Candidate for Texas’ 23rd District
Interview Date: Oct. 20, 2017
Date of Birth: Feb. 1, 1981; Arlington, Va.
Education: Boston University (Bachelor’s, two Master’s degrees, 2003)
Elected Office: None; First run for office
Current Outlook: The 23rd District, which stretches across a significant chunk of the Texas-Mexico border, will be…
Candidate for California’s 50th District
Interview Date: Oct. 12, 2017
Date of Birth: Jan. 31, 1969; Bethesda Naval Hospital, Md.
Education: Southern Illinois Univ. Carbondale (Bachelor’s, 1995); Naval Postgraduate School/Naval War College (Masters, 2001); Arizona State Univ. (attended)
Political Office: Jamul-Dulzura School Board
Current Outlook: In 2016, GOP Rep. Duncan…
Candidate for Indiana Senate
Interview Date: Oct. 25, 2017
Date of Birth: March 24, 1954; Jasper, Ind.
Education: Wabash College (1976); Harvard (1978 MBA)
Elected Office: State House; Jasper school board (former)
Current Outlook: The Beltway seems to be focused on the GOP primary feud between Rep. Todd Rokita and…
YORBA LINDA, Calif. — Celina Estrada and Sam Zapata weren’t even born when Republican Ed Royce was first elected to Congress in 1992. Yet a year before the 2018 elections, the two students spent a recent evening knocking on doors in the hills of Orange County, California, to support the…
New York Rep. John Katko and Minnesota Rep. Erik Paulsen have been very popular with voters. Unbeatable? Maybe not, but certainly well-entrenched and able to win in very challenging environments.
But even popular incumbents have been swept from office during partisan electoral waves, and Republicans Katko and Paulsen should be…
I’ve interviewed at least 1,000 congressional candidates over the last 16 years, but never 16 candidates in two days.
More than 100 Democratic candidates running for the House descended on the nation’s capital a few weeks ago for candidate training hosted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Leah and I…
Democrats haven’t struggled to recruit candidates, but this week’s results in Virginia should encourage any wavering House challengers to get off the sidelines. Even so, it remains unclear whether Tuesday’s sweeping victories portend a national electoral wave next year.
Two gubernatorial wins and unexpected gains in the House of Delegates…
Alabama. Feb. 9 filing deadline. June 5 primary.
2nd District (Martha Roby, R, re-elected in 2016 with 49%). 2016 Presidential Winner: Trump 65%. The congresswoman looked at risk of another primary challenger after facing down one in 2016 and getting less than 50 percent in the general election when a…
Kansas. June 1 filing deadline. Aug. 7 primary.
2nd District (Open; Lynn Jenkins, R, not seeking re-election). Trump 56%. The combination of an open seat and a strong Democratic candidate makes this a competitive race, even though Trump won handily. Former state House Minority Leader Paul Davis carried the 2nd…
North Carolina. Feb. 28 filing deadline. May 8 primary.
2nd District (George Holding, R, re-elected 57%). Trump 53%. Businessman Sam Searcy, who owns a vodka distillery and has the ability to self-fund, could mount a serious challenge to Holding. Searcy raised just $95,000 in the third quarter but put in…
