Midterm Candidates Court Bipartisan Votes

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski endorsed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins on Tuesday. The move marks the latest instance of candidates in the 2026 midterm cycle promoting support from the opposite party.

Democratic campaigns in several states have spent recent weeks publicizing such endorsements. In Kansas, former Republican governors Bill Graves and Mike Hayden announced their backing for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hamilton in September and October. In Texas, the campaign for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico reported that more than two dozen former GOP officials have signed on.

Kel Seliger, a former Republican state senator, joined Talarico's list of endorsers this week. Seliger chose Talarico over Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is the candidate in the race. "I've served with both people," Seliger said. "James Talarico is not some wild-eyed socialist and and he may believe in a lot of things that Democratic Party believes in that I don't. 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 officials assert that their candidates also benefit from cross-party appeal. Natalie Baldassarre, national press secretary for the Republican National Committee, pointed to the race in Michigan between Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed. She also cited the Texas contest between Ken Paxton and James Talarico. Baldassarre mentioned the campaign coalition known as "Democrats for Mike Rogers" as evidence of this trend.

Political scientists caution that these shifts in voter behavior often have a limited impact on final results. Joshua Blank, research director for the Texas Politics Project, stated that cross-party voting usually affects a small share 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. "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."

Blank noted that the impact of these votes could become decisive if elections are closely contested. Recent polling indicates that several midterm races have narrowed, with some now statistically tied as November approaches.