Senate GOP candidate problems: The rundown

Scott, the state’s two-term governor, is essentially the sole focus of GOP recruiting efforts in Florida. He’s a rare candidate with both the name identification and the fundraising prowess to compete against an incumbent.

Messer, one of two congressmen all-but-certain to enter the race against Donnelly, has assembled a top-notch fundraising team, including Greg Pence, brother of Vice President Mike Pence.

Rokita is also almost certainly a candidate, and has name identification advantage after serving two terms as secretary of state.

Petersen, who ran for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination in 2016, officially announced a GOP bid for Senate earlier this week.

The state’s 37-year-old attorney general is the GOP’s new top recruiting target. While’s he been in office less than a year, he helped argue the Hobby Lobby case before the Supreme Court while in private practice.

Hartzler, a more conservative congresswoman than Wagner, isn’t ruling out a Senate run of her own. She could attempt to run to Hawley’s right in a primary.

Since winning election to the House in 2012, Wagner had been expected to challenge McCaskill. But GOP insiders in the state prefer Hawley and slowly pushed her out of the race.

Downing, a self-storage company CEO, Air Force veteran and friend of Zinke’s, has already announced a bid. But both his California roots and his past criticisms of Trump could prove to be a political problem.

Republicans have recently discussed Rosendale, the state treasurer and a real estate developer, as a potential candidate. But he has out-of-state roots that Democrats have used successfully against other Montana Republicans in the past.

Zinke, a former Navy Seal, was national Republicans’ first pick to take on Tester before Trump offered him a job as interior secretary.

Fox, the state’s attorney general, was the second pick of national Republicans, but he spurned them last month, instead deciding to focus on a 2020 gubernatorial bid.

Cramer has won statewide before and is the obvious pick to battle Heitkamp, but Republicans worry about his propensity for cringeworthy comments.

Campbell, a state senator, has said he’ll run for Senate if Cramer doesn’t, and run for Cramer’s seat in the House if he does.

Mandel, the state treasurer and an Iraq War veteran, lost to Brown in 2012. And some Republicans clearly aren’t eager for a second go-round, with Tiberi and Kasich declining to endorse him.

Republicans aren’t quite sure what to make of the venture capitalist and “Hillbilly Elegy” author, who just returned to his home state and is considering a run.

A member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, Tiberi had raised money in preparation for a statewide run for years and has built up a $5 million war chest.

Bartos, a little-known real estate developer who could put some of his own money toward a run, has attracted A-list political consultants for his bid.

Trump has personally encouraged Barletta, an anti-illegal immigration hawk since his days as a small city mayor, to run for Senate.

Kelly, another early Trump ally, has ruled out a run for governor. But he’s still considering a Senate bid.

Meehan was the initial pick of establishment Republicans, but he said he wanted to focus on his work in the House, including Obamacare repeal and tax reform.

Jenkins, a Democratic state legislator-turned-GOP congressman, is the gaffe-free preferred pick of national Republicans.

Morrisey, the state’s attorney general, will be able to brag about repeatedly taking the Obama administration to court. He’s already begun attacking Jenkins’ Democratic past.

Nicholson, an Iraq War veteran and businessman, would seem to be  a perfect candidate and has already attracted a major donor to seed a super PAC with $2 million. There’s one major (primary) problem: He’s a former president of the College Democrats of America.

Hovde, an investment manager, finished a strong second to former Gov. Tommy Thompson in the 2012 GOP primary to face Baldwin. He’s considering a second run at the office, and could contribute his own money toward a bid.

Vukmir, a registered nurse, won a recent straw poll of GOP activists.

The “Real World” star-turned-congressman opted not to run, saying he couldn’t leave his young family, which includes eight children.

The top target for Republicans after Duffy, Schneider, a trucking company heiress with a Ph.D. in social work, would’ve been able to self-fund a bid. But she also cited her young family as a reason not to make a bid.