Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are both working to persuade a number of current and former governors to run for Senate in competitive states this cycle.
Convincing popular governors to run for Senate has been a perennial challenge for party leaders and campaign chiefs. It’s especially difficult this time around.
Those very governors are watching their would-be colleagues do the reverse, with Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) all looking to lead their home states.
It underscores the challenges facing both Thune and Schumer when it comes to candidate recruitment in a cycle that features intensely competitive races across several states.
The field: Already, Gov. Janet Mills (D-Maine) and former Gov. Chris Sununu (R-N.H.) have passed on a 2026 Senate run. The jury’s still out with Govs. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) and Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.), as well as former Gov. Roy Cooper (D-N.C.).
We asked Thune whether having senators leaving to run for governor was making it harder to recruit potential Senate candidates.
“Yeah, that’s a little hard to explain,” Thune told us.
“A lot of these people, they want to make a difference,” Thune added. “And they’re trying to figure out how best to use their talents and where they can use their talents to do that.”
Thune went through a similar process in 2002, when he was planning on running for governor but was convinced to run for Senate instead — including by then-President George W. Bush.
Thune and NRSC Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) recently met with Kemp in Atlanta. The South Dakota Republican told us his pitch to potential candidates is that the Senate is a place where they can “make a difference.”
Those who are leaving, however, are making clear that their decision is in part an indictment of the Senate itself. The consolidation of power at the leadership level, for example, has made it harder than ever to actually accomplish big things for individual senators.
Making the case: Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), who famously said he’s “not cut out” to be a senator but ran anyway after serving two terms as governor, said he understands Bennet’s decision.
“It’s so partisan and so divided that it’s frustrating. It’s very hard to get things done,” Hickenlooper told us. “The bar’s pretty low for a great governor. I think it’s really hard to be a great senator. And I think [Bennet] is a great senator.”
As governor, Hickenlooper said, you solve problems for people in real time. In Washington, it takes months, even years.
Tuberville told us his move toward the governor’s mansion — which he says is not a final decision — isn’t motivated by a dislike of the Senate. Tuberville added that he was considering running for governor before he ultimately launched his Senate bid.
