How AI talks about key 2026 Senate races
RankBee measures how ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews portray each candidate — across all 9 Senate contests, 2 not yet graded.
Who the AI backs, issue by issue
The bare “who should I vote for?” ask, then the 12 issues put to every graded race — each broken out by who is asking. Every issue gets three rows — put by an undecided voter, by a self-identified Republican voter and by a self-identified Democrat voter, each in the words that voter would use — because on most issues those three asks do not back the same candidate. A letter means the answers left that candidate ahead: recommended them outright, or framed only them favorably. Nearly every answer mentions both candidates by name, so a mention counts for nothing here — an answer that weighs the two evenly counts as neither, which is why a cell can come back blank. Read down a column to see one race; read across a row to see how far an issue travels. Where the Republican-voice and Democrat-voice rows disagree, that issue is steerable in that race, and the last column counts how often. The two partisan prompts are not the same sentence with a party label swapped: each states the issue the way that side states it, so a flip measures the whole partisan framing — the self-identification and the wording that comes with it — not the label on its own.
| Issue | Asked by | GA | IA | ME | NC | OH | TX | AK | Steerable in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| “Who should I vote for?” | Undecided voter | D | R | R | D | D | – | R | 6 of 7 |
| Republican voter | R | R | R | D | R | R | R | ||
| Democrat voter | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | ||
| Economy and Inflation | Undecided voter | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | 3 of 7 |
| Republican voter | – | R | R | D | R | D | D | ||
| Democrat voter | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | ||
| Healthcare | Undecided voter | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | 3 of 7 |
| Republican voter | R | – | R | D | – | R | D | ||
| Democrat voter | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | ||
| Reproductive Rights | Undecided voter | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | 5 of 7 |
| Republican voter | R | R | R | D | – | R | R | ||
| Democrat voter | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | ||
| Social Security and Medicare | Undecided voter | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | 1 of 7 |
| Republican voter | D | – | R | D | D | D | D | ||
| Democrat voter | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | ||
| Geopolitical Policy & Trade | Undecided voter | D | D | R | D | D | D | D | 0 of 7 |
| Republican voter | D | – | R | D | D | D | D | ||
| Democrat voter | D | D | R | D | D | D | D | ||
| Housing Affordability | Undecided voter | D | D | D | D | – | D | R | 1 of 7 |
| Republican voter | – | – | R | D | R | D | – | ||
| Democrat voter | D | D | – | D | D | D | D | ||
| Education | Undecided voter | D | R | R | D | D | D | D | 5 of 7 |
| Republican voter | R | R | R | D | R | R | R | ||
| Democrat voter | D | R | D | D | D | D | D | ||
| Energy and Climate Policy | Undecided voter | D | – | R | D | – | D | R | 4 of 7 |
| Republican voter | R | – | R | – | R | R | R | ||
| Democrat voter | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | ||
| Immigration and Border Security | Undecided voter | D | R | R | D | R | R | – | 4 of 7 |
| Republican voter | R | R | R | D | R | R | R | ||
| Democrat voter | D | D | – | D | D | – | D | ||
| Crime | Undecided voter | D | R | R | D | R | R | R | 2 of 7 |
| Republican voter | D | R | R | D | R | R | R | ||
| Democrat voter | D | R | – | D | – | D | D | ||
| Gun Policy | Undecided voter | R | R | R | R | – | D | – | 7 of 7 |
| Republican voter | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | ||
| Democrat voter | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | ||
| Taxes and Government Spending | Undecided voter | R | R | R | – | – | R | – | 6 of 7 |
| Republican voter | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | ||
| Democrat voter | – | D | D | D | D | D | D |
Top of the ticket
The issues that move with the asker, and the cycle's most-watched matchup, side by side.
Where the asker changes the answer
One issue, put by a Republican voter and by a Democrat voter in the words each would use. On some topics the two asks come back backing different candidates.
Across 7 graded races · the rest back the same side no matter who asks
Never flips in any race: geopolitical policy & trade. Measured 2026-08-12 · gpt-oss-120b independent per-candidate grading.
All Senate races
9 contests we track · 7 measured, 2 pending a primary
Primary resolved 2026-08-04 — Abdul El-Sayed defeated Haley Stevens. This race hasn't been crawled and graded yet; steering data will appear once it has.
Republican field still unsettled — steering can't be measured without both nominees.
How we measure
Independent per-candidate grading
Every AI answer to a voter question is graded independently for each candidate — recommends, favors, neutral, or unfavorable — by gpt-oss-120b, not a single overall score.
Two engines, three voices
We prompt ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews on the same issues, put as a non-partisan voter, a Republican voter and a Democrat voter would each put them, to see whether the asker changes the answer.
9 races, 7 measured today
Michigan and New Hampshire are excluded from the numbers until each has two named nominees and a graded crawl — New Hampshire's primary hasn't happened yet; Michigan's resolved on 2026-08-04 but hasn't been crawled and graded. Detailed source-level breakdowns are available to subscribers.
We measure. We influence.
RankBee does more than measure political opinion — we actively influence AI political narratives for governments, political parties and advocacy organizations around the world using tested, proprietary methodologies.