GOP senators facing tough 2016 reelection agree to lunch with Democrats Nearly all the Republican senators expected to have formidable 2016 reelections in their swing states want to break bread with their Democratic colleagues. They include Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). We can imagine the campaign ad now: "Senator Pat Toomey knows how to work across the aisle. He's co-sponsored legislation with Democrats. Flash to photo of him and Sen. Joe Manchin. He even lunches with Democrats once a month. The two senators who spent six days alone together on a desert island have spearheaded the idea for a monthly bipartisan meal. Now back in Washington, Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) corralled (only) 30 of their Senate colleagues to ask their party leaders permission to lunch together. "It is our hope that our respective leadership teams take concrete steps to broaden the relationships and deepen the rapport among members," they wrote in a letter to Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Harry Reid (D-Nev.). They need their support to get the lunches on the schedule. There's nostalgia on Capitol Hill for the good "ol days when lawmakers of different parties would dine and socialize together. Talk to veteran or retired members of Congress, and they'll wax poetic about how friendships cultivated outside work helped them ultimately work together. Notably, of the senators who signed on, none are in party leadership positions. Also, the ever-optimistic Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), who was declared the loser in his Senate race, but refuses to concede, also signed the pro-lunch letter. Other senators on the letter are: Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Angus King (I-Maine), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)