Candidates in Texas, Kansas, Alaska Court Cross-Party Backers Before November Vote
Democratic hopefuls are stacking up Republican endorsements, though political scientists say such crossovers move small shares of voters.
By Yasmin Nasser ·
Midterm candidates are publicly counting their cross-party endorsements in the final days before the November elections.
The endorsements started stacking up in September, when former Kansas Governors Bill Graves and Mike Hayden said they were backing Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hamilton. In Alaska, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins this Tuesday. In Texas, the campaign for Democrat James Talarico said more than two dozen former GOP officials have endorsed him over Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. Former GOP state senator Kel Seliger joined that list this week. "I've served with both people," Seliger said. "James Talarico is not some wild-eyed socialist.. I think he's going to be honest."
Republicans point to their own crossover lists. Natalie Baldassarre, national press secretary for the Republican National Committee, cited the Michigan Senate race between Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed, and the Texas contest between Paxton and Talarico, as places where voters may cross party lines. Baldassarre also named the coalition "Democrats for Mike Rogers."
Joshua Blank, research director for the Texas Politics Project, said the effect of such crossovers on election outcomes is typically limited. "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 as behaviors confined to a small share of the electorate, adding, "Now, if the elections close, this could really matter."
Recent polling has found some midterm races growing tighter, with some contests statistically tied.
Voters head to the polls in November.
