Tag: Senate Candidate Evaluations

Florida Senate Evaluation Published: CIVPAC Makes No Endorsement

CIVPAC Florida U.S. Senate 2026 candidate evaluation — no endorsement

CIVPAC has moved its Florida U.S. Senate evaluation from the draft pool to publication and makes no endorsement among Republican incumbent Ashley Moody, Democrat Angie Nixon and No Party Affiliation candidate Neil Gillespie.

Moody is considerably closer to us on a number of economic and foreign-policy questions, including support for sanctions against Russia. But her Senate record raises serious concerns about congressional independence. She has supported a series of controversial Trump nominees, backed the administration’s exercise of emergency tariff authority and repeatedly declined to support congressional efforts to assert its constitutional authority over military action.

Nixon would provide a stronger partisan check on the administration, an important consideration given our increasing concern about executive power and the value of divided government. But her domestic agenda—including Medicare for All, a federal jobs guarantee, national rent controls, tuition-free public college, a wealth tax and abolition of right-to-work laws—lies far to our left. Her positions on Israel and unanswered questions about Ukraine, NATO and broader American international leadership create additional concerns. Nixon’s own platform confirms many of these domestic and foreign-policy positions. Angie Nixon for U.S. Senate

The Democratic primary also demonstrates that this choice was not inevitable. Nixon defeated Alexander Vindman, who offered a substantially different combination of positions and whom CIVPAC would have viewed much more favorably. We mention that not to relitigate the primary, but because it helps explain the particular choices now before Florida voters. Washington Post

Gillespie’s rejection of conventional partisan politics initially merits attention from an organization focused on independent voters, but we have found too little of a developed policy program—and no clear indication of how he would caucus in the Senate—to recommend him as an alternative.

The result is an unusual but straightforward conclusion: Moody is closer on many policies but has not demonstrated the institutional independence we want from a senator serving under a president of her own party; Nixon offers greater institutional opposition to the White House but asks us to accept domestic and foreign-policy positions too far removed from our own; and Gillespie has not yet provided enough information for a comparable evaluation.

CIVPAC therefore makes no endorsement in Florida’s 2026 U.S. Senate election.

Read the full Florida U.S. Senate evaluation and no-endorsement.

See all CIVPAC 2026 Senate endorsements and evaluations.

See all CIVAPC 2026 Endorsements

CIVPAC Completes Its Review of the 2026 U.S. Senate Races

CIVPAC completes review of every 2026 U.S. Senate race with Oregon endorsement of Jeff Merkley

CIVPAC has published its evaluation of the 2026 U.S. Senate race in Oregon, completing its review of every Senate general-election race this year.

The Oregon evaluation endorses Democratic incumbent Jeff Merkley over Republican David Brock Smith, Libertarian Gary Dye and Progressive/Pacific Green candidate Chris Henry.

This is not an endorsement based on broad agreement with Merkley’s domestic agenda. The evaluation identifies substantial differences over Medicare for All, labor policy, wealth taxation and the use of government direction rather than market mechanisms to address climate change.

There are also important areas of agreement. Merkley has strongly supported Ukraine and has been an active advocate of Congress reclaiming its constitutional authority over decisions involving war. The evaluation also finds substantial common ground on democratic institutions and parts of Middle East policy. Merkley

Brock Smith is closer to CIVPAC on several economic and regulatory questions. But the evaluation raises concerns about climate change, the effort to challenge the 2020 election results, voting policy and abortion. OPB has reported both his rejection of human contributions to climate change and his participation in the 2020 Texas election challenge. (OPB) opb

His relationship with President Trump is also important to the evaluation. Willamette Week described Brock Smith as an outspoken Trump supporter and reported that, when asked whether he disagreed with anything Trump had done during his second term, he did not identify an example. CIVPAC was also unable to find sufficiently clear positions from him on tariffs, Ukraine, NATO or the Iran war. (Willamette Week) Willamette Week

In the end, the value of divided government tipped the balance. The Oregon evaluation argues that congressional checks on executive authority work less effectively when members of Congress are unwilling to challenge a president of their own party. For this moment, that consideration favors returning Merkley to the Senate. The endorsement is explicitly conditional: if the White House were occupied by a Democrat, particularly one well to the left of center, Merkley would probably not receive CIVPAC’s endorsement.

Read the full Oregon U.S. Senate evaluation and endorsement.

See all CIVPAC 2026 Senate endorsements and evaluations.

With the Oregon review, CIVPAC has now reviewed every 2026 U.S. Senate general-election race. We have published endorsements in 26 races, including Alaska, published evaluations without an endorsement in 3, and have 6 completed drafts still under review and awaiting publication.

That completes the research stage of the Senate project. The races will continue to be followed, and evaluations or endorsements can be revisited if significant new information warrants it.