Midterm candidates chase cross-party endorsements as polls tighten
Sen. Lisa Murkowski and former governors back Democratic rivals, but researchers question if these few votes will decide November races.
By Stella Brooks ·
With days left until the November 3 vote, midterm candidates are increasingly touting support from the opposing party. This strategy has gained momentum in recent weeks, though political scientists remain skeptical of its actual impact on final results.
The trend is visible across multiple states. In Alaska, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins on Tuesday. In Kansas, former Republican governors Bill Graves and Mike Hayden announced their backing for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hamilton in September and October, respectively.
Texas offers another example of this cross-aisle activity. The campaign for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico reports that more than two dozen former GOP officials have endorsed him. This list expanded this week when former state senator Kel Seliger joined, choosing Talarico over Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Seliger, who served with both candidates, defended his choice by emphasizing character over ideology. “James Talarico is not some wild-eyed socialist and he may believe in a lot of things that Democratic Party believes in that I don’t. But I think he’s going to be honest. And I think he’s going to be frank and direct. I think that the things that he does are going to be what is best for Texas. Not what’s best for Elon Musk,” Seliger said.
Republican officials are not silent on the matter. Natalie Baldassarre, national press secretary for the Republican National Committee, noted that crossover voting is occurring in key contests. She cited the Michigan race between Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed, as well as the Texas Senate contest, and pointed to the “Democrats for Mike Rogers” coalition as evidence of this shift.
Despite the public displays of unity, Joshua Blank, research director for the Texas Politics Project, argues that these endorsements often represent a small fraction of the electorate. “We’re not talking about a large group of Republicans crossing party lines to vote for Democrats, or a large group of Democrats possibly crossing party lines to vote for Republicans,” Blank said. He described the behavior as idiosyncratic among a small share of voters, noting that it only becomes a decisive factor if the elections are statistically tied.
Recent polling data supports the view that several midterm races have narrowed considerably. In some contests, the margin of error is large enough to render the results statistically tied, a scenario where a small shift in cross-party voting could determine the winner.
