Midterm races see surge in cross-party endorsements as polls tighten

Candidates running for office in November are increasingly leaning on endorsements from the opposing party to close out their campaigns. In Alaska, Kansas, and Texas, Democratic nominees have pointed to support from Republican leaders. Meanwhile, Republican officials argue that Democrats are also crossing party lines to back their candidates. The push for bipartisan appeal coincides with polling that shows several key races are now statistically tied.

In Alaska, Republican Sen. 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 U.S. Senate candidate Adam Hamilton in September and October, respectively. These moves are part of a wider trend where candidates in multiple states are touting endorsements from rival party officials in the final weeks before the election.

The Texas race for U.S. Senate has seen a notable number of these crossovers. The campaign for Democratic candidate James Talarico stated that more than two dozen former Republican officials have backed him. Kel Seliger, a former GOP state senator, joined the list this week. He chose Talarico over Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, citing personal familiarity with both men.

"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 Party leaders counter that the flow of support goes both ways. Natalie Baldassarre, the national press secretary for the RNC, pointed to the Michigan Senate race between Mike Rogers and Abdul El-Sayed as an example. She also cited the existence of a coalition called "Democrats for Mike Rogers" to suggest that Democratic voters are willing to support a Republican candidate in tight contests.

Joshua Blank, research director for the Texas Politics Project, offered a more measured view of these endorsements. He noted that cross-party voting usually involves a small, specific group of voters rather than large blocs. "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 added that these are idiosyncratic behaviors found among a small share of the electorate.

Blank acknowledged that if elections are close, these small shifts could influence the outcome. Recent polling indicates that several midterm races have become increasingly tight. In some cases, the margin of error means the current numbers are statistically equivalent.