We do have an important disagreement with Goodlander over her vote to end $3.3 billion in annual direct military assistance to Israel. But she continues to support Israel’s security and American assistance for Israeli air defense. Her primary opponent, Paige Beauchemin, takes a considerably more restrictive position on American support for Israel and is also challenging Goodlander from the party’s ideological left on several other issues.
No candidate will agree with us on everything. Goodlander offers the stronger combination of experience, institutional judgment, political realism and bipartisan potential.
Centrist Independent Voter has endorsed Brian Shortsleeve in Massachusetts’s Republican primary for governor.
Shortsleeve is a conservative on fiscal matters but considerably more moderate than many Republicans on social issues. In a state as heavily Democratic as Massachusetts, we think that combination gives him a better chance to govern effectively and work with a legislature that will almost certainly remain controlled by Democrats.
Shortsleeve’s record in business and public administration, his fiscal seriousness and his willingness to depart from Republican orthodoxy make him the stronger choice in the primary.
We do not agree with Shortsleeve on every issue. The full endorsement discusses those differences as well as the reasons we believe they are outweighed by his experience, pragmatism and ability to govern across partisan lines.
Centrist Independent Voter has endorsed Gentner Drummond in Oklahoma’s August 25 Republican runoff for governor.
Drummond is a conservative Republican, and we disagree with him on several important issues. But his record as Oklahoma attorney general demonstrates something we increasingly value in elected officials: a willingness to exercise independent judgment even when doing so puts him at odds with powerful members of his own party.
That independence has appeared repeatedly. Drummond challenged Oklahoma’s proposed publicly funded religious charter school, sought a new trial for death-row inmate Richard Glossip after concluding that his original trial was unfair, pursued a more cooperative relationship with Oklahoma’s tribal nations, and has continued opposing the proposed Inola aluminum smelter despite President Trump’s support for the project.
We do not necessarily agree with every decision Drummond has made. What matters is that the evidence suggests those decisions are based on his understanding of Oklahoma’s interests and the law rather than simply on presidential or party preference.
That makes him the stronger choice in the Republican runoff.
Centrist Independent Voter has endorsed independent candidate Todd Achilles for the U.S. Senate from Idaho.
Achilles is challenging longtime Republican Senator Jim Risch. With the Democratic nominee no longer in the race, Achilles is now the principal alternative to Risch in November.
There is much to like in Achilles’s background and platform. He is an Army veteran, former technology executive, public-policy teacher and former member of the Idaho House. He takes the federal debt seriously, supports legal immigration alongside border enforcement, defends personal freedoms and favors reforms intended to make Congress more accountable.
We also disagree with him on several issues, including parts of his tax, economic and political-reform agenda.
But the most important reason for our endorsement goes beyond Achilles himself.
The Fulcrum Caucus
Achilles is working with several other independent Senate candidates to create what they call a Fulcrum Caucus. Rather than automatically joining either major-party caucus, these senators would organize as an independent bloc.
In a closely divided Senate, even a small number of independent senators could hold the balance of power. They could use that leverage to encourage bipartisan legislation, strengthen congressional independence and require both parties to negotiate over how the Senate is organized.
The idea resembles the strategy Charles Wheelan proposed in The Centrist Manifesto: elect enough centrist senators that neither major party can govern without dealing with them.
We have long regarded some version of this approach as one of the most plausible ways to give centrist and independent voters genuine institutional power.
Achilles is a long shot in strongly Republican Idaho. But endorsements should identify candidates who offer a better path to responsible government, not simply predict who is most likely to win.
Centrist Independent Voter has endorsed Lisa Kinney in Wyoming’s August 18 Democratic primary for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Kinney served ten years in the Wyoming Senate, including two years as minority leader. What most distinguishes her for us is her record of working across party lines and her explicit interest in finding a small group of moderate members of Congress who can cooperate and exercise meaningful influence.
We do not agree with Kinney on everything. We have reservations about some of her tax proposals, and we have not found a clear statement from her on continued American assistance to Ukraine. Her explicit support for NATO is reassuring, but voters should watch for further clarification on Ukraine and related foreign-policy questions before the primary.
Those reservations do not outweigh her experience, independence and demonstrated willingness to work with Republicans. In a Congress increasingly organized around partisan loyalty, those qualities deserve support.
Wyoming voters now have CIVPAC-endorsed candidates in both House primaries: Lisa Kinney in the Democratic primary and Kevin Christensen in the Republican primary.
Centrist Independent Voter has endorsed Sam Mead in Wyoming’s August 18 Republican primary for the United States Senate.
Mead is challenging Representative Harriet Hageman, who entered Congress after defeating Liz Cheney in 2022. There is a certain symmetry to the race: Cheney delivered her concession speech that year from the Mead family ranch.
But our endorsement is not about relitigating that election.
It is about whether Republican senators should exercise independent judgment or regard loyalty to Donald Trump as part of their job description.
Mead has said senators should judge presidential nominees on competence, character and ethics rather than partisan loyalty. He has defended Congress’s constitutional authority over war, criticized deficit spending, supported secure borders combined with legal immigration reform, and opposed wholesale disposal of Wyoming’s public lands.
We have reservations. Mead needs to provide much more detail on Ukraine, NATO, China and federal fiscal policy.
But he offers something increasingly scarce in Republican politics: a willingness to tell a president of his own party no.
Four years after Hageman defeated Cheney, Wyoming Republicans have an opportunity to send a different kind of conservative to Washington.
Centrist Independent Voter has endorsed Eric Barlow in Wyoming’s August 18 Republican primary for governor.
Barlow is a conservative Republican, and we disagree with him on important issues, particularly abortion. He supported Wyoming’s near-total abortion prohibition and its ban on medication abortion in 2023.
But primary elections require voters to choose among the candidates actually running. In this field, Barlow offers the strongest combination of governing experience, institutional temperament and practical conservatism.
A veterinarian, rancher, Marine veteran and former speaker of the Wyoming House, Barlow has emphasized health care, water, public lands, education, economic opportunity and the future of Wyoming’s smaller communities. His energy policy is notably pragmatic: he supports the state’s traditional industries while remaining open to nuclear power and other sources, arguing that growing electricity demand means “every electron matters.”
Barlow has also resisted the factional politics that increasingly dominate the Wyoming Republican Party. His principal opponent, state Superintendent Megan Degenfelder, has built much of her campaign around President Trump’s endorsement and alignment with his political movement.
We still have unanswered questions about Barlow’s views on the 2020 election, Trump’s efforts to overturn it and the proper limits of presidential power. Voters should continue looking for clear answers before casting their ballots.
On balance, however, Barlow offers Wyoming Republicans the better choice: experienced, serious and more interested in governing than ideological performance.
Centrist Independent Voter has endorsed Jim Priest in Oklahoma’s August 25 Democratic runoff for the United States Senate.
Priest is a long-shot candidate in a strongly Republican state, but that does not make the Democratic choice unimportant. His background as a lawyer, nonprofit executive and minister is accompanied by an unusually explicit commitment to working with practical problem-solvers in both parties.
We particularly agree with Priest’s criticism of tariffs. Tariffs are largely paid by American consumers and businesses, and unpredictable trade policy raises costs for farmers and other producers. Priest also argues that Congress should reclaim its constitutional authority over trade.
His foreign-policy program needs more detail, and his domestic proposals need a clearer accounting of their costs. Those are real reservations.
But Priest offers a more practical approach than runoff opponent N’Kiyla Jasmine Thomas, who has made removing President Trump within her first 100 days a central campaign promise. Centrist Independent Voter has serious objections to Trump and could support impeachment when justified by the evidence. A Senate candidate, however, should recognize that impeachment begins in the House and that conviction requires a two-thirds Senate vote. Opposition to a president is not a substitute for a governing program.
Priest’s combination of bipartisan instincts, institutional responsibility and economic realism makes him the stronger choice.
