Murkowski and GOP leaders back Democratic challengers in key midterm races

Voters in three states are seeing more candidates who do not share their party affiliation receive public support from senior elected officials. In Alaska, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins on Tuesday. This move places a sitting Republican senator behind a Democrat for the state's top executive job.

The trend extends to the Senate races in the Midwest and South. Former Kansas governors Bill Graves and Mike Hayden, both Republicans, announced their backing for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hamilton in September and October. In Texas, the campaign for Democratic Sen. James Talarico reported that more than two dozen former GOP officials have now joined his support base. This includes Kel Seliger, a former state senator who announced his endorsement this week instead of supporting Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Seliger explained his choice by citing his professional history with both candidates. “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,” Seliger said. “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.”

Republican strategists argue that this cross-party appeal is a two-way street. Natalie Baldassarre, the national press secretary for the Republican National Committee, pointed to the “Democrats for Mike Rogers” coalition in Michigan as evidence that Democrats are also voting for Republicans. “I do think you’re seeing that this cycle, especially in races like in Michigan with Mike Rogers against Abdul El-Sayed, and in Texas with Ken Paxton against James Talarico,” Baldassarre said.

Political scientists caution that these endorsements may not shift the final outcomes. Joshua Blank, research director for the Texas Politics Project, noted that cross-party voting usually involves a small segment 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 these shifts as idiosyncratic behaviors that only become decisive if the margins are extremely tight.

Recent polling data indicates that several of these contests have narrowed to statistically tied positions. Candidates in Alaska, Kansas, and Texas will continue to promote these bipartisan endorsements through the final days of the campaign.

The next scheduled event in this cycle is the general election on November 3, 2026, where voters will decide these closely watched races.