Category Archives: Politics

U.S. Senate Seats Up for Reelection

[This article was updated on April 24, 2025]

Republicans have won the Senate in 2025, giving them control for at least the next two years and creating a path for President-elect Donald Trump’s priorities. Of the current 100 Senators, 53 are Republicans, 45 are Democrats, and 2 are Independents. Republicans successfully defended all their own seats for the first time since 2014.

But it’s never too early for reelection vision time. The time to start organizing is now.

There are 535 Members of Congress, 100 of whom serve in the U.S. Senate and 435 of whom serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Each state sends two Senators to represent it in the U.S. Senate. The majority has the power to schedule when various bills come to the floor for voting, but a single Senator can slow legislation from coming to the floor for a vote.

Since debate in the Senate is not concluded until 60 Senators vote for a cloture motion to approve a bill for consideration, the majority must also coordinate with the minority party to set the rules for debate on legislation.

Under this system, legislation can be debated for one or two weeks on the Senate floor alone.

Senators serve a six-year term, and elections to the Senate are staggered over even years, so approximately one-third of the Senate is up for reelection during any election.

To contact your Senator, click here.

Below are the Senate seats up for reelection in alphabetical order by political party, reelection year, and state.

Democrats up for reelection in 2026:

Colorado: John Hickenlooper

Delaware: Chris Coons

Georgia: Jon Ossoff

Illinois: Dick Durbin (Retiring)

Massachusetts: Ed Markey

Michigan: Gary Peters (Retiring)

Minnesota: Tina Smith (Retiring)

New Hampshire: Jeanne Shaheen (Retiring)

New Jersey: Cory Booker

New Mexico: Ben Ray Lujan

Oregon: Jeff Merkley

Rhode Island: Jack Reed

Virginia: Mark Warner

Republicans up for reelection in 2026:

Alabama: Tommy Tuberville

Alaska: Dan Sullivan

Arkansas: Tom Cotton

Idaho: James Risch

Iowa: Joni Ernst

Kansas: Roger Marshall

Kentucky: Mitch McConnell (Retiring)

Louisiana: Bill Cassidy

Maine: Susan Collins

Mississippi: Cindy Hyde-Smith

Montana: Steve Daines

Nebraska: Pete Ricketts

North Carolina: Thom Tillis

Oklahoma: Markwayne Mullin

South Carolina: Lindsey Graham

South Dakota: Mike Rounds

Tennessee: Bill Hagerty

Texas: John Cornyn

West Virginia: Shelley Moore Capito

Wyoming: Cynthia Lummis

Democrats up for reelection in 2028:

Arizona: Mark Kelly

California: Alex Padilla

Colorado: Michael Bennet

Connecticut: Richard Blumenthal

Georgia: Raphael Warnock

Hawaii: Brian Schatz

Illinois: Tammy Duckworth

Maryland: Chris Van Hollen

Nevada: Catherine Cortez Masto

New Hampshire: Maggie Hassan

New York: Chuck Schumer

Oregon: Ron Wyden

Pennsylvania: John Fetterman

Vermont: Peter Welch

Washington: Patty Murray

Republicans up for reelection in 2028:

Alabama: Katie Britt

Alaska: Lisa Murkowski

Arkansas: John Boozman

Florida: Ashley Moody

Idaho: Mike Crapo

Indiana: Todd Young

Iowa: Chuck Grassley

Kansas: Jerry Moran

Kentucky: Rand Paul

Louisiana: John N. Kennedy

Missouri: Eric Schmitt

North Carolina: Ted Budd

North Dakota:  John Hoeven

Ohio: John Husted

Oklahoma: James Lankford

South Carolina: Tim Scott

South Dakota: John Thune

Utah: Mike Lee

Wisconsin: Ron Johnson

Democrats up for reelection in 2030:

Arizona: Ruben Gallego

California: Adam Schiff

Connecticut: Chris Murphy

Delaware: Lisa Blunt Rochester

Hawaii: Mazie Hirono

Maryland: Angela Alsobrooks

Massachusetts: Elizabeth Warren

Michigan: Elissa Slotkin

Minnesota: Amy Klobuchar

Nevada: Jacky Rosen

New Jersey: Andy Kim

New Mexico: Martin Heinrich

New York: Kirsten Gillibrand

Rhode Island: Sheldon Whitehouse

Virginia: Tim Kaine

Washington: Maria Cantwell

Wisconsin: Tammy Baldwin

Independents up for reelection in 2030:

Maine: Angus King

Vermont: Bernie Sanders

Republicans up for reelection in 2030:

Florida: Rick Scott

Indiana: Jim Banks

Mississippi: Roger Wicker

Missouri: Josh Hawley

Montana: Tim Sheehy

Nebraska: Deb Fischer

North Dakota: Kevin Cramer

Ohio: Bernie Moreno

Pennsylvania: Dave McCormick

Tennessee: Marsha Blackburn

Texas: Ted Cruz

Utah: John Curtis

West Virginia: Jim Justice

Wyoming: John Barrasso

Project 2025


Project 2025, a frightening political agenda and 900-page extremist plan, is being crafted by conservatives in anticipation of a potential 2024 Republican Presidential victory with the guidance of the Heritage Foundation.

Established in 2022, Project 2025 aims to reshape the U.S. Federal Government to support Donald Trump’s wish list and far-right agenda.

It aims to reclassify tens of thousands of merit-based federal civil servant jobs as political appointees so Trump can replace them with extreme, conservative loyalists.

In April 2024, the Heritage Foundation stated that the Project 2025 policy includes “arresting, detaining, and removing immigration violators anywhere in the United States.”

Project 2025’s plan is to decimate the federal government’s protections around reproductive rights, LGBTQ, civil rights, and climate change and the dismantling and defunding of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Department of Education. It also calls for the elimination of other federal agencies like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Commerce and ending the independence of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The Project also seeks to infuse the government with elements of Christianity.

Another one of Project 2025’s goals is to take away the independence of the Justice Department, prosecute anyone who provides or distributes abortion pills by mail, and slash federal money for research and investment in renewable energy, calling for Trump to “stop the war on oil and natural gas.”

Moreover, Project 2025 is pushing to slash corporate and income taxes and abolish the Federal Reserve.

Project 2025 also calls for over $1.5 trillion in cuts to Social Security, including an increase in the retirement age to 69.

Project 2025’s main objective is to fortify presidential power so if Trump wins the election, he can single-handedly impose right-wing policies on the nation.

Project 2025 would also give Trump free rein to break any law he pleases and to assist others to do the same, like Putin. Trump has repeatedly said he would use the Justice Department to prosecute and lock up his opponents and critics.

The Koch network and Leonard Leo, a right-wing activist and Trump supporter, helped to fund the initiative. Mr. Leo is best known for his role in building the conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court and his close and questionable friendship with Justice Clarence Thomas.

Project 2025 provides an unsettling blueprint for an autocratic, authoritarian presidency. Many critics believe Project 2025 is a cover for what would be four years of personal vengeance against anyone Trump views as his “enemy.”

Trump, a wannabe king and absolute dictator, needs a rock-solid support system, and the Heritage Foundation and its Republican financial partners are working 24/7 to build one for their supreme leader.

According to The Washington Post, Jeffrey Clark, a contributor to the Project and a former official within the DOJ, would advise the future president to immediately deploy the military for domestic law enforcement by invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807. This act empowers the president of the United States to deploy the U.S. Military and the National Guard troops to suppress civil disorder, insurrection, or rebellion.

Jeffrey Clark was indicted in Georgia last summer. He was charged with violating the state’s racketeering law and attempting to make false statements. He has pleaded not guilty.

The Project also recommends the arrest, detention, and deportation of undocumented immigrants living in the United States and promotes capital punishment and the speedy “finality” of those sentences.

Paul Dans, the Director of Project 2025, recently explained that Project 2025 is “systematically preparing to march into office and bring a new army, aligned, trained, and essentially weaponized conservatives ready to do battle against the deep state” to “regain control” of the government.

The policies and agenda of Project 2025 are set to begin immediately after the presidential inauguration in January 2025. However, most of Project 2025’s proposals would require controlling both chambers of Congress and would likely face immediate legal challenges if implemented.

Regardless of legal challenges, it’s clear that Project 2025 is planning for a government dictatorship under Trump. If Trump wins, there is no coming back from the damage he will cause, and his agenda will irrevocably harm millions of Americans.

Pro-Hamas Takeover at Cornell University

Students belonging to a pro-Palestinian coalition at Cornell University occupied two buildings on campus over the course of this past weekend, demanding, among other things, that the university revise its definition of antisemitism. I find it hard to believe that these well-educated students actually believe that anti-Zionism is not anti-Jews.

They proudly taped posters on the hallowed walls of Willard Straight, Cornell’s Student Union, which is supposed to be available to all students, that said, “From the river to the sea,” which, as Ivy League students, they know full well that the phrase calls for the genocidal elimination of the Jewish state. But their callous racist selves could care less.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the stately 98-year-old building was the stench of rotting food and body odor.

The posters stunned and crushed my heart. But what hurt the most was that I noticed many people of a particular minority group that I truly believed cared about the Jews, primarily because the Jews always had their backs. But the only feeling I got as I walked around snapping photos was willful and ignorant hatred of everyone and everything Jewish.

I guess Jewish lives don’t matter.

Poster after poster, these occupiers displayed frightening and hateful words about Jews, with not one negative thing to say about Hamas.

Not one.

I can only come to one conclusion to explain their actions and lack of clarity: They are Pro-Hamas.

Moreover, free speech is a two-way street. And when does Free Speech cross over into Hate Speech? School administrators are responsible for protecting their students and should loudly and forcefully condemn and counter all hatred. But where are they?

F the IDF police? What about Hamas terrorists raping young girls to death? Gang rape is not resistance. It’s animalistic torture perpetrated by sick and twisted sexual deviants. Some of the women were raped so brutally that their pelvic bones were broken.

I guess the Me Too movement doesn’t apply to Jewish women.

The hate speech I saw scrawled on every piece of paper on those hallowed walls made me want to tear down the posters or, at the very least, yell out something in defense of Jews, but I forced myself to exercise restraint. Only because my husband asked me to.

The word “Intifada” constitutes the call for violence against Jews, and is associated with suicide bombings, and the wonton murder of innocent Jewish lives.

Violence and murder of Jews from Ithaca to Gaza? This is what you’re calling for?

Where was your outcry when innocent Palestinians were beheaded by Hamas because they were gay?

Where was your “intifada” outcry when more than 4,000 Palestinians were slaughtered by the Syrian regime forces?

Where were your posters when 39 health Centers were destroyed in Yemen by Saudi-led rebels?

And where were your Palestinian flags when the Russians targeted hospitals and schools in Syria killing scores of patients, medical staff, teachers, and young children?

I can only presume that when Arabs kill Arabs, including Palestinians, that’s okay with you.

Yesterday, when I checked the internet to see what Cornell was going to do about this outrageous takeover of a public building, I noticed that the coalition’s demand to protect academic speech in support of “Palestinian self-determination and criticizing the state of Israel” as described on the coalition’s Instagram story, was “100% met.”

It seems to me that Cornell has enabled and allowed anti-semites to shamefully, and yet successfully, exploit the schools’ commitment to free speech, cloaking their hateful and despicable propaganda in the guise of academic freedom.

I’m Wide Awake and Proud of It

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of “Woke” is being aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues.

In other words: Pay attention!

If I’m “woke,” it means that I’m informed, educated, and conscious of the issues that matter to me.

I pay attention to the issues I deem crucial to my life.

Who knew that would become a moral negative?

And my concerns encompass a whole range of issues, including, but not exclusively centered around, social justice or racial equality.

Pay attention. Be informed. Be aware.

Fairly straightforward, right?

And yet, the definition of “woke” has morphed into a no-no, something to be ashamed of, a political faux pas.

Many people (mostly Republicans) use “woke” as an insult against progressive values, or maybe it’s their way of clarion calling racism, white supremacy, and bigotry.

Progressive = Developing gradually or in stages; proceeding step by step.

Values = A person’s principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgment of what is important in life.

Here is a short list of the things I deem essential in my wide-awake life:

  1. Freedom
  2. Equality
  3. Safety & Security
  4. Dignity
  5. Integrity
  6. Kindness
  7. Truthfulness
  8. Responsibility
  9. Inclusiveness
  10. Creativity
  11. Identity
  12. Community

I’m also wide awake regarding religious choice, affordable child care, common sense/bipartisan immigration, women’s rights, eradicating sexual assault, equal pay for equal work, sensible gun control, clean drinking water, equal taxation, affordable health care, saving our planet, bullies, bigots, and bullsh*t.

Do I deserve to be called a Marxist, snowflake, or even a liberal for what I believe to be necessary to live my best life?

I won’t call them friends any longer, but I even had some Facebook people put me down for where I was born and where I currently live.

Excuse me for being born in Connecticut (I’ve been called a Yankee) and relocating to New York (I’ve been accused of living in a Democratic bubble).

Really? You people who call yourself my friend have a problem with where I live?

I don’t put you down for living in podunk nowheresville.

And I never once accused anyone of living in a Republican bubble.

Give me a bubble break.

And FYI: I don’t need your permission or acceptance regarding my beliefs, where I was born, where I currently reside, or my political affiliation (until 2017, I was a registered Republican).

And no pun intended, but wake up “friends” because you are as woke as I am, you just don’t want to admit it and use wokeness as a slur against those you disagree with.

Your so-called anti-wokeness is an unsuccessful attempt to divert you from the reality of the world in which we all live. All of us, not just the some of us you think should exist.

THE ONLY ONE LIVING IN A BUBBLE IS YOU.

And for the record, I’d rather be awake than asleep.