The tenure of fewer than two-dozen U.S. Senators includes service in each of their state’s seats during the direct election era

Thanks to Smart Politics reader Brad K. for inquiring about this topic.

With Democrats looking to expand the 2026 map as large as possible to pry away enough GOP-held U.S. Senate seats to win back control of the chamber, one of the states they hope to flip is Ohio – where recently unseated Sherrod Brown is poised to face appointed incumbent Jon Husted.

Brown, a former three-term U.S. Senator from the state’s Class I seat, is attempting to become the 23rd member of the chamber to serve in each of his state’s senate seats during the direct election era.

Over the last 223 years since statehood, four Ohioans have served in the U.S. Senate from both seats, with Democrat Howard Metzenbaum the only one to do so since the 1800s.

Metzenbaum was appointed to the Class III seat in January 1974 by Governor John Gilligan following the resignation of Republican William Saxbe to become U.S. Attorney General.

Metzenbaum then lost the Democratic primary that cycle to retired astronaut John Glenn but won his party’s nomination to the Class I seat in 1976 and returned to D.C. by unseating Robert Taft, Jr. in the general election in a rematch of the 1970 contest.

Three Ohio U.S. Senators served in both seats prior to the direct election era:

• Democratic-Republican Thomas Worthington: 1803-1807 (Class III) and 1810-1814 (Class I)
• Anti-Jacksonian / Whig Thomas Ewing: 1831-1837 (Class III) and 1850-1851 (Class I)
• Republican John Sherman: 1861-1877 (Class III) and 1881-1897 (Class I)

Arizona’s Jon Kyl was the most recent U.S. Senator to accomplish this feat across the nation following his appointment by Governor Doug Ducey in September 2018 to fill the vacancy after John McCain’s death. Kyl served four months in the Class III seat, having previously held office from 1995 to 2013 in the Class I seat.

Three other U.S. Senators served from both seats with at least one stint partially in the 21st Century:

• Washington Republican Slade Gorton: 1981-1987 (Class III) and 1989-2001 (Class I)
• North Dakota Democrat Kent Conrad: 1987-1992 (Class III) and 1992-2013 (Class I)
• New Jersey Democrat Frank Lautenberg: 1982-2001 (Class I) and 2003-2013 (Class II)

Brown would be the first U.S. Senator whose tenure in both seats fell entirely during the 21st Century.

Four states have had two U.S. Senators hold both seats during the direct election era.

Iowa:

• Republican Smith Brookhart: 1922-1926 (Class II) and 1927-1933 (Class III)
• Democrat Guy Gillette: 1936-1945 (Class III) and 1949-1955 (Class II)

Massachusetts:

• Democrat David Walsh: 1919-1925 (Class II) and 1926-1947 (Class I)
• Republican Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.: 1937-1944 (Class II) and 1947-1953 (Class I)

New Jersey:

• Republican Warren Barbour: 1931-1937 (Class II) and 1938-1943 (Class I)
• Democrat Frank Lautenberg: 1982-2001 (Class I) and 2003-2013 (Class II)

West Virginia:

• Democrat Matthew Neely: 1923-1929 (Class I) and 1931-1941 (Class II)
• Republican Chapman Revercomb: 1943-1949 (Class II) and 1956-1959 (Class I)

The remaining U.S. Senators who represented their states from each seat are:

• Oklahoma Democrat Thomas Gore: 1907-1921 (Class III) and 1931-1937 (Class II)
• Delaware Republican T. Coleman du Pont: 1921-1922 (Class I) and 1925-1928 (Class II)
• Kentucky Democrat Alben Barkley: 1927-1949 (Class III) and 1955-1956 (Class II)
• Idaho Republican John Thomas: 1928-1933 (Class III) and 1940-1945 (Class II)
• Wyoming Democrat Joseph O’Mahoney: 1934-1953 (Class I) and 1954-1961 (Class II)
• Indiana Republican William Jenner: 1944-1945 (Class III) and 1947-1959 (Class I)
• Minnesota DFLer Hubert Humphrey: 1949-1964 (Class II) and 1971-1978 (Class I)
• Connecticut Republican William Purtell: 1952 (Class III) and 1953-1959 (Class I)
• Arizona Republican Barry Goldwater: 1953-1965 (Class I) and 1969-1987 (Class III)
• Texas Democrat William Blakley: 1957 (Class I) and 1961 (Class II)

The aforementioned North Dakotan Kent Conrad is of note because he moved from the state’s Class III to Class I seat in 1992 without a gap in service – unlike the other senators listed in this report.

Follow Smart Politics on X.

The post Sherrod Brown and a Review of US Senators Holding Both Senate Seats appeared first on Smart Politics.

The party is poised to field a record number of U.S. Senate primary candidates against a well-funded GOP incumbent despite a near century electoral drought

When it comes to U.S. politics over the last century, perhaps nothing has been more certain than Republicans winning U.S. Senate seats in Kansas.

The GOP has reeled in a party-record 33 consecutive victories following Democratic incumbent George McGill’s victory in 1932.

A win this November would land Kansas Republicans the all-time mark of 34 in a row during the direct election era – breaking a tie with Louisiana Democrats from 1914 through 2002.

By all accounts, the Sunflower State should not be on anyone’s radar as Republicans attempt to fend off a Democratic attempt to pry back control of the nation’s upper legislative chamber this November.

Republicans are running U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, who has several million dollars of cash on hand for his reelection bid. Marshall also currently does not face any opposition in the August 4th primary, with a little more than five weeks until the filing deadline closes on June 1st.

Moreover, Kansas GOP nominees have won the last 13 elections since 1990 by an average of 31.4 points – the seventh largest margin in the country during this 18-cycle period. Each victory has been by a double-digit margin.

And yet, Democrats have come out of the woodwork this cycle with 10 candidates announcing their campaigns to challenge Sen. Marshall. The Kansas Democratic Party is not known for having a particularly deep bench and only one of these announced candidates holds political office (first term State Senator Patrick Schmidt of Topeka).

Barring a last-minute (and potentially field-clearing) candidacy by four-term U.S. Representative Sharice Davids, the number of Democrats to appear on the primary ballot for the U.S. Senate this August is poised to set a party record. [Of the 10 announced candidates, four have filed declaration of intention forms with the Kansas Secretary of State and six others (plus one overlapping both) have filed statement of candidacies with the Federal Election Commission].

Across the 42 primaries held for the U.S. Senate in Kansas since 1912, the largest number of Democratic U.S. Senate primary candidates has been seven – in a contest held more than 110 years ago in 1914.

That primary was won by two-term U.S. Representative George Neely of Hutchinson with 29.0 percent of the vote – 3.6 points ahead of attorney Hugh Farrelly of Chanute with 25.4 percent.

Farrelly, a former State Senator and attorney, was also the popular vote winner in the party’s 1912 primary, but nonetheless lost the nomination to 32nd Judicial District Court Judge William Thompson as the contest was determined by legislative units at that point in history.

Also on the seven-candidate Democratic primary ballot in 1914 were Galena attorney William Sapp (receiving 16.7 percent), Topeka Judge Frank Doster (11.1 percent), State House Speaker Willis Brown of Kingston (8.7 percent), former Populist one-term U.S. Representative and sitting Lansing State Penitentiary Warden Jeremiah Botkin of Winfield (6.6 percent), and Kansas City oil company executive William Plumb (2.6 percent).

Democrats have also fielded six U.S. Senate candidates twice: in 1980 (won by former Republican State Senator John Simpson) and 2022 (won by former Kansas City Mayor Mark Holland).

An average of 2.7 candidates have appeared on Democratic primary ballots for U.S. Senator since 1912 with seven nominees running unopposed: former Governor George Hodges in 1920, former Governor Jonathan Davis in 1930, former U.S. Senator George McGill in 1944, former Ellsworth County Attorney Paul Aylward in 1962’s special, Prairie Village anesthesiologist Arch Tetzlaff in 1972, Overland Park Bankers & Investors Co. president James Maher in 1984, and State Treasurer Sally Thompson in 1996.

No Democrats ran for the office of U.S. Senator in one of these 42 primaries – during the 2002 cycle against Senator Pat Roberts.

The most competitive nomination fight took place in 1956 when Wichita furrier George Hart defeated the aforementioned Paul Aylward by 0.4 points in a four-candidate field.

Democrats have been nominated for the U.S. Senate with a plurality of the vote 10 times: in 1912 (William Thompson, 32.3 percent), 1914 (George Neeley, 29.0 percent), 1924 (State Senator James Malone of Topeka, 30.2 percent), 1956 (George Hart, 40.4 percent), 1966 (former three-term U.S. Representative J. Floyd Breeding, 49.9 percent), 1968 (Wichita attorney William Robinson, 40.9 percent), 1980 (John Simpson, 35.8 percent), 1986 (unemployed Wichita political newcomer Guy McDonald, 27.7 percent), 2010 (Baker University Dean Lisa Johnston, 31.3 percent), and 2022 (Mark Holland, 38.1 percent).

Follow Smart Politics on X.

The post Do Kansas Democrats Smell Blood in the Water? appeared first on Smart Politics.

Midwestern states hold the Bottom Five and eight of the Bottom 10 slots in backing the party of the sitting president in U.S. Senate elections

Democrats are banking on a strong midterm election cycle with a stretch goal of taking back control of the United States Senate.

One key to that goal is to perform strongly in a region where voters have most commonly thumbed their noses and voted for a check on the president when voting in U.S. Senate races over the decades – the Midwest.

Smart Politics reviewed more than 2,000 U.S. Senate elections since 1913 and found that each of the five states that has been least likely to vote for a U.S. Senator from the party of the sitting president are all in the Midwest – Ohio (31.0 percent), Michigan (32.5 percent), Minnesota (33.3 percent), North Dakota (33.3 percent), and Illinois (34.1 percent).

Four of those five states – all but North Dakota – hold elections for the nation’s upper legislative chamber this November with Democrats eying a pick-up opportunity in Ohio where former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown is poised to face appointed incumbent Jon Husted.

Three other Midwestern states rank in the Bottom 10: Kansas and Wisconsin tied at #43 (39.0 percent) and South Dakota tied for #40 (42.1 percent).

Since 1913, states have backed the nominee of the party of the sitting president in 47.4 percent of U.S. Senate elections (959 of 2,023).

States in the South (50.3 percent), West (49.8 percent), and Northeast (49.4 percent) all demonstrate very similar historical numbers.

Midwestern voters, however, have voted for the president’s party in just 39.8 percent of U.S. Senate elections during this 110+ year span.

As for the remaining four Midwestern states, Missouri is ranked #15 (52.4 percent), Nebraska #19 (50.0 percent), Indiana #27 (47.6 percent), and Iowa #39 (42.1 percent).

Democrats are expecting to be competitive in Iowa’s 2026 election and are essentially ceding the fight to take on Republican Pete Ricketts in Nebraska to independent Dan Osborne.

The party is also hoping to flip another strong historical naysayer seat in Maine – where residents have voted for the president’s party in just 35.9 percent of elections (#45).

No state has voted for candidates from the president’s party in 60 percent or more of elections though Connecticut and New Mexico (59.5 percent each) come close.

Rhode Island (59.0 percent), Virginia (58.5 percent), and Wyoming (57.1 percent) round out the Top Five.

New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Virginia look to see those numbers fall this November by reelecting Democratic incumbents Ben Ray Luján, Jack Reed, and Mark Warner respectively.

Follow Smart Politics on X.

The post Midwestern States Most Likely to Vote Against President’s Party in US Senate Elections appeared first on Smart Politics.

It has been more than 130 years since the last time a South Carolinian was elected to a third nonconsecutive U.S. House term

In late March, former Republican South Carolina U.S. Representative Mark Sanford filed paperwork to win back his old 1st Congressional District seat that opened up this cycle with Rep. Nancy Mace running for governor.

Sanford served six terms in two stints sandwiched around his eight years as governor of the Palmetto State – three terms prior (1995-2001) and nearly three full terms thereafter (2013-2019).

It is not unusual for U.S. Representatives to return to the chamber – whether after a planned or unexpected exit. In South Carolina, nearly one-in-seven U.S. Representatives since statehood have served interrupted terms: 30 of 224 (13.4 percent).

Sanford, however, is attempting a second successful comeback for a third stint in the U.S. House – a feat only four of his predecessors in South Carolina have accomplished, and none since the 19th Century.

The South Carolinian with the most hiccups during his U.S. House tenure is Democrat William Elliott.

Elliott, an attorney from Beaufort and former State Representative, was first elected to congress in 1886, serving one full term plus half a year into his second from the 7th CD (1887-1889) when he lost an election contest to Republican Thomas Miller, a former State Representative.

Elliott won back his seat during the Election of 1890 and served one term (1891-1893) but did not seek reelection in 1892. He returned to the U.S. House after the 1894 election after unseating 1st CD Republican incumbent George Murray. That lasted for just 15 months (1895-1896), however, with Murray winning an election contest and regaining his seat in June 1896.

Elliott was elected back to the U.S. House for a state record fourth non-consecutive stint after winning the election of 1896 and subsequently served three full terms (1897-1903).

The first South Carolinian to serve three distinct periods in the U.S. House was Democratic-Republican Elias Earle – a former State Representative and State Senator.

Earle served one term in the 8th CD (1805-1807) before being unseated by former State Representative Lemuel Alston.

After four years out of office, Earle returned to congress after winning back his seat in 1810 and then served a second term from the 7th CD in 1812 (1811-1815) before losing the election of 1814 to former State Representative John Taylor.

Earle then unseated Taylor in 1816 and served two final terms (1817-1821).

Next came Thomas Mitchell, an attorney and former State Representative, who served the state’s 3rd congressional district during three stretches. He first won a U.S. House seat from 1821-1823 as a Democratic-Republican but lost reelection in 1822 to State Senator Robert Campbell.

Mitchell then unseated Campbell in 1824 as a Jacksonian and served two terms (1825-1829) before losing in 1828 to Campbell’s brother, John Campbell.

Mitchell returned to congress for one more term (1831-1833) before losing his seat for a third time in 1832.

Robert Smalls, a renowned black Republican from Beaufort who served in the Union Navy and later the state legislature, is the remaining U.S. Representative from South Carolina to serve three nonconsecutive terms.

Smalls won a seat from the 5th CD in 1874 and served two terms (1875-1879) and returned to the chamber (1882-1883) after successfully contesting the Election of 1880 against incumbent George Tillman.

Rep. Smalls was defeated again in 1882 but won the 7th CD seat in an 1884 special election and then a general election that fall (1884-1887).

The remaining 25 South Carolina U.S. Representatives to serve interrupted terms are:

• Democratic-Republican Thomas Sumter (4th CD): 1789-1793; 1797-1801
• Anti-Administration and Democratic-Republican Richard Winn (4th CD): 1793-1797; 1803-1813
• Democratic-Republican Wade Hampton: 1795-1797 (2nd CD); 1803-1805 (4th CD)
• Federalist Benjamin Huger (3rd CD): 1799-1805; 1815-1817
• Democratic-Republican Thomas Moore: 1801-1813 (6th and 7th CDs); 1815-1817 (8th CD)
• Democratic-Republican David Williams (3rd CD): 1805-1809; 1811-1813
• Democratic-Republican and Jacksonian James Blair: 1821-1822 (9th CD); 1829-1834 (8th CD)
• Jacksonian-Republican and Nullifier Robert Campbell (3rd CD): 1823-1825; 1834-1837
• Jacksonian, Nullifier, and Democrat John Campbell (3rd CD): 1829-1831; 1837-1845
• Nullifier William Clowney (7th CD): 1833-1835; 1837-1839
• Jacksonian and Democrat James Rogers (7th CD): 1835-1837; 1839-1843
• Democrat Preston Brooks (4th CD): 1853-1856; 1856-1857 [Note: Resigned in 1856 and then won a special election to fill his own vacancy].
• Democrat Laurence Keitt (3rd CD): 1853-1856; 1856-1860 [Note: Resigned in 1856 and then won a special election to fill his own vacancy].
• Republican Solomon Hoge (3rd CD): 1869-1871; 1875-1877
• Republican Richard Cain: 1873-1875 (At-large); 1877-1879 (2nd CD)
• Independent Republican and Republican Edmund Mackey (2nd CD): 1875-1876; 1882-1884
• Democrat George Tillman: 1879-1882 (5th CD); 1883-1891 (2nd CD)
• Democrat Samuel Dibble: 1881-1882 (2nd CD); 1883-1891 (1st CD)
• Republican George Murray: 1893-1895 (7th CD); 1896-1897 (1st CD)
• Democrat James Stokes (7th CD): 1895-1896; 1896-1901 [Note: Won a special election 1896 to fill his own vacancy].
• Democrat Butler Hare: 1925-1933 (2nd CD); 1939-1947 (3rd CD)
• Democrat John Riley (2nd CD): 1945-1949; 1951-1962
• Democrat William Dorn (3rd CD): 1947-1949; 1951-1974
• Democrat and Republican Albert Watson (2nd CD): 1963-1965; 1965-1971 [Note: Won a special election in 1965 to fill his own vacancy after changing his partisan affiliation from Democrat to Republican].
• Republican Bob Inglis (4th CD): 1993-1999; 2005-2011

Sanford is one of 11 Republicans seeking the GOP nomination with primaries set to be held on June 9th.

A majority is required to receive the party’s nomination or a run-off election will be conducted two weeks thereafter.

Follow Smart Politics on X.

The post Mark Sanford and a Review of South Carolina US Reps Serving Interrupted Terms appeared first on Smart Politics.

Vermont governors have won 23 consecutive reelection bids – best in the nation

Fifteen governors have declared their candidacies to seek another term in the 2026 election cycle (with the intentions of three others still to be determined). If past is prologue, one or more of these officeholders will be defeated at the ballot box.

At least one incumbent governor has been defeated in every midterm election dating back more than 110 years.

In fact, four or more governors have been unseated in all but four of the 28 midterms held since 1914. The outlier cycles are:

• 1986 (3): Alaska Democrat Bill Sheffield (primary), Texas Democrat Bill White, and Wisconsin Democrat Tony Earl
• 1998 (2): Alabama Republican Fob James and South Carolina Republican David Beasley
• 2006 (2): Alaska Republican Frank Murkowski (primary) and Maryland Republican Bob Ehrlich
• 2022 (1): Nevada Democrat Steve Sisolak

But a review of the last 1,007 election bids by sitting governors conducted since 1914 finds that incumbents have been victorious at the same rate in midterms as they have in presidential election cycles.

Overall, incumbents have won 709 of 1,006 elections since 1914, or 70.4 percent of their bids for another term. That rate is nearly identical in midterms (70.9 percent) and presidential cycles (70.7 percent). [Incumbents won 28 of 43 bids for another term in odd-numbered election years, or 65.1 percent].

Incumbent governors have fared better during the 21st Century, winning 166 out of 195 races, or 85.1 percent of their campaigns.

One of the three governors yet to declare his 2026 intentions is Vermont Republican Phil Scott (pictured) – who, despite leading a deep blue state, has little reason to worry that he would fail in a bid for a sixth term. Frequently ranked as one of the most popular governors in the nation, Scott also heads a state where incumbents have enjoyed unsurpassed success in winning reelection.

During this period under analysis, sitting Vermont governors have won 30 of 32 bids for another term (93.8 percent) – best in the nation.

In fact, Vermont governors have successfully run for reelection in 23 consecutive attempts – also the largest streak by far in the nation.

The most recent governor to fail at the ballot box in the state was first term Republican Ray Keyser in 1962. Keyser was notably defeated by Democratic state Representative Phillip Hoff by 1,315 votes, which marked the first time the GOP had lost the governorship since the formation of the Republican Party in 1854.

Following Vermont, Connecticut is next with each of the last 11 gubernatorial incumbents successful in their bids for a subsequent term. The last loss by a Connecticut governor was Republican John Lodge in 1954 to U.S. Representative Abraham Ribicoff.

The only other state with a longer period since an incumbent was unseated at the ballot box is Tennessee. In 1952, Governor Gordon Browning lost the Democratic primary to attorney Frank Clement.

Following Vermont and Connecticut, the largest active incumbent winning streaks are currently held by Arizona (nine in a row since 1966), Arkansas (eight, 1982), Idaho (eight, 1970), Wyoming (eight, 1962), Maine (seven, 1966), New Hampshire (seven, 2004), Tennessee (seven, 1952), and Colorado (seven, 1974).

Rounding out the Top 5 incumbent winning percentages after Vermont are Indiana, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina at 85.7 percent (six out of seven elections each) and Hawaii at 80.0 percent (eight of 10).

Regionally, governors in the Northeast have enjoyed the most success, claiming victory in 75.9 percent of bids for another term since 1914 (195 out of 257 attempts).

Just four incumbents from the Northeast have fell short in their reelection campaigns since the turn of the 21st Century, with governors winning 39 out of 43 attempts (90.7 percent): New Hampshire Republican Craig Benson in 2004, Maryland Republican Bob Ehrlich in 2006, New Jersey Democrat Jon Corzine in 2009, and Pennsylvania Republican Tom Corbett in 2014.

Since 1914, governors in the South region were reelected 72.3 percent of the time (136 of 188) compared to 69.7 percent in the Midwest (205 of 294) and just 64.8 percent in the West (173 of 267).

Alaska (five of 12, 41.7 percent), Wyoming (11 of 20, 55.0 percent), Nevada (12 of 21, 57.1 percent), Louisiana (five of nine, 55.6 percent), Oregon (12 of 21, 57.1 percent), and Illinois (12 of 21, 57.1 percent) are the only states in which sitting governors were victorious less than 60 percent of the time.

A forthcoming Smart Politics report will examine the winning percentage of sitting U.S. Senators since 1914.

Follow Smart Politics on X.

The post A Study of 1,000 Gubernatorial Incumbents appeared first on Smart Politics.

The best performance by a Texas Libertarian U.S. Senate nominee fails to crack the Top 70 in party history

More than a month before Texas Republican primary voters will choose between incumbent John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton in the U.S. Senate run-off on May 26th, Libertarians in the state will have picked their nominee for the office at their state convention in Abilene.

Declared candidates for U.S. Senate are retired insurance adjuster and former California Libertarian Party chair Ted Brown and software company founder Mark Sims.

Democratic State Representative James Talarico awaits the winners for both parties in what many prognosticators – and pollsters – suggest could be a competitive election. The closer the general election race, the tighter the lens will focus on the eventual Libertarian nominee and other independents who qualify for the November ballot.

Multiple horserace polls released this year have found Brown (also the Libertarian 2024 U.S. Senate nominee) receiving the support of at least five percent of likely voters.

However, though Libertarians have reliably fielded candidates for the U.S. Senate in Texas, they have done so without much fanfare or influence on the race.

Through 2024, Libertarians have been on the ballot in 15 of the 18 U.S. Senate elections held in Texas – including each of the last 14 since 1988 – since the party first started fielding nominees for the office nationwide in 1976. [There were no Libertarians on the Texas U.S. Senate ballot in 1976, 1978, and 1984].

These 15 candidates have received an average of 1.5 percent of the vote, although that number has increased to 2.1 percent since 2006.

The best showing was turned in by Ratheon regional manager Rebecca Paddock of Garland in 2014 with 2.88 percent. But that ranks as tied for only the 71st best showing by a Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate among the more than 400 nominees to appear on a general election ballot since 1976.

The aforementioned Brown – a resident of Austin – owns the second best mark winning 2.36 percent in 2024.

However, in neither the 2014 or 2024 cycles, and in no Texas U.S. Senate election with a Libertarian on the ballot, has the vote for a Libertarian candidate been greater than (or even close to) the margin of victory in the general election.

In fact, in the state’s most competitive election during the Libertarian Party era – incumbent Ted Cruz’s 2.7-point victory over U.S. Representative Beto O’Rourke in 2018 – Libertarian nominee Neal Dikeman, a venture capitalist from Houston, received the lowest vote for the party (0.78 percent) in a general election since 1982.

Here is the vote for the remaining 12 Libertarian U.S. Senate candidates in Texas:

• 1982 (0.76 percent): Houston investment broker John Ford
• 1988 (0.83 percent): Houston electronics firm employee Jeff Daiell
• 1990 (2.33 percent): Austin investor Gary Johnson
• 1993 special (0.28 percent): Rockwall auditor Rick Draheim (in the all-party open primary)
• 1994 (0.84 percent): Houston businessman and mathematician Pierre Blondeau
• 1996 (0.93 percent): San Antonio legal researcher Michael Bird
• 2000 (1.16 percent): Burnet author and former pharmaceutical research scientist Mary Ruwart
• 2002 (0.79 percent): Plano information technology director Scott Jameson
• 2006 (2.26 percent): Plano realtor Scott Jameson
• 2008 (2.34 percent): Austin real estate investor Yvonne Schick
• 2012 (2.06 percent): Dallas businessman John Jay Myers
• 2020 (1.88 percent): Petersburg manager Kerry McKennon

Libertarians have received double-digit support in U.S. Senate elections six times – but only three times in races with both major parties on the ballot: Joe Miller of Alaska in 2016 (29.36 percent), Gary Johnson of New Mexico in 2018 (15.38 percent), and Carla Howell of Massachusetts in 2000 (11.88 percent).

Follow Smart Politics on X.

The post What Size Footprint Will Libertarians Leave on Texas’ US Senate Race? appeared first on Smart Politics.