Tag: NATO

CIVPAC Endorses Chris Coons for U.S. Senate in Delaware

CIVPAC endorsement graphic for Chris Coons for U.S. Senate in Delaware in 2026, featuring the U.S. Capitol framed by an outline of Delaware in a purple-and-white design, with Centrist Independent Voter branding.

Centrist Independent Voter has endorsed Democratic Senator Chris Coons for reelection to the United States Senate from Delaware in 2026.

Coons will face Republican Michael Katz, a physician, businessman and former Delaware state senator. Our full Delaware Senate evaluation examines both candidates across foreign policy, presidential power, tariffs, taxation, health care, immigration, election administration, abortion and gun policy.

The endorsement reflects areas of both agreement and disagreement with Coons. His record on foreign policy is especially well developed. He has been a strong supporter of Ukraine and NATO, has taken substantive positions on China and Taiwan, Israel and Iran, and has repeatedly defended a congressional role in decisions involving war and presidential tariff authority.

Coons also differs from some members of his party in ways relevant to our evaluation. He does not advocate Medicare for All, has supported border enforcement as part of broader immigration reform, and has demonstrated a willingness to support some Trump administration nominees while opposing the most troubling ones. His record on biomedical research has also included significant bipartisan work.

There are important areas where CIVPAC disagrees with him. We do not favor his proposal to tax unrealized gains of extremely wealthy taxpayers, and several of his gun-control positions go farther than we would. We also generally favor a smaller and less regulatory federal government.

Katz presents a different problem. His campaign emphasizes fiscal discipline, deregulation, immigration enforcement and his experience as a physician. But on several issues important to CIVPAC, his positions remain either unclear or insufficiently developed. We found no sufficiently specific positions on Ukraine and NATO, China and Taiwan, Israel and Iran, presidential war powers, abortion, the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid or federal biomedical-research funding.

His current platform also repeatedly aligns itself with President Trump while leaving unanswered how Katz would respond when he disagreed with the president. Those questions matter particularly in evaluating a Senate candidate, because one of the Senate’s constitutional responsibilities is to provide an independent check on executive power.

Our endorsement of Coons therefore does not reflect agreement with him across the board. It reflects our assessment of the available record, including foreign policy, institutional independence, health care, trade, immigration, elections and the role of divided government.

Readers can see the complete reasoning in our Delaware U.S. Senate evaluation and review all of CIVPAC’s 2026 endorsements and evaluations.

CIVPAC has endorsed Jack Reed for reelection to the United States Senate from Rhode Island.

Rhode Island outline and U.S. Capitol representing CIVPAC’s 2026 endorsement of Jack Reed for U.S. Senate.

This is not an endorsement based on broad ideological agreement. Reed remains substantially to our left on labor policy, taxation and the proper scope of government. We disagree with him on important domestic economic questions.

But Reed is unusually strong on several issues that have become increasingly important in CIVPAC’s 2026 Senate evaluations.

He has been a consistent supporter of Ukraine and of America’s alliances, brings substantial experience in national security, and has repeatedly defended Congress’s constitutional authority over war powers and presidential use of emergency powers. His record gives us considerable confidence that he views the Senate as an independent branch of government rather than simply an extension of the executive.

The alternatives did not overcome that advantage. Republican Ray McKay is closer to CIVPAC on some conventional economic issues, but his campaign has closely identified itself with President Trump and has provided relatively little detail on Ukraine, NATO and congressional independence. Independent Michael Bahry offers a more developed foreign-policy position, but his support for American withdrawal from NATO is fundamentally at odds with CIVPAC’s view of the United States’ international responsibilities.

On balance, Reed’s strengths on foreign policy, Ukraine and institutional responsibility outweigh our significant disagreements with him on domestic policy.

CIVPAC therefore endorses Jack Reed for reelection to the U.S. Senate from Rhode Island.

Read our full Rhode Island U.S. Senate evaluation.

See all CIVPAC 2026 endorsements.

Centrist Independent Voter Endorses Jessica Killin in Colorado’s 5th District

Colorado general-election endorsement graphic featuring the state outline, the U.S. Capitol and the Centrist Independent Voter compass rose.

Centrist Independent Voter has endorsed Jessica Killin, the Democratic nominee for Congress in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District.

Killin is an Army veteran who describes herself as part of “Team Normal.” We disagree with her on some economic policies, particularly proposals aimed at restricting institutional housing investors and increasing assistance to homebuyers when housing supply remains constrained.

But Killin gets several important things right. She opposes President Trump’s tariffs, recognizes the need to increase housing supply, supports a combination of border security and legal status for otherwise law-abiding immigrants, and believes Congress should reclaim authority it has surrendered to the executive branch.

Her foreign-policy background is also important. Killin served eight years in the Army and worked on NATO expansion and peacekeeping in Europe. She has spoken strongly about the importance of American alliances and NATO to U.S. national security.

Her Republican opponent, Representative Jeff Crank, has taken the other side on several issues that matter greatly to us, including voting against the Ukraine Support Act and against congressional efforts to limit unauthorized presidential military action against Iran.

We do not expect candidates we endorse to agree with us on everything. We do expect them, on balance, to offer the better combination of sound policy, independent judgment and respect for democratic institutions.

We believe Jessica Killin does.

Read our full endorsement of Jessica Killin.

See also Centrist Independent Voter’s 2026 candidate endorsements.