Phil Bredesen was a popular two term governor of Tennessee. Before that, he was a successful mayor of Nashville. Before that, he became a millionaire selling the insurance company he created. Before the insurance company, he had a career that included some mysterious classified work and work in London for an international pharmaceutical company. He brings a lot to the Senate race.
Brad Ashford wants his seat back. A former Republican who found the party moving away from him, he became a state legislator as a Democrat. He ran for mayor of Omaha as a Democrat. He ran for Congress as a Democrat in 2014 and won. In 2016, he lost to a Republican by a point.
Jane Raybould is a businesswoman. She's religious. She does local politics in an old fashioned and pretty conservative way. Her family businesses -- a chain of grocery stores and related retail stores have been operating in Nebraska for over 50 years. She sees her public service as a kind of religious calling. She is now on the Lincoln City Council. She touts success reducing property taxes by cutting waste and making government more efficient.
AJ Balucoff is a Boise businessman. He started an accounting firm and sold it. He bought and sold a chain of athletic clubs and bought a hotel. He owned the Boise athletic arena and its minor league hockey team. He is a fixture in the community and a member of nearly every important community organization. His major community project was the Boise School Board of which he was a member for about two decades. He was a Bernie delegate at the 2016 national Democratic convention. Nevertheless, Balucoff is not a socialist.
Paul Davis was a wunderkind. He was the Kansas House minority leader, then ran for governor. His loss, largely a result of a strip club scandal, set him back. After a stint in a Topeka law firm, he became Assistant Director for Government Affairs for the Insurance Commissioner -- Kathleen Sibelius. Now he is running for Governor.
Ordinarily, in politics, Randy Bryce would be a nobody, a nobody who tried some politics and failed. In 2012, he ran for the Wisconsin State Assembly. He lost the primary for Assembly District 62 70 to 30. In 2014, Bryce lost the election for State Senate District 21 by a little more than a 60-40. He touts himself as an ordinary guy. He turned out to be an extraordinary maker of campaign videos. His video went viral. Within 24 hours of its posting, he raised $100,000. He has raised more than a million dollars and the donations keep coming.
Brendan Kelly is the St. Clair County State's Attorney. In that role he sued banks for fraudulent and secretive mortgage recording. He was the first State’s Attorney in Illinois to sue big pharmaceutical companies for deceiving patients about the dangers of prescription opioids. He created a children’s justice division to prosecute crimes against children.
She is endorsed by the local sheriff. She is a 911 Operator and was an MP in the military. Her husband is a federal law enforcement official. She shut down her small oil and vinegar business to run for office. As close as she is to law enforcement, her focus has been education since her children entered school. President of the City of Auburn Council of PTAs, Michelle Ryland says. “Our schools should not be funded by raffles or carnivals or box tops...."
Lisa Brown is another Congressional candidate in what is now a Republican oriented district who does not tout controversial positions. Her website says: Gets It. Done. Lisa Brown has been a leader among Democrats. Initially elected to Washington's House of Representatives, she became assistant Minority leader in her second term. Elected to Washington's State Senate, she became Ways and Means Chair during her first term and Majority Leader not long after that. One thing she gets done is election by her colleagues.
Bill Nelson went to the University of Florida where he became a member of Blue Key. He left for Yale and the University of Virginia Law School. In 1965 he came back to Florida and joined the US Army Reserve. After his widowed mother died, he went on active duty as a pilot. Notwithstanding his political successes, being elected to Congress and the Senate, there was nothing he loved more than flying. His greatest political commitment was to the US space program.