ICYMI: DSCC Chair Peters Highlights Senate Democrats’ “Advantage in What He Calls Candidate Quality” on Spectrum News

Read the DSCC’s memo on Senate Republicans’ “candidate quality” problem here.

This week, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Sen. Gary Peters joined Spectrum News to discuss how “Democrats feel confident they are winning the ‘candidate quality’ game” and that Republicans’ Senate recruits “are not ready for primetime.”  

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Watch DSCC Chair Sen. Peters’ interview with Spectrum News here.

Spectrum News: How Democrats are trying to keep their U.S. Senate majority this fall
By Taylor Popielarz 
June 20, 2024

• “I feel good. We are going to hold the majority,” Peters told Spectrum News.

• Peters argued Democrats have an advantage in what he calls “candidate quality.” 

• He said most of their candidates in competitive races have deep roots in their state and are well-known political brands. He pointed out that Republican candidates in Senate battlegrounds like Montana, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Nevada either moved to their states in recent years or spent years living elsewhere.

• “What we found with Republicans is that they’ve recruited a lot of very wealthy folks who can self-fund their campaigns, but they don’t really have much contact with their state,” Peters said. “Oftentimes they’re really out-of-staters that are just parachuting into the state and saying ‘hey, I want to be your senator.’ That simply does not fly.”

• Tester leans heavily into being a third-generation Montana dirt farmer who lost three fingers in a meat grinder, while Brown regularly touts his Ohio roots and advocacy for the everyday worker.

• Peters: “It is about a candidate or an incumbent that people know and can see what they have done over the years to fight for them.” 

• Peters added: “They still are able to out-perform what a generic Democrat would do in that state. And it’s because of who they are, their personality, and this election because of the contrast between them and their opponents who are not ready for primetime for many reasons.”

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