Republicans may have a slight advantage going into the 2020 election season.
According to a new report, big-name Democratic candidates — including Beto O’Rourke (TX), John Hickenlooper (CO), and Stacey Abrams (GA) — have shown little interest in running in Senate races they were expected to dominate in 2020.
Eye on the prize
According to The Hill, the list is now up to at least seven high profile Democrats who have pulled out of Senate races. Many of them have their eye on a bigger prize: the White House.
O’Rourke, Hickenlooper, and Steve Bullock (MT) all fall into this category, and they may soon be joined by Abrams, who is currently deciding whether to make a presidential bid or run against GOP Sen. David Perdue.
“I am thinking about it. I truly am,” Abrams said of running for president. “I think that the timing for me is first deciding about the Senate because I do think you cannot run for an office unless you know that’s the job you want to do.”
Others who are foregoing a Senate run including former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, former transportation secretary Anthony Foxx, and Josh Stein, an up-and-coming North Carolina politician who has decided to run for reelection as attorney general instead.
“The Senate is broken”
While many potential Senate candidates are opting not to run as they look to the White House, some say there’s another thing holding them back. According to The Hill’s Reid Wilson, “the allure of serving in the world’s greatest deliberative body is no longer what it once was.”
Indeed, an adviser to one of the Democrats who has decided not to run echoed that sentiment to The Hill.
“Currently the Senate is broken. Unfortunately, there is not sufficient self-awareness on the part of senators to know it is broken, and there is no appetite to fix it,” they said. “Many of those who aren’t running for Senate are people who like to get things done. They would wither and die as junior members of the current Senate.”
Looking forward
Unsurprisingly, some Democrats aren’t happy that their top players are giving up races for the Senate. Still, some say Democratic prospects for the legislative body remain strong.
“Republicans have a terrible map, vulnerable incumbents and a toxic agenda, which is why even in this early stage we’re seeing a lot of interest to run and hold them accountable,” said a spokeswoman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “In the months ahead, you’ll continue to see strong, compelling and competitive candidates in these battleground states.”
Republicans, on the other hand, believe that key Democrats pulling out points to the strength of those representing their party.
“I think it’s a testament to the strength of Republican senators that are up for reelection in each of those states,” said one spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “I think they’ve done a tremendous job of appealing to their constituents’ needs and finding the right issues to work on in the Senate, and these Democrats recognize that connection with these constituents and are deathly afraid of challenging them in 2020.”
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