2026 Elections

President Donald Trump has endorsed Michael Alfonso, the son‑in‑law of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Fox News host Rachel Campos‑Duffy, for Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, while also backing current Rep. Tom Tiffany to run for governor. In Truth Social posts Monday and Tuesday night, Trump praised Alfonso as a lifelong 'winner' from a 'spectacular family' and gave him his 'Complete and Total Endorsement' to succeed Tiffany in the north‑central Wisconsin district. Alfonso responded on X that he would be a 'steadfast MAGA warrior' for the district, explicitly tying his bid to Trump’s movement. Trump simultaneously endorsed Tiffany for governor, with Tiffany touting Trump’s record on wages, gas prices, growth and border security as he launched his statewide campaign. The dual endorsements further lock Trump into Wisconsin’s 2026 GOP primary landscape, reinforcing his influence over both congressional and gubernatorial fields in a state that has swung between parties in recent national elections.

Alex Vindman, the Army veteran who testified in former President Trump’s first impeachment, has formally launched a Democratic bid for the 2026 special U.S. Senate election in Florida to challenge GOP Sen. Ashley Moody, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis to complete Marco Rubio’s term. Vindman’s two‑minute launch ad titled “Patriot” uses footage of Minneapolis shootings and accuses Trump‑aligned forces of acting as “thug militias” amid a “reign of terror and retribution,” a campaign entry that comes as Trump carried Florida by 13 points in 2024 and Republicans hold a 53–47 Senate majority; Moody had not publicly commented as of Tuesday morning.

Rep. Julia Letlow formally launched a U.S. Senate bid in Louisiana after former President Trump publicly urged and endorsed her as a primary challenger to incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy, who says he will remain in the race and is confident of re‑election. The endorsement prompted state Rep. Julie Emerson to exit the GOP primary, drew a $1 million pledge from MAHA PAC (tied to RFK Jr.) to back Letlow, and highlighted intraparty divisions as leaders like John Thune privately back Cassidy while some Senate-aligned super PACs signal neutrality or limited involvement.

Former sports broadcaster Michele Tafoya has filed to run for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota as a Republican. Tafoya, who has no prior government experience, served as co‑chair of Kendall Qualls’s unsuccessful 2022 GOP gubernatorial campaign and is the latest entrant in an expanding Republican primary for the seat.

MS Now’s campaign round-up reports that Republican Rep. Julia Letlow has formally launched a U.S. Senate campaign in Louisiana with Donald Trump’s support, setting up a 2026 GOP primary fight against incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy, who says he intends to stay in the race and "win re-election" even as some Republican colleagues doubt his odds. In Kentucky, Senate hopeful Nate Morris received a "major boost" with a $10 million donation from an Elon Musk–aligned super PAC as he battles Rep. Andy Barr and former Attorney General Daniel Cameron for the GOP nomination to succeed Mitch McConnell. The piece also notes that retired sportscaster Michele Tafoya has joined Minnesota’s crowded Republican Senate primary despite having no government experience beyond co-chairing Kendall Qualls’ failed 2022 gubernatorial campaign. On the House side, a new map drawn by the Maryland Redistricting Commission would give Democrats effective control of all eight congressional districts, though it faces resistance from Democratic state Senate President Bill Ferguson, and former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan has ruled out another 2026 run for any office. Democrats, meanwhile, picked up yet another Virginia state House seat in a special election, with Garrett McGuire set to replace Del. Mark Sickles as Sickles joins Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s administration—one more data point in a string of down-ballot wins that party operatives on social media are watching as a barometer for November.

Tiffany Burress, an attorney and wife of former New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress, has announced a Republican campaign for a North Jersey U.S. House district that has been in Democratic hands since 1981. Burress, a Pittsburgh‑born lawyer recognized as a top Bergen County attorney and a former Penn State athlete, is challenging Democratic Rep. Nellie Pou, who won the seat in 2024 after the death of longtime Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. In her launch, she attacked Pou for spending 'fifty years on the government dime' and linked the incumbent’s voting record to that of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez, while casting her own background as 'busting through' doors in the private sector and saying she would also challenge Republicans when she believes they are wrong. The district, which includes the Giants’ MetLife Stadium, Paterson and diverse southern Bergen County suburbs, unexpectedly flipped to Donald Trump in 2024 as Pou survived by only four points in a seat once considered safely blue, with analysts crediting Trump’s gains among Hispanic and Jewish voters. That narrow margin, coupled with current anger toward Trump among Muslim voters in Paterson, sets up a volatile 2026 contest in a district both parties once treated as an afterthought.