I joined NPR Weekend Edition’s Scott Simon to discuss Republican Senate strategy and the 2026 midterms.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST: Maine Democrats have a little more than two weeks to pick a new candidate to take on incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins. Graham Platner, who had won the June primary, withdrew from the race this week, days after Politico reported on a rape allegation from a former girlfriend, which Platner denies. There had been other red flags during Platner’s campaign – a tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol, reports of unsettling behavior from other former girlfriends and an admission that he was sexting women outside of his marriage. We are joined now by Republican strategist Liam Donovan in our studios. Thanks so much for being with us.
LIAM DONOVAN: Scott, it’s great to be here.
SIMON: Democrats had seen Senator Collins as very vulnerable this cycle, and defeating her, perhaps, their best opportunity to flip control of the Senate. Is that still the case?
DONOVAN: I think it’s still the case that they have to win Maine to have a plausible path to the Senate. The math and the map of this cycle mean it is largely going through Trump country, through battlegrounds that Republicans have won in previous presidential cycles. This is the only state where there is a Republican sitting in a state that Vice President Harris and President Biden previously won.

Listen to the full interview here.

I joined NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe to discuss the fights awaiting congressional Republicans and where the party splits.

RASCOE: But the big question is where there is, and it’s a question being asked increasingly among House Republicans. Liam Donovan joins us now. He’s a veteran political operative who now heads up Targeted Victory, a Republican consulting and public affairs firm. Good morning.
LIAM DONOVAN: Good morning.
RASCOE: So productive is in the eye of the beholder. But what odds do you give that Republican and Republican-leaning voters will see what the GOP-led Congress has done so far as productive in November?
DONOVAN: Well, I think the productivity has been so front-loaded, which is leading to some of the frustrations late in this year, particularly coming out of the shutdown. But that’s going to be the challenge of Republicans over this next year. And I think they understand that. I think Mike Johnson is aware of that, but they need to take the accomplishments of the first half of the year, particularly around the extension of the previous Trump tax cuts and the expansion on those, especially with respect to the provisions that people really do like. And they – and as they learn heading into next year, remember, things like no tax on overtime, no tax on tips – those sorts of provisions don’t go into effect until next year.

Listen to the full interview here.

I joined Meghna Chakrabarti on WBUR’s On Point, alongside the Tax Foundation’s Erica York, to discuss what the One Big Beautiful Bill Act means for taxes and spending.

And in order to do that, I want to bring in Liam Donovan. He’s a Republican political strategist and President at Targeted Victory, A GOP Public Affairs firm.
Liam Donovan. Welcome to On Point.
LIAM DONOVAN: Meghna, it’s good to be with you.
CHAKRABARTI: So you heard Erica very meticulously explain why this is not a bill, as currently written, that’s going to juice the American economy. She’s talked about $4 trillion in revenue loss for the federal government. In exchange for a meager 0.8% growth in GDP.
Check that with me. Do you see this as an economic growth package as Republicans have historically championed?
DONOVAN: First, I’ll start by saying I have the utmost respect for Erica. I’ve worked with Tax Foundation for many years. I think what you have to think about here is the counterfactual, which is this would be a $4 trillion tax increase absent congressional action.

Listen to the full interview here.