Midterm Candidates Chase Crossover Support as Elections Tighten
Republican officials back Democratic nominees in key states, but experts argue the voting shift may be too small to decide November results.
By Anthony Lawson ·
Midterm election campaigns in several states are actively courting voters from the opposing party.
Republican leaders in Alaska, Kansas, and Texas have endorsed Democratic candidates in the final weeks before the November vote.
In Alaska, Senator Lisa Murkowski endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins on Tuesday. In Kansas, former Republican governors Bill Graves and Mike Hayden announced their support for Democratic Senate candidate Adam Hamilton in September and October.
Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico reported that more than two dozen former GOP officials back his campaign. Kel Seliger, a former GOP state senator, joined them this week. Seliger chose Talarico over Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton. “James Talarico is not some wild-eyed socialist,” Seliger said. “I think he’s going to be honest. And I think he’s going to be frank and direct.”
Republican Party officials expect similar cross-party support for their nominees. Natalie Baldassarre, the national press secretary for the Republican National Committee, cited the Michigan race between Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed. She also pointed to a coalition called Democrats for Mike Rogers.
Joshua Blank, research director for the Texas Politics Project, said these shifts usually involve small groups of voters. “We’re not talking about a large group of Republicans crossing party lines,” Blank said. “We’re ultimately talking about what are kind of idiosyncratic behaviors they’re going to take place among a small, small share of the electorate.”
Recent polling indicates that several midterm races have become statistically tied. Blank noted that if the elections are close, this small share of cross-party voters could determine the outcome.
