If you can’t beat them, join them. Or, join them — then beat them.
In a very-extra-special edition of the Post Pundit Power Ranking, we want you, the readers, to play pundit and tell us who you predict to win this cycle’s biggest midterm battles.
Senate races? Got ’em. Governorships? They’re here. House control? Duh!
For each contest below, click on the candidate you think will be victorious. Once you choose, you’ll also see who other readers and our political columnists think will win, and why. After Election Day, we’ll grade your ballots … and then show you how many pundits you beat! All right — here’s your first one:
READER METER
Pct. of time you agree with the majority of readers
How often you and each columnist agree
Sargent
Tumulty
Byler
Bai
Capehart
McArdle
Robinson
Rubin
Abernathy
KVH
Hohmann
Olsen
Don’t forget to resubmit your picks once you’re done.
Rep. Tim Ryan is as comfortable in a steel mill as in a yoga studio, which could unite Democrats and win swing voters. J.D. Vance, on the other hand, is feeding red meat to voters in a red state. Who do you think will win?
DEMGOP
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, an old-style Rust Belt populist with an extremely online twist, has led in the polls. But 2022 is set to be a good Republican year, and former TV doctor Mehmet Oz could benefit plenty from the basic laws of political gravity.
Sen. Raphael G. Warnock beat the odds once and has since burnished his reputation as the friendly pastor from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s church. Herschel Walker of National Football League fame has been beset by scandal but still has outsider appeal — and the polls are close.
Sen. Mark Kelly has a huge cash advantage and a compelling biography, including his time at NASA. Meanwhile, Blake Masters is a Trump-endorsed populist who understands the political moment — very capable of an upset.
Rep. Val Demings, the first Black woman to lead Orlando’s police force, is a strong Democratic candidate for a light-red state. But Sen. Marco Rubio is a superstar in Miami and a known quantity across the state with a strong record and telegenic personality.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is fundraising well and knows how to win: She secured her seat in 2016, when the GOP was hyperfocused on Nevada as its only reasonable hope of a Senate pickup. Adam Laxalt, though, can channel the two sides of the GOP and maybe some moderates as both a Trump ally and the scion of a local political dynasty.
Cheri Beasley, the first Black female chief justice of North Carolina’s Supreme Court, is keeping the race close in a moderate state … that still trends red. That’s what Rep. Ted Budd, a Trumpian conservative and Freedom Caucus member, is counting on.
Progressive Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes is the first Black person to hold his job in the state and would be a historic winner. Meanwhile, pundits always predict two-term Sen. Ron Johnson to end up the loser — and he always proves them wrong.
Strait-laced Arizona secretary of state Katie Hobbs (D) has spent the race calling out her opponent’s lies about the 2020 election. But said opponent, Kari Lake, is taking those lies to the air, a medium she’s working well as a former local news anchor.
Nationally recognized Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is competent, and Michiganders agree with her on key issues such as abortion. Fewer agree on her pandemic lockdown and schooling policies, and that anger could boost Tudor Dixon.
Gov. Tony Evers defeated incumbent Scott Walker — the most powerful Republican in modern Wisconsin history — to win his job in 2018 and is in even better shape now. Construction company owner Tim Michels has never held elected office … but that’s exactly what a lot of Wisconsinites want.
Gov. Laura Kelly is looking to appeal to Democrats and moderate Republicans, just as she did to win in 2018. But Kansas has a lot of conservatives, too, and Derek Schmidt, the state’s attorney general, is campaigning straight to them.
Stacey Abrams lost in 2018, but she built a powerful turnout machine in the intervening years. Gov. Brian Kemp, an election-affirming conservative, beat her then and is looking to do so again.
Nevada is the mirror image of Florida: just close enough to tantalize the GOP, while consistently favoring Democrats — which is good news for Gov. Steve Sisolak. But Republicans are gaining ground with working-class Latinos, a key demographic there — great news for Sheriff Joe Lombardo.
The pundits: Gary Abernathy, Matt Bai, David Byler, Jonathan Capehart, Katrina vanden Heuvel, James Hohmann, Megan McArdle, Henry Olsen, Eugene Robinson, Jennifer Rubin, Greg Sargent, Karen Tumulty. Edited by Drew Goins. Design and development by Yan Wu. Editorial assistance by David Byler. Design editing by Sergio Peçanha and Chris Rukan.