These Republican senators won't campaign against their states Democratic candidates

Eliza Collins | USA TODAY

Democrats are playing defense in the 2018 midterms as they’re trying to hold onto 25 seats up for re-election, 10 of which are in states President Trump won in 2016. Comparably, only a handful of Republican seats are up in 2018, and of those, four are considered even slightly competitive.

And yet Democrats remain confident they can hold onto their seats and possibly flip a few more. Some sitting Republican senators might make that easier. Meet the GOP senators who have announced that, while they support the Republican nominee for Senate, they aren’t going to campaign against the Democrat from their state.

Tennessee

Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee said that he wouldn’t campaign against Phil Bredesen in the race for his soon-to-be open seat. Corker is retiring at the end of the year and Rep. Marsha Blackburn is the expected GOP nominee to replace him. Tennessee is still a red state, but Democrats are touting Bredesen, the state’s popular former governor, as their best chance to win. And Corker's rave reviews about Bredesen aren't likely to hurt his chances.

Corker told National Journal that he expects Bredesen to pick up “a lot of Republican votes."

"I think Gov. Bredesen would be good at almost anything he put his mind to doing. He did a very good job in business, he did a very good job as mayor (of Nashville), he did a very good job as governor. He's been an outstanding public servant,” Corker said.

Corker said he’s contributed to Blackburn’s campaign but he isn’t going to go out of his way to try and hurt Bredesen’s campaign.

"I certainly do not plan to be working against somebody who is a friend and who has served our state ably," Corker said. "We've worked together to build a great state."

Florida

Florida’s Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson is facing a competitive race from the state’s sitting Gov. Rick Scott. But don’t expect fellow Florida senator, Marco Rubio, to be one of his attackers, even if he ultimately wants the seat to be held by a Republican.

“I do not campaign against Bill Nelson,” Rubio said last month. “I could not ask for a better partner — especially from the other party. But come election time I want my party to win like he wants his party to win."

Rubio did go on to fundraise for Scott based on the premise that more Republicans in Congress make nomination confirmations easier.

One of most important roles of senate is confirming federal judges & scotus. The road to growing the senate #GOP majority runs through #Florida Please join me in contributing to, voting for & supporting @ScottforFlorida #Sayfie — Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) April 9, 2018

Ohio

There's one Republican senator who hasn't said he won't campaign against his fellow senator — but he has said he works well with his counterpart.

Sen Rob Portman of Ohio told The Washington Post that he worked with fellow Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, on trade and wasn't sure where Brown's challenger, Ohio Rep. Jim Renacci, fell on the issue.

“I don’t know what Renacci’s position’s going to be. I just don’t know. But as you know, Brown and I work together on this stuff,” Portman said.

The two senators have had a history of keeping the relationship friendly. When Portman ran against Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in 2016, Brown told the Columbus Dispatch he supported the Democrat, but, he was "not going to talk negatively about my other senator because we work together and I like him."

Contributing: Chrissie Thompson, Carl Weiser and Jessie Balmert in Ohio.