Parenthetical Politics

(Political Ramblings from a Little Left of Center)

Contributions 2026

Posted on by admin

I’ve been asked where I’m contributing money as we enter the final stages of the 2026 mid-terms.

My current round of campaign contributions will be my last for this election cycle and it’s still a work-in-progress. As the campaigns begin their final sprints, I will complete this set well before the end of September (the next FEC reporting deadline).  In any case, I’m happy to share my thoughts – for whatever they may be worth.  My targets are bulleted below.

I’m obviously basing my decisions on my prior analyses and following my own posted advice.  Since I don’t have unlimited funds, I’m funneling my additional contributions into races where (a) the Democrat has a decent chance of winning, (b) the campaign could use the money, and (c) I like the candidate.

U.S. Senate Races

Looking at my prior assessment of 12 competitive Senate seats:  I think the MN race is well in-hand and doesn’t really need my money.  I wish MI Democrats well, but they will need to win without my monetary assistance.  I like the non-Republicans running in IA, NE, & KS, but I’m not quite convinced that those races are the best use of my limited funds – but I’m still thinking about it.

I’m thus initially contributing to 7 Senate campaigns.  If Democrats win all 7, they will have a 51-seat majority.

U.S. House Races

Rather than contributing individually to all 36 races from my prior House assessment, I decided to use an aggregator.

Swing Left’s U.S. House strategy is excellent.  They believe there are more competitive seats than I do, but we agree on the vast majority of races.  Unfortunately, the associated fund only supports flipping U.S. House seats that are currently held by Republicans.  I find that odd, since holding current seats is just as important as winning new seats.  That said, the Swing Left fund is good for what it is and I like that it’s simply an ActBlue fundraiser site. (Such sites are direct pass-throughs to individual campaigns. A single donation to the fundraiser is just a shortcut means to contribute to multiple campaigns.)  I’m donating here just to avoid making a ton of separate donations.

Separately, my analysis identified 13 competitive House seats currently held by Democrats that are not covered by the Swing Left fund above.  Since 6 already lean toward a Democratic incumbent, I’m holding off on those for now.  I’m initially targeting 4 of the remaining Democratic-held seats that only became competitive after Republican gerrymanders. (I may expand on these targets later.)

I live in Texas and still consider the 2025 Texas gerrymander to be an insult to democracy.  Both of these Democrats have decent chances of winning despite Republican cartographic efforts.

The GOP gerrymandered this Ohio district to unseat the longest serving woman in the history of Congress.  They then nominated a domestic abuser to run against her and are now making excuses for his behavior.

The North Carolina GOP gerrymandered a district specifically to unseat a black Democrat – who is also a retired Air Force officer and lay minister with a PhD in Education.

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Yes, the above is a lot.  But if we can win “something” in November to combat the insanity of our current federal goverment, it will be well worth the money.