DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: REPUBLICANS SADDLED WITH “MOTLEY” SENATE RECRUITS – OZ IS MIA IN NJ – THE OTHER HERSCHEL STORY: A MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING SCHEME

“ISLAND OF MISFIT TOYS” – SENATE REPUBLICANS SADDLED WITH DEEPLY FLAWED & OUT-OF-TOUCH CANDIDATES. Multiple stories this week have zeroed in on the weakness of GOP Senate candidates –  “a motley collection of candidates” that are “personally compromised and too cozy with Donald Trump.” Now, these weak candidates are running on a “deeply polarizing approach” that will prove unpopular with general election voters.

• New York Times: A Bluer Picture. “Republicans are assembling what one top strategist laughingly described as an ‘island of misfit toys’ – a motley collection of candidates the Democratic Party hopes to portray as out of the mainstream on policy, personally compromised and too cozy with Donald Trump. These vulnerabilities have led to a rough few weeks for Republican Senate candidates in several of the most competitive races”

• POLITICO: GOP Senate hopefuls adopt a high-risk strategy for November. “In many cases, facing their own fiercely competitive general election races, Republicans running this year are largely foregoing appeals to the center, instead doubling down on conservative positions — from opposing popular bipartisan reforms to celebrating the rollback of abortion rights.”

• MSNBC (WATCH): Nicole Wallace On GOP Senate Candidates: “Island Of Misfit Toys Feels Generous For Some Of These Cats.Democrats have been very successful in portraying Republican candidates as too extreme and too much aligned with Donald Trump, particularly in those Senate races, where the New York Times notes Republican candidates have had a rough few weeks.”

GOP SENATE CANDIDATES’ NO GOOD, VERY BAD WEEK. From controversial blog posts to multi-level marketing schemes, it’s been an absolutely brutal week of coverage for GOP Senate candidates. Catch up quick: 

• AZ – New York Times: The Strident Writings of a Young Blake Masters Dog His Senate Run.“As he had in other forums, Mr. Masters wrote on the CrossFit chat room that he opposed American involvement in both world wars — although World War II, he conceded, ‘is harder to argue because of the hot button issue of the Holocaust (nevermind that our friend Stalin murdered over twice as many as Hitler … why do we gloss over that in schools?).’”

• AZ – Phoenix New Times: ‘No Handouts’ Jim Lamon Defends Accepting Billions in Federal Help at Former Solar Venture. “Despite billions of dollars in federal help throughout his career in the solar energy sector, U.S. Senate hopeful Jim Lamon insists government should ‘get the hell out of the way’ of American businesses. … But in December 2020, Lamon accepted $2,660,600 in federal relief from the Paycheck Protection Program, designed by Congress to provide economic reprieve for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, and utilities, records show.”

• GA – CNN: Herschel Walker partnered in 2012 with arm of energy company accused by multiple states of deceptive practices. “Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker was once a ‘partner’ and ‘spokesman’ for a subsidiary of an energy company, Just Energy, which was repeatedly targeted by states’ attorneys general and utility agencies over allegedly deceptive practices.”

• NC – WGHP: Senate candidate Ted Budd’s expensive trips paid for by benefactors draw criticism from Democrats. “During his early years as the representative of North Carolina’s 13th Congressional District, Rep. Ted Budd, like most of his colleagues, took advantage of his position to take several trips funded by outside groups. But now those sometimes lavish trips that were paid for by his benefactor Club for Growth and other conservative organizations are drawing new scrutiny after members of his own party attacked him during the Republican US Senate primary, which he won, for the outside money his campaign had received.”

• NH – HuffPost: GOP Senate Hopeful Kevin Smith Mishandled Harassment Complaint, Lawsuit Says. “Smith himself made demeaning comments about women in the workplace, Doolan claimed, such as making ‘dumb blonde jokes’ and referring to a female subordinate as ‘pork chop.’”

• NV – Newsweek: Trump-Backed Adam Laxalt’s Lengthy List of Financial Scandals. During his time in office, Laxalt faced allegations of pressuring officials, using his position as attorney general to fend off investigators, and accepting illegal campaign contributions from Lev Parnas—who was tried and ultimately convicted in October 2021 of federal campaign finance crimes.

• OH – Vice News: JD Vance Compared Abortion to Slavery. “There’s something comparable between abortion and slavery, and that while the people who obviously suffer the most are those subjected to it, I think it has this morally distorting effect on the entire society,” Vance, the GOP nominee for an open Ohio Senate seat, said in an interview with the Catholic Current last October.

• PA – POLITICO: Where in the world is Dr. Oz? “Mehmet Oz is trailing in polls. A key Republican has yet to endorse him since the celebrity doctor won the GOP nomination for Pennsylvania Senate more than a month ago. And Oz has gone dark on the airwaves since May 21 — even as his Democratic rival John Fetterman burnishes his brand on TV as a political outsider, and paints Oz as a carpetbagger from New Jersey.”

ANTI-CHOICE GOP SENATE CANDIDATES HAVE “MADE A LOT OF MISTAKES” TALKING ABOUT ABORTION RIGHTS. The 19th News and McClatchy are highlighting how GOP Senate candidates have “made a lot of mistakes” talking about abortion, as “Mitch McConnell’s suggestion that Republicans could pursue federal legislation to ban abortion everywhere has supplied potent political ammunition to Democrats.”

• The 19th News: GOP Senate candidates don’t really want to talk about abortion. “After the Supreme Court’s June 24 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Laxalt, Johnson and Vance all praised the ruling ending nearly 50 years of federal abortion rights. Then, they pivoted back to talking about other issues.”

• McClatchy: McConnell briefly floated a national abortion ban. Democrats have seized on that. “In New Hampshire, Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, who is running for a second term, has fully integrated McConnell into her messaging for weeks. … Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto is dubbing a national abortion ban as central to the ‘Laxalt-McConnell agenda,’ referring to Adam Laxalt, a former state attorney general who clinched the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in June.

AND WHILE THE GOP RUNS AWAY FROM ROE RULING, DEM SENATORS “PUT ABORTION FRONT AND CENTER” ON THE TRAIL.

• National Journal: From New Hampshire to Nevada, women Democratic senators running for reelection highlight abortion rights. “In particular, Democrats have been pumping money into ads and events in the states of Nevada, New Hampshire, and Washington, where three of the upper chamber’s Democratic women are up for reelection.”

• Fox News: July 4th politics: Hassan charges her GOP challengers in battleground New Hampshire are ‘extreme opponents’. “The Supreme Court decision just catapulted us backwards. Now, women are again second-class citizens in the United States because this fundamental freedom has been taken away from us. It’s going to be critically important this fall for people to understand that Mitch McConnell and my opponents want to pass a national abortion ban,’ Hassan charged in a national exclusive interview with Fox News. ‘We can’t let happen and people need to vote for pro-choice candidates up and down the ballot.”

• Concord Monitor: On the trail: Abortion front and center on NH campaign trail. “‘This decision catapults us backwards, and there are politicians like Mitch McConnell, who’ve made it clear that their objective is to ban abortion nationwide,’ Hassan charges in her ad. ‘We will not be intimidated. I will fight and never back down.’”

• AP: Nevada senator focuses on abortion in critical November race. “There is no doubt in my mind that the Republicans in the Senate right now are writing a draft legislation to further restrict abortion in this country,” she said. “To actually try to pass a federal abortion ban. This election, it matters. Nevada is the seat that’s going to stop that.”

• Las Vegas Review Journal: Cortez Masto says abortion rights about freedom for women. “‘There is no question in my mind that my opponent, Adam Laxalt, would support a federal abortion ban that eliminates access to reproductive care nationwide,’ Cortez Masto said. ‘He is out of line with a majority of Nevadans in this state.’”

POSTERIZED – FETTERMAN DUNKS ON OZ. While Oz is in hiding at his New Jersey mansion, John Fetterman is making sure voters know who the real Pennyslvanian is – and that John will have their back in the U.S. Senate.

• Insider: John Fetterman accuses Mehmet Oz of recording a Pennsylvania campaign video at his home in New Jersey. “On Thursday, Oz’s Democratic rival, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, accused the Trump-backed candidate of posting a campaign video recorded on that same property. ‘Pro tip: Don’t film an ad for your Pennsylvania Senate campaign from your mansion in New Jersey,’ Fetterman said in a statement.”

DON’T LOOK UP: FETTERMAN TO FLY AIRPLANE BANNER OVER NJ BEACHES.

• Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Fetterman to attack Oz’s residency in ads — including with airplane banner over New Jersey beaches. “Mr. Fetterman, facing Mr. Oz in one of the country’s most important federal races, will go up on the airwaves across Pennsylvania this weekend with an advertisement that calls the Republican nominee ‘Doc Hollywood,’ and — flashing images of the candidate’s New Jersey mansion of a video of him kissing his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — says he’s ‘not one of us.’”

WATCH FETTERMAN’S NEW AD

KELLY BLASTS OFF INTO THE AIRWAVES: NEW ADS FROM THE GRAND CANYON STATE. A new ad from Mark Kelly’s campaign highlights a bill he is sponsoring that would ban stock trading for members of Congress. The Kelly campaign also put out their first Spanish-language TV ad of 2022, which shows Kelly’s work to lower costs on everything from gas to groceries.

 WATCH: “Not Wall Street” 

WATCH: “Entiende”

ICYMI: WISCONSIN DOCTOR: TO ENSURE ABORTION CARE, GET RID OF RON JOHNSON

• Cap Times (Opinion – Dr. Emily Buttigieg): To ensure abortion care, get rid of Ron Johnson. “Johnson has turned a blind eye to the reality that Wisconsin doctors and people across the state are now facing. He claims that repealing Roe v. Wade will just be ‘a little messy’ and that if people don’t like the laws in their state they “can move.” He’s even gone so far as to say, ‘I don’t view that (as) such a huge threat to women’s health.’ As a medical professional who specializes in reproductive health care, I can unequivocally say Ron Johnson couldn’t be more wrong.”

SENATE DEMOCRATS & CHALLENGERS REPORT RECORD-BREAKING FUNDRAISING HAULS. Democratic Senators and challengers in key battleground states are posting impressive fundraising hauls this past quarter – demonstrating that voters are fired up to protect and expand our Democratic Senate majority.

• WMUR: Sen. Maggie Hassan’s re-election campaign says it raised record amount in 2nd quarter. “A campaign spokesperson says that’s a record for the quarter, besting Hassan’s 2016 Q2 haul of $3.2 million. According to the campaign, it’s also the third-highest fundraising quarter in state history.”

• NBC News: Tim Ryan raises $9.1 million in Ohio Senate race.  “Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, raised $9.1 million in the second fundraising quarter for his Senate campaign, according to figures shared first with NBC News. Ryan more than doubled his $4.1 million fundraising haul from the first three months of the year, adding nearly 90,000 new donors from April through June, per his campaign. Nearly all of the second quarter contributions were in amounts of $100 or less.”

JUST THIS WEEK, THANKS TO SENATE DEMOCRATS.

Senate Democrats like Sen. Raphael Warnock are fighting to address Americans’ most pressing issues – like ensuring our veterans returning home from service are given the resources they need to succeed.

• FOX 31: Sens. Ossoff, Warnock announce resources to help veterans reenter the workforce. “U.S. Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA) are jointly working to help veterans reenter the workforce and find stable housing. Sens. Ossoff and Warnock announced, on Friday, new resources through the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program for three Georgia organizations that work to help veterans access job training and get the support they need return to the workforce.”

IN THE STATES

AZ – Arizona Republic (Opinion) You know it’s bad when Trump tells Mark Brnovich to stop misleading voters. “It’s also worth pointing out that Brnovich, for a year, has been shamelessly using his office as a cheap campaign tool in his quest to snag a seat in the U.S. Senate.”

FL – Orlando Sentinel (Opinion): Marco Rubio puts his own agenda ahead of crime victims. “Rubio’s record of putting politics ahead of victims of crime goes beyond his failure to address the epidemic of gun violence. The Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade has brought Rubio’s years-long record of supporting measures to restrict Floridians’ freedom to control their own bodies back to the forefront.”

PA – WTAJ: Fetterman calls out ‘price gouging’ from oil companies. “Pennsylvania Lt. Governor and U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman released a statement after ExxonMobil profit forecasts were released, saying the projected profits are “mind boggling” and that the price gouging needs to end.”

WI – UpNorthNews: The National Debt Has Doubled Since Ron Johnson Went to Washington. “When Sen. Johnson talks about the national debt, remember it’s just that, talk. Those facts may be inconvenient for the senator, but they’re still the facts.”

TWEET OF THE WEEK

David Bergstein
@DavidABergstein

Amanda Sherman
@asherman89

Pat Burgwinkle
@Burgwinkle

Nora Keefe
@norakatekeefe

Freedom Murphy
@F_AlexanderM

Eli Cousin
@elicousin

Claire Berry
@claireliseberry

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