Tag: U.S. Senate

Michigan U.S. Senate: An Evaluation, Not an Endorsement

Michigan U.S. Senate evaluation graphic featuring a purple outline of Michigan and the U.S. Capitol, with the text “Mike Rogers vs. Abdul El-Sayed,” “Centrist Independent Voter,” and “CIVPAC.”

We have completed our evaluation of the 2026 Michigan U.S. Senate race between Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.

It is not an endorsement.

We could not quite get there for either candidate.

That is worth putting in context. During the Democratic primary, CIVPAC endorsed Haley Stevens over El-Sayed. Had Michigan Democrats chosen Stevens as their nominee, we would probably have endorsed her in the general election as well. Our inability to endorse El-Sayed is therefore not simply a consequence of evaluating a Democrat against a Republican. It reflects concerns specific to his candidacy and policy program.

Rogers and El-Sayed present very different strengths, weaknesses and policy agendas. But each leaves us with an important unanswered question that goes beyond the ordinary disagreements voters should expect in a Senate race.

Our full evaluation examines those differences in considerable detail.

El-Sayed has produced one of the most extensive and specific policy platforms we have encountered this election cycle. (That is one reason why this evaluation has taken about a week to draft.) We agree with him on some important matters, including support for Ukraine, concern about unauthorized military action, protection of reproductive freedom, vocational education, increasing housing supply and taking potentially catastrophic artificial-intelligence risks seriously.

We disagree much more broadly with his economic approach. His Medicare for All proposal would create a far more comprehensive government-financed system than Medicare as Americans know it today. His proposed annual wealth taxes are extraordinarily high by international standards. His AI program would go beyond regulation to substantial government ownership and control of major AI companies. We also differ on labor policy, tariffs, climate policy, the Senate filibuster and restrictions on independent political spending.

But those normal policy disagreements are not what ultimately prevent us from reaching an endorsement.

For El-Sayed, the unresolved question concerns Israel.

He has repeatedly declined to say plainly that Israel should continue to exist as a Jewish state alongside a Palestinian state. He has said that whether there should ultimately be one state or two should be decided by “the people,” without clearly defining who he means by that term.

Our question for him is straightforward:

Does Abdul El-Sayed accept that Israel should continue to exist as a secure Jewish and democratic national home for the Jewish people, with equal individual rights for its non-Jewish citizens, alongside a viable Palestinian state in which Palestinians exercise their own national self-determination?

He is perfectly capable of answering it.

Mike Rogers presents a very different problem.

Rogers’s earlier career gives us substantial reasons to take him seriously. He has deep national-security experience and, in 2021, forcefully rejected Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. Rogers wrote then about the danger of blind allegiance to a person or party and insisted that certified election results should not be rejected without evidence.

The 2026 Rogers has aligned himself much more closely with President Trump.

To his credit, he has also demonstrated some real independence. He has called for an end to the Iran war, supported slowing AI development while safeguards are developed, and backed a Michigan pause on new data centers despite the administration’s very different approach.

But his comments about his own 2024 Senate loss remain difficult to reconcile with the standard he articulated in 2021. Rogers has suggested that a Detroit ballot delivery “swung” the election against him without producing evidence that anything improper occurred.

So our question for Rogers is equally straightforward:

Does he still apply to himself the standard he articulated when Donald Trump lost an election?

More broadly, where are the lines at which a future Senator Rogers would place his own judgment, constitutional responsibilities and institutional obligations ahead of loyalty to President Trump?

We are not asking either candidate to agree with CIVPAC on everything.

We are asking each to answer a question that bears directly on whether we can recommend entrusting him with a seat in the United States Senate.

Michigan voters should listen carefully for those answers.

Until we hear them, this remains an evaluation, not an endorsement.

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 Endorses Juliana Stratton for U.S. Senate in Illinois

Centrist Independent Voter endorsement graphic for Juliana Stratton for U.S. Senate in Illinois in 2026, featuring the U.S. Capitol and Illinois flag in a purple-and-white design.

CIVPAC has endorsed Juliana Stratton in Illinois’s 2026 U.S. Senate election.

The decision follows our review of Stratton, Republican Don Tracy, and American Center Party candidate Whitfield Harrington Jr. The race presents a difficult tradeoff between foreign policy, democratic institutions and the appropriate role of government in the economy.

Stratton is substantially closer to CIVPAC on several issues that have become increasingly important in our 2026 evaluations. She supports continued assistance to Ukraine, a strong NATO alliance, congressional checks on presidential war-making and greater restraint in the use of tariffs. She would also provide an independent partisan check on the Trump administration.

Our reservations about Stratton are substantial. Her domestic agenda includes Medicare for All, a $25 federal minimum wage and abolition of ICE. Those proposals would significantly expand the federal role in the economy and, in the case of Medicare for All, create major unanswered questions about financing.

Don Tracy is considerably closer to CIVPAC on conventional economic policy, health-care markets, regulation and the scale of government. He also supports NATO and Ukraine’s right to defend itself. But his greater willingness to defer to President Trump on war powers and tariffs, along with his support for pardons of January 6 defendants, raises questions about the degree of institutional independence he would bring to the Senate.

We also reviewed Whitfield Harrington Jr., who presents himself as a pragmatic centrist. His platform contains some interesting ideas, but his public record remains too limited on foreign policy, presidential power, immigration, fiscal policy and major social issues to evaluate him alongside the major-party candidates with confidence.

With Illinois voting beginning September 24, we concluded that the choice could no longer be deferred. Given the available record—and CIVPAC’s preference for divided government as a check on executive overreach—we endorsed Juliana Stratton.

Readers interested in the details can read our full Illinois U.S. Senate evaluation and endorsement.

Our other 2026 endorsements and evaluations are collected on our 2026 endorsements page.

CIVPAC Endorses Everett W. Wess for U.S. Senate in Alabama

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

CIVPAC has endorsed Everett W. Wess in Alabama’s 2026 U.S. Senate election.

The decision follows our review of Wess, Republican Congressman Barry Moore, and independent candidate Craig Jelks. Each presents a very different record, and our endorsement of Wess comes with reservations about gaps in his public positions.

Wess brings an unusually varied professional background. Before practicing law, he spent many years working in information technology. He subsequently practiced law for more than two decades and served as a municipal judge. We were particularly interested in his emphasis on constitutional government, congressional responsibility, political stability and the possibility of working constructively across party lines.

At the same time, Wess has not yet developed detailed public positions on several issues important to CIVPAC. We would like to know considerably more about his views on fiscal policy, energy, immigration and especially American foreign policy, including continued support for Ukraine and NATO.

We also considered independent Craig Jelks. Jelks has taken positions on tariffs, federal deficits, congressional war powers and political independence that reflect well on him. His candidacy nevertheless raises significant unanswered questions. His cultural conservatism differs from CIVPAC’s generally libertarian approach to personal issues, his comments suggesting that the United States is overly focused on foreign affairs give us concern about possible retrenchment, and he has not explained which party he would caucus with in the Senate. Nor has he yet demonstrated a substantial statewide electoral constituency.

Our greatest concerns involve Barry Moore’s established record. Moore continues to associate himself with claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, strongly identifies his Senate candidacy with President Trump, opposed the 2026 Ukraine Support Act, and supports the administration’s broad use of tariffs. Those positions conflict with several priorities that have become increasingly important in CIVPAC’s evaluations: respect for democratic institutions, an independent Congress, support for Ukraine and skepticism toward protectionism.

Readers interested in the details can read our full Alabama Senate evaluation and endorsement of Everett Wess.

Our other endorsements and evaluations for the 2026 elections are collected on our 2026 endorsements page.

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.

CIVPAC has endorsed Marquita Bradshaw for the United States Senate in Tennessee.

Tennessee outline and U.S. Capitol representing CIVPAC’s 2026 Tennessee U.S. Senate endorsement.

It was not an easy decision. In fact, we had been preparing to make no endorsement at all.

Republican incumbent Bill Hagerty is substantially closer to CIVPAC on many questions of taxation, regulation and economic policy. Bradshaw’s economic philosophy remains considerably to our left, and important questions remain about her views on Ukraine, NATO and America’s broader international responsibilities. Her current campaign focuses primarily on domestic priorities including education, health care, housing, voting rights, broadband, small business and environmental issues.

But Hagerty’s record raises a different set of concerns. He has opposed U.S. assistance to Ukraine, saying that he had opposed “every cent” of such aid and arguing that the United States should focus its resources at home. He has also generally supported President Trump on issues in which CIVPAC believes congressional independence deserves particular attention, including nominations, tariffs and presidential war powers.

The final consideration came from President Trump himself.

At the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Trump urged voters to treat the 2026 election as a referendum on his presidency, telling them to “pretend I’m on the ballot.”

CIVPAC has decided to take that invitation seriously.

For CIVPAC, divided government is not an automatic reason to support the opposition party. Candidates still have to be judged individually. But when questions of congressional independence and executive power are already central to an evaluation, the composition of the Senate becomes an additional consideration.

After weighing those factors, CIVPAC has endorsed Marquita Bradshaw for the U.S. Senate from Tennessee.

Read our full Tennessee U.S. Senate evaluation.

See all CIVPAC 2026 endorsements.

Minnesota U.S. Senate: No Endorsement, but a Detailed Evaluation

CIVPAC evaluation of the 2026 Minnesota U.S. Senate race between Peggy Flanagan and Michele Tafoya

CIVPAC has completed its review of the 2026 Minnesota U.S. Senate race between Peggy Flanagan and Michele Tafoya.

This is a different kind of non-endorsement.

We did not conclude that neither candidate is acceptable. Instead, our criteria point in different directions. Flanagan is closer to CIVPAC on issues including Ukraine and NATO, reproductive freedom and the value of divided government. Tafoya is closer on market economics, reduced taxes and regulation, law enforcement and limiting federal spending. Both also depart from CIVPAC in important ways, and several of Tafoya’s positions on major Senate issues remain insufficiently developed.

The result illustrates why political choices cannot always be reduced to a checklist. Two centrist independent voters could agree with every CIVPAC policy position—and even agree with our evaluation of both candidates—yet reasonably vote differently because they assign different weights to the competing issues.

Rather than manufacture an endorsement, we have tried to give Minnesota voters the information needed to make that judgment for themselves.

Read the full Minnesota U.S. Senate evaluation.

See CIVPAC’s complete 2026 endorsements and evaluations.

And if you know of additional candidate positions that would help resolve some of the unanswered questions, we invite you to comment. Better information could yet lead us to an endorsement.

CIVPAC endorses Senator Ben Ray Luján for reelection to the U.S. Senate from New Mexico.

CIVPAC endorsement graphic for Ben Ray Luján for U.S. Senate in New Mexico, with the New Mexico state outline and U.S. Capitol.

CIVPAC Endorses Ben Ray Luján for U.S. Senate in New Mexico

The endorsement is qualified. Our comparison finds substantial differences with Luján on economic policy, while Republican Larry Marker brings useful private-sector experience. But Marker has provided relatively little information on major responsibilities of a U.S. senator, including foreign policy, health care, climate policy and several questions of constitutional government.

The endorsement also examines a separate institutional consideration: the value of divided government as a check on executive power. In the present political environment, that consideration gives the New Mexico Senate race greater significance than the candidate comparison alone.

Read our full endorsement of Ben Ray Luján for U.S. Senate.

See all of Centrist Independent Voter’s 2026 candidate endorsements.

CIVPAC Endorses Shelley Moore Capito for U.S. Senate in West Virginia

CIVPAC endorsement of Shelley Moore Capito for U.S. Senate in West Virginia

CIVPAC has endorsed Sen. Shelley Moore Capito for reelection to the United States Senate from West Virginia.

Capito’s strongest case is her demonstrated commitment to constitutional democracy, her support for Ukraine and the international order, and her record of bipartisan governing. She is also substantially closer to CIVPAC on economic and health-care policy.

The endorsement is not without reservations. We disagree with Capito on reproductive freedom and are troubled by her position on presidential war powers in the current conflict with Iran.

Our full West Virginia U.S. Senate endorsement explains both the reasons for supporting Capito and the areas where CIVPAC continues to disagree with her.

You can also see all of our endorsements on the 2026 CIVPAC endorsements summary page.

CIVPAC Endorses Cory Booker for U.S. Senate in New Jersey

CIVPAC Centrist Independent Voter endorsement of Cory Booker for U.S. Senate in New Jersey

CIVPAC has endorsed Sen. Cory Booker for reelection to the United States Senate from New Jersey.

We have significant policy disagreements with Booker, particularly on health care and economic policy. But his commitment to constitutional democracy, congressional responsibility, bipartisan legislation and American leadership abroad makes the choice in this race unusually clear. Booker is also considerably closer to CIVPAC’s positions on reproductive freedom and immigration reform.

His Republican opponent, Justin Murphy deserves credit for his service in the United States Navy and for his forthright statement of his conservative principles. But Murphy’s refusal to accept the lawful result of the 2020 presidential election presents a threshold institutional problem that outweighs ordinary policy disagreements.

Our full New Jersey U.S. Senate endorsement explains both the reasons for supporting Booker and the areas where CIVPAC continues to disagree with him.

You can also see all of our endorsements on the 2026 CIVPAC endorsements summary page.