See the full list of sitting senators who are up for re-election in 2020, updated and expanded as of August 2020.
2018 was a tough year for Democratic sitting Senators. Many more Democrats than Republicans were up for re-election. While we lost two, Bill Nelson of Florida and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, we managed to pick up two seats–Jacky Rosen defeated Dean Heller in Nevada, and Kyrsten Sinema won the open seat in Arizona.
Things could have been a lot worse, and would have been a lot worse in the absence of voters highly motivated by the unusually terrible performance of the Trump administration. If a more normal and routine Republican had been president in 2018, the Democrats might have suffered more losses.
The 2020 story is different. Many more Republicans are defending than are Democrats.
This is an expanded version of a basic post first published in April 2019. It flags which Republican Senators have chosen not to run again, and gives additional details on those open seats. It also identifies Republican Senators who are viewed as vulnerable to defeat.
We at OTYCD have gathered this information so you can choose candidates for your Core Four Plus for 2020. If you are able to donate to Democratic Senate incumbents or Democratic challengers to incumbent Republican Senators, please do.
In August 2020, we updated this story to reflect results of Democratic primaries and give campaign sites for the chosen challengers.
We bolded the word “Toss-up” for Senate races featuring a Republican incumbent that earned that designation from the Cook Political Report. We also bolded the phrase “Lean Democratic” for the Arizona race, where a Republican is the incumbent.
We also added links to campaign websites for incumbent Democratic Senators.
The following Democrats are up for re-election in 2020:
Cory Booker of New Jersey (https://corybooker.com)
The Cook Political Report rates his seat as Solid Democratic.
Christopher Coons of Delaware (https://chriscoons.com)
The Cook Political Report rates his seat as Solid Democratic.
Richard “Dick” Durbin of Illinois (https://www.durbinforsenate.com)
The Cook Political Report rates his seat as Solid Democratic.
*Doug Jones of Alabama (https://dougjones.com/splash)
The Cook Political Report rates his seat as Lean Democratic.
Ed Markey of Massachusetts (https://www.edmarkey.com)
(Markey faces a primary on September 1, 2020. We published a pretty salty post about it.)
The Cook Political Report rates his seat as Solid Democratic.
Jeff Merkley of Oregon (https://www.jeffmerkley.com)
The Cook Political Report rates his seat as Solid Democratic.
*Gary Peters of Michigan (https://petersformichigan.com)
The Cook Political Report rates his seat as Lean Democratic.
Jack Reed of Rhode Island (https://www.jackreed.com)
The Cook Political Report rates his seat as Solid Democratic.
Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire (https://jeanneshaheen.org)
The Cook Political Report rates her seat as Solid Democratic.
Tina Smith of Minnesota (https://tinaforminnesota.com)
The Cook Political Report rates her seat as Solid Democratic.
Tom Udall of New Mexico (https://www.tomudall.com)
The Cook Political Report rates his seat as Solid Democratic.
Mark Warner of Virginia (https://markwarnerva.com)
The Cook Political Report rates his seat as Solid Democratic.
*These Democrats are regarded as the most vulnerable who are up for re-election in 2020. Jones is regarded as the most vulnerable of all. Please give them special consideration when choosing your Core Four Plus for 2020.
The following Republicans are up for re-election in 2020 (especially vulnerable incumbents are marked with **):
Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. Alexander announced in December 2018 that he would not run again.
The August 6, 2020 primary narrowed the contest to Democrat Marquita Bradshaw and Republican Bill Hagerty.
The Cook Political Report regards the seat as Solid Republican.
See Marquita Bradshaw’s campaign site:
https://www.marquitabradshaw.com
Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. Her Democratic challenger is Paula Jean Swearengin.
See Swearengin’s campaign website: https://paulajean.com
The Cook Political Report regards the seat as Solid Republican.
Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. This election is one to watch because its primary takes place on November 3, 2020, and the actual election happens on December 5, 2020.
Save some energy to throw at the Democratic challenger for Cassidy’s seat, once we know who that person is.
As of August 2020, Ballotpedia lists five Democratic candidates: Derrick Edwards, David Drew Knight, Adrian Perkins, Antoine Pierce, and Peter Wenstrup.
On August 20, 2020, news broke that Cassidy had contracted COVID-19 and was displaying symptoms. His office announced he would quarantine in his home state for two weeks.
The Cook Political Report regards the seat as Solid Republican.
**Susan Collins of Maine. After much delay, Collins finally announced in December 2019 that she would in fact run again for her Senate seat. After she cast a critical vote that placed Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court of the United States, Ady Barkan’s Be a Hero organization and other Maine activists launched a Crowdpac campaign to raise money for her then as-yet-undeclared Democratic challenger. As of June 2019, they had collected $4 million.
Sara Gideon won the Democratic primary and the right to receive the Be a Hero money. According to the Washington Post, Gideon had raised $23 million independently before her victory.
See Sara Gideon’s campaign site: https://saragideon.com
The Cook Political Report regards Collins’s seat as a Toss-up.
John Cornyn of Texas. His Democratic opponent is M.J. Hegar.
See M.J. Hegar’s campaign site: https://mjfortexas.com
The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Likely Republican.
Tom Cotton of Arkansas. He doesn’t have a Democratic challenger, unfortunately.
If you live in Arkansas and support Democrats, please join your state and local party organizations and help foster a bench of candidates who can run against this guy in the future.
The Cook Political Report deems the seat as Solid Republican.
Steve Daines of Montana. The current Democratic governor of Montana, Steve Bullock, chose to run against Daines for his Senate seat. (Bullock’s term ends in January 2021.)
See Steve Bullock’s campaign site: https://stevebullock.com
The Cook Political Report rates the seat as a Toss-up.
Michael Enzi of Wyoming. In May of 2019, Enzi announced he would not run again in 2020.
Merav Ben-David emerged victorious from the Democratic primary.
See her campaign site: https://www.bendavid2020.com
The Cook Political Report rates Enzi’s seat as Solid Republican.
**Joni Ernst of Iowa. She’s running for a second term, but is widely regarded as a vulnerable Republican incumbent.
Theresa Greenfield won the June 2, 2020 Democratic primary.
See Greenfield’s campaign site: https://greenfieldforiowa.com
The Cook Political Report had regarded Ernst’s seat as Likely Republican, but has since called it a Toss-up.
**Cory Gardner of Colorado. Like Ernst, he’s running for a second term.
Newly-former Governor (he was term-limited out) and newly-former 2020 presidential candidate John Hickenlooper won the June 30, 2020 Democratic primary.
See his campaign site: https://hickenlooper.com
The Cook Political Report rates Gardner’s seat as a Toss-up.
**Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. He’s running again, and he has a strong Democratic challenger in Jaime Harrison. A mid-December 2019 poll had Harrison with a two-point lead–within the poll’s 3.1 percent margin of error.
See Harrison’s campaign site: https://jaimeharrison.com
The Cook Political Report initially rated Graham’s Senate seat as Solid Republican, but later adjusted its status to Lean Republican.
Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi. Mike Espy, the Democrat who challenged Hyde-Smith in a previous Senate election, is running against her again.
See Espy’s campaign site: https://espyforsenate.com
The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.
James Inhofe of Oklahoma. Abby Broyles won the Democratic primary in June.
See her campaign site: https://www.abbybroyles.com
The Cook Political Report rates Inhofe’s seat as Solid Republican.
Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. He’s running again, he leads the GOP Senate majority; and many (including we at OTYCD) agree he’s done as much, if not more, damage to American democracy and the rule of law as has Trump.
Democrat Amy McGrath won the right to challenge McConnell in the fall general election.
See her campaign site: https://amymcgrath.com
The Cook Political Report rates McConnell’s seat as Likely Republican, which gives a glimmer of hope. If McConnell was truly well-regarded in his home state, the Cook rating would be the strongest rating, Solid Republican. That said–if you see a poll flying around on social media or the Internet that claims McConnell’s polling numbers in Kentucky are dismal, check the date. The one that pops up most often was taken in summer 2017, which, really, is too old to bother with now.
**Martha McSally of Arizona. In this special election, McSally has a fearsome challenger in the form of Democrat Mark Kelly.
See his campaign site: https://markkelly.com
The Cook Political Report rates McSally’s seat as Lean Democratic.
David Perdue of Georgia. Jon Ossoff won the right to run against him as the Democratic candidate.
If that name seems familiar, it should.
See Ossoff’s campaign site: https://electjon.com
The Cook Political Report rates Purdue’s seat as a Toss-up.
James Risch of Idaho. Paulette Jordan won the Democratic primary held on June 2, 2020.
See her campaign site: https://pauletteforsenate.com
The Cook Political Report rates Enzi’s seat as Solid Republican.
Pat Roberts of Kansas. In January 2019, Roberts announced that he would not run for a fifth term. Four Democrats and seven Republicans, including the loathsome Kris Kobach, appeared on the primary ballot on August 4, 2020.
Fortunately, Kobach didn’t make it. The Democratic victor was Barbara Bollier.
See her campaign site: https://bollierforkansas.com
The Cook Political Report had the Senate seat as Likely Republican, but has since reclassified it as Lean Republican.
Mike Rounds of South Dakota. The Democratic primary for this Senate race was cancelled, probably because of COVID-19, and Dan Ahlers accepted the challenge of running against Rounds.
See his campaign site: https://www.danahlers.com
The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Solid Republican.
Ben Sasse of Nebraska. Addressing this now because there might be a little confusion. Sasse has spoken out against Trump, but he IS running for re-election in 2020. Arizona Senator Jeff Flake was the one who spoke out against Trump and decided to quit the Senate.
Chris Janicek won the right to challenge him as a Democratic candidate.
See his campaign site: http://www.janicekforsenate2020.com
The Cook Political Report rates Sasse’s seat as Solid Republican.
Dan Sullivan of Alaska. No Democrats are running against Sullivan, but we recommend looking at Dr. Al Gross, who’s running as an independent.
See Gross’s campaign site: https://dralgrossak.com
The Cook Political Report rates the seat as Likely Republican.
**Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Cal Cunningham won the right to challenge Tillis on behalf of the Democrats.
See his campaign site: https://www.calfornc.com
The Cook Political Report rates the seat as a Toss-up.
See the official list of senators in Class II here:
https://www.senate.gov/senators/Class_II.htm
We relied on Ballotpedia for several raw facts for this update and previous updates. It merits your full support.
See the main Ballotpedia webpage:
https://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page
Read its Our History page:
https://ballotpedia.org/Our_History
Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the button on the upper right of the page. And tell your friends about the blog!
Read its Contact and FAQ page:
https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia:Overview_and_contact_information
Subscribe to Ballotpedia’s weekly newsletter, The Federal Tap:
Donate to Ballotpedia:
https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia:Donate
Like the Ballotpedia page on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Ballotpedia/
Follow Ballotpedia on Twitter:
@ballotpedia
One Thing You Can Do 