Matthew Klein

1 month ago | cookpolitical.com | Matthew Klein

Last September, we wrote that Sarah McBride — who made history in 2024 as the first transgender American ever elected to Congress — would “garner plenty of attention from the GOP once she’s inaugurated.”In fact, attacks on McBride’s gender identity began well before she was sworn in. Last November, the Republican Conference voted to require House members and their staff to use restrooms that align with their sex as assigned at birth in a clear effort to target McBride. More recently, GOP Reps.

1 month ago | cookpolitical.com | Matthew Klein

There are two certainties in contemporary Colorado: The Sun will rise to Denver’s east, and the Republican Party will wind up in another phase of its endless factional feud. Last cycle, the Rocky Mountains played backdrop for some of the ugliest GOP proxy fights in the nation. After several years of firebrand insurgents calling the shots, the state’s establishment struck back with force.

1 month ago | cookpolitical.com | Matthew Klein

A decade after Arkansas’ last Democrat was booted out of Congress, the state’s all-Republican delegation is finally reaping the rewards of seniority. Three of its four representatives chair powerful committees — a feat currently matched only by Texas, which has nearly 10 times as many members of the House. With Sen. Tom Cotton and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders both expected to seek reelection in 2026, opportunities for Arkansas’ quartet of congressmen to climb the political ladder are nil.

2 months ago | cookpolitical.com | Matthew Klein

Talk about a whirlwind. Less than a month ago, the Democratic primary to replace term-limited New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham seemed destined to devolve into a brawl between former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich. Then, like a sudden desert haboob, the race’s entire landscape changed. On Jan. 24 — just three weeks after scoring a plum post as ranking member of the Senate Energy Committee — Heinrich announced he would not run for governor.

2 months ago | cookpolitical.com | Matthew Klein

2024 was a historic year in Alabama politics. Not only did the state host a race on our board of competitive House contests after a 14-year absence, it also sent two African Americans to Congress for the first time ever. The latter development is almost entirely attributable to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Allen v. Milligan, which effectively ordered the state to establish a second Black-opportunity district.