The 2015 GOP Senate Class Strikes Quite the

Making the rounds on social media this weekend is a resurrected 2015 video introducing the GOP Senate freshman class of the 114th Congress, marching to the tune of: “When the Saints Go Marching In.” The video begins off in fascinating fashion with a digital camera shot skilled on the legs of the two feminine Senate freshmen, before widening to embrace the others (who had been male). The high factors: No one was attempting to dance, and the legs are very engaging. 

Thirteen congressional newbies: Bill Cassidy (LA), Tom Cotton (AR), Shelly Moore Capito (WV), Steve Daines (MT), Joni Ernst (IA), Cory Gardner (CO), Jim Lankford (OK), David Perdue (GA), Mike Rounds (SD), Ben Sasse (NE), Dan Sullivan (AK), Thom Tillis (NC), and Todd Young (IN), had been spotlighted, marching proudly on the Capitol steps, exhibiting off, and exhibiting what they had been made of.  

It is kind of the traditional, and also revealing. The video, with this bench of “fresh faced” senators, oozes ambition and vitality, reflecting the assured swagger and direction of then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY). That vitality has been sorely absent under Majority Leader John Thune’s (SD) lackluster management of the 119th Congress, and half of that has to do with the tenure of these featured senators, who are no longer freshmen, but very a lot entrenched institution.

WATCH:

This video is caught in my head pic.twitter.com/0oCPXRAzk6

— Based Saltine (@based_saltine) September 18, 2026

That was 11 years in the past, but looks as if an eternity. Out of the 13 senators featured, only six have managed to maintain on to their seats… for now. These are the males (and girl) still around.

• Tom Cotton (AR)
• Shelly Moore Capito (WV)
• Jim Lankford (OK)
• Mike Rounds (SD)
• Dan Sullivan (AK)
• Todd Young (IN)

Sullivan and Cotton are up for reelection in November. Sullivan has a struggle on his palms thanks to Ranked Choice Voting, and a Dem puppet candidate with his same identify on the poll. Cotton is standard in Arkansas, and manages to skate the line of being aligned with the Trump agenda without coming off as full-fledged MAGA; so, it’s all but assured he’ll be back for the a hundred and twentieth Congress.

The other seven either have a foot out the door and a hand on their stock trades, or they no longer serve in Congress. Two had been defeated by Democrats, and the relaxation by their own hubris and anti-Trump obstruction. 

One means or another, the winds of the voters didn’t blow in their favor. 

Ahead of November midterms, let’s take a stroll down reminiscence lane.

Bill Cassidy (Louisiana) 

Essentially, Cassidy fought President Donald Trump and MAHA, and Trump and MAHA received. Cassidy was one of the Republicans who voted in 2020 to impeach President Donald Trump 45, and that value him the goodwill of Louisiana voters who are staunchly pro-Trump. As chair of the Senate Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee, Cassidy obstructed the affirmation of Trump’s decide for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as properly other MAHA-focused nominations and appointments. While Cassidy tried to fake he was on board with the Trump administration insurance policies, he often obstructed the president’s agenda and labored to placate his Big Pharma and Big Insurance donors. President Trump in the end endorsed Cassidy’s GOP challenger Rep. Julia Letlow (LA-05), and Letlow trounced Cassidy in the 2026 Louisiana main, successfully ending Cassidy’s Senate profession. 

Letlow is anticipated to win against Democrat challenger Jamie Davis in November, and turn out to be half of the new crop of GOP freshman in 2027. 

Steve Daines (Montana)

Daines was one of the first GOP senators to endorse then-former President Donald Trump’s 2024 run, and was relied upon as a MAGA stalwart to champion the president’s agenda. Daines would have been up for reelection in November, and might have simply marched through the Montana main. But after 13 years in Congress, he determined at the very last minute that it was time to grasp up his hat. Daines endorsed Montana U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme, who received the Republican main and will face Democrat Alani Bankhead in November. 

It is projected that Alme will maintain the seat for the Republicans.

Joni Ernst (Iowa) 

As an esteemed member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Ernst made the deadly error of believing her own press. So, she was not-so-pleasantly stunned when her efforts to destroy the nomination of U.S. Army National Guard major (ret) and former Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Pete Hegseth was met with fierce backlash. 

Just as with Cassidy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Ernst selected the flawed nomination to wage her battle. Her Iowa constituents as properly as loads of service members and veterans let her comprehend it. Word on the Hill is that conservatives had been already mounting a candidate to main Ernst, which precipitated Ernst to pivot, and change her tune over Hegseth’s nomination. Ernst in the end voted to transfer Hegseth’s nomination out of committee, and hers was a “Yes” vote to affirm him in the full Senate. However, that battle seems to have scarred her. Ernst took the “L,” opting not to run for reelection. Unlike some of her colleagues, Ernst is comporting herself properly, her dignity firmly intact, as she rides out the few weeks left until her Senate time period is finished.

Rep. Ashley Hinson (IA-02) is working to change Ernst, and has President Trump’s endorsement. Hinson faces Democrat Josh Turek, and the race is taken into account within the margin of error.

Cory Gardner (Colorado)

Gardner was a RINO at best and a closet liberal at worse. With the shenanigans of 2020, and Colorado’s voters shortly transferring from purple to deep blue, Gardner was simply picked off by former Democrat Gov. John Hickenlooper, who took the seat in 2021.

David Perdue (Georgia)

Perdue was also collateral injury of 2020 shenanigans, coupled with the horrible messaging surrounding Georgia’s attempt to tighten its elections. The race between Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff went to a runoff, and Ossoff narrowly pulled off a win. 

The GOP is attempting to flip this seat back to the pink column, with Rep. Mike Collins (GA-10) working against incumbent Ossoff in November. The race is rated lean Democrat. 

Ben Sasse (Nebraska) 

Sasse served one full Senate time period and was re-elected to a second in 2020, which he didn’t full. A vocal critic of President Donald Trump 45, Sasse was another Republican vote to impeach the president. Sasse selected to resign from Congress in 2023 to turn out to be the president of the University of Florida. In early 2025, he left that post due to his spouse’s health points. Then tragically, in December 2025, Sasse announced he had been identified with metastatic stage-four pancreatic cancer. 

Thom Tillis (North Carolina)

Tillis was always a closet Never Trumper, and after Trump’s resounding victory in the 2024 election, Tillis determined he needed to turn out to be more vocal and more obstructionist. Tillis has either questioned or outright obstructed key Trump cupboard appointments, most lately in partnership with the primaried John Cornyn (TX) to gum up the works on then-Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination. Before Cassidy and Cornyn had been divested by their voters, Tillis read the tea leaves, recognizing that when it got here to any precise affect, his was shortly waning. So, like Ernst, he took his ball and went home, selecting not to run for reelection.

Unlike Ernst, Tillis doesn’t seem to care about his dignity or ending properly. He also has not bothered to help or marketing campaign for Michael Whatley, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat. 

The race between Whatley and former Democrat NC governor Roy Cooper is projected as lean Democrat, but that might shift in the days main up to November.

Along with the Senate’s failure to move the SAVE America Act, the Republicans continue to squander a lot of the goodwill of the voters and don’t appear adept at speaking the Republican wins that would help them garner votes. With these departures and the candidates working to change them, if the Republicans handle to maintain the Senate, it will likely be out of Democrat stupidity and incompetence, and sheer success. 

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will decide the destiny of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must preserve control of both chambers of Congress.

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