March 18, 2022 Press Releases

DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: SCORCHED-EARTH SPRING IN GOP PRIMARIES – GLOVES OFF ON HERSCHEL – MCCORMICK, OZ SLUGFEST – GOP AGENDA KEEPS COSTS HIGH

SCORCHED-EARTH SPRING – GLOVES COME OFF IN GOP SENATE PRIMARIES AS CANDIDATES “THRASH EACH OTHER.” A wave of news coverage is highlighting how “GOP candidates are already pummeling each other in monthslong advertising free-for-alls” as “candidates thrash each other” with “unprecedented television spending” – creating “pricey” primaries as their candidates “punch each other out” with “increasingly intense lines of attack.” See more here:

ARIZONA: Bloomberg reported that Ducey’s refusal to run “leaves a crowd of lesser-known Republicans in a bitter battle for the nomination with “millions already being spent on TV.”

GEORGIA: The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that “the attacks on Republican Senate frontrunner Herschel Walker are starting to intensify” as primary opponent Gary Black hits Walker with “a new digital attack ad opening with the bleak advisory, ‘Warning: Viewer Discretion is Advised.’” Reporters described the spot as “brutal.”
NEW HAMPSHIRE: The Smith campaign has hit Morse as an insider, saying “Morse has been in elected office for 20 years,” while Morse-backers are slamming Bolduc as “unqualified” and not “U.S. Senate material.”

NORTH CAROLINA: Club for Growth is “now pouring millions more into ad buys, raising their initial pledge of $10 million to at least $14 million to support Budd.” McCrory launched his first attack ad which The Carolina Journal reported “shells Budd on Putin” – saying in the spot that “as Ukrainians bled and died, Congressman Budd excused their killer.” The Club for Growth quickly attacked McCory in a response ad saying, “dirty tricks, lying liberal – Pat McCrory should be ashamed.”

OHIO: The GOP field is “ramping up spending and pushing out new advertising.”Jane Timken launched an ad hitting her male rivals “who overcompensate for their inadequacies,” while Mike Gibbons is slamming Timken and Vance in a $10 million ad buy that charges, “they claim to be conservative, but under pressure, they break.”

PENNSYLVANIA: Mehmet Oz has opened “a new line of attack” against David McCormick, blasting McCormick’s “hedge fund’s handling of teacher pensions” that “cost PA taxpayers.” News coverage declared that “the dispute is the latest round in a slugfest” with “increasingly intense lines of attack.”

…MORE FROM POLITICO: GOP SENATE CANDIDATES THRASH EACH OTHER AHEAD OF FIGHT FOR MAJORITY. “GOP candidates are already pummeling each other in monthslong advertising free-for-alls, fights intensified by unprecedented television spending… For Republicans, there are more than a dozen states where GOP candidates are attacking each other in bids for Senate nominations.”

WWW.GOPTAXHIKE.COM. This week, the DSCC launched a new website, www.GOPTaxHike.com, that highlights Senate Republicans’ plan to raise taxes on “over half of Americans.” The website presents viewers with eight different questions to find out if Republicans want to raise their taxes – for all of which the answer is ‘Yes.’ See more HERE.

Axios: First look: Democrats add website to Scott attacks. “The website, GOPTaxHike.com, seizes on Scott’s proposal that ‘ all Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game,’ according to the press release and website mock-up obtained by Axios.

SENATE GOP IN THEIR OWN WORDS: KEEP DRUG PRICES HIGH. Senator Grassley admitted this week that a Republican Senate would not take action to lower prescription drug costs – saying “he isn’t sure a GOP-led Congress can get it done.”

→ DSCC STATEMENT: “Senate Republicans are, in their own words, explaining why they should not be elected. They will raise taxes, end Medicare and Social Security, rip away coverage protections for pre-existing conditions – and now they’re admitting they would keep prescription drug prices high. The GOP’s obsession with pushing the agenda of big corporations that get rich by making working families pay more will lead their campaigns to defeat in 2022.”

ICYMI: WASHINGTON POST (OPINION): YES, VOTERS ‘DESERVE TO KNOW’ THIS GOP PLAN WOULD RAISE TAXES BY $1 TRILLION

“THE GLOVES ARE OFF” – HERSCHEL WALKER RIPPED BY GOP RIVALS AS HE FUMBLES AGAIN. It has been a brutal week for Herschel Walker, who has come under fire for making “exaggerated claims” about his “default, settlement and lawsuit” filled business record, faced scrutiny for casting doubt on the science behind evolution, and was slammed with “scathing” attacks from his rivals.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: It’s not an ‘autograph tour.’ Herschel Walker’s GOP opponents rip their rival. “The gloves are off in the Republican race for U.S. Senate.”
Fox News: Demolition derby in Georgia as Herschel Walker’s GOP primary rivals slam the Senate front-runner. “[Walker’s] rivals appear to be going for the jugular. Taking the lead is Gary Black, a cattle farmer and Georgia’s elected agriculture commissioner, who on Wednesday went up with a scathing digital ad that spotlights alleged past violent behavior by Walker, including an alleged incident where Walker held a razor to his ex-wife’s throat, choked her, and later put a gun to her head.”

HuffPost: Herschel Walker Skeptical Of Evolution: ‘Why Are There Still Apes? Think About It’. “Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker cast doubt on the theory of evolution in recent remarks, saying the fact that apes and humans coexist disproves accepted science.”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Review of Walker’s business record reveals lawsuits from creditors, exaggerated claims

WATCH: GEORGIA BUSINESS OWNERS, WORKERS HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE CALLING OUT WALKER FOR LYING ABOUT HIS FAILED BUSINESS RECORD. Georgia business leaders and workers held a virtual press conference this week calling out Herschel Walker for lying about his failed business record.

→ Watch the press conference and read more from Georgia Democrats here.

“LATEST ROUND IN A SLUGFEST” – MCCORMICK, OZ TRADE NEW LINES OF ATTACK IN INCREASINGLY NASTY PA PRIMARY. Pennsylvania’s GOP Senate primary is getting even nastier, as Oz “opens a new line of attack” blasting McCormick’s “hedge fund’s handling of teacher pensions” that “cost PA taxpayers” – while McCormick punched back by “raising doubts about” Oz’s loyalties, forcing him to renounce his Turkish citizenship.

PennLive: Dr. Mehmet Oz opens a new line of attack against Pa. Senate rival David McCormick: Money. “Millionaires traded blows in Pennsylvania’s hotly-contested Republican U.S. Senate primary Tuesday as Dr. Mehmet Oz attacked one of his top rivals, recently-retired hedge fund leader David McCormick, for overseeing what Oz called sub-par performance on investments for the Public School Employees Retirement System that, by Oz’s formula, have lead to higher property taxes for Pennsylvanians.”

Philadelphia Inquirer: GOP Senate candidate Mehmet Oz says his opponent’s hedge fund cost Pa. taxpayers. “Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz on Tuesday sought to attack… David McCormick for his role in leading a hedge fund that made hundreds of millions of dollars from the embattled Pennsylvania school pension fund.”

New York Times: McCormick Faces Scrutiny Over Hedge Fund’s Handling of Teacher Pensions. “The dispute is the latest round in a slugfest between Mr. McCormick and Dr. Oz.”

Philadelphia Inquirer: Mehmet Oz says he’d renounce dual Turkish citizenship if elected to the Senate, answering GOP primary attacks. “Republican primary rival David McCormick and his allies have for months sought to undermine Oz by raising doubts about his loyalties and financial interests because of his dual citizenship.”

ADAM LAXALT AT CENTER OF SCANDAL… AGAIN – RUSSIAN OLIGARCH “FUNNELED MONEY” TO HIS CAMPAIGN. Laxalt is at the center of yet another legal scandal – this time facing scrutiny after a Russian oligarch who “donated the maximum” to Laxalt’s campaign was indicted on Monday.

Las Vegas Review Journal: Russian oligarch who funneled money to Nevada candidates indicted. “Fruman in 2018 donated the maximum $10,000… to Republicans Adam Laxalt.”

The Nevada Independent: “Russian oligarch indicted in campaign finance plot to win cannabis license in Nevada”. “Russian businessman Andrey Muraviev was charged Monday with violating federal campaign finance laws in 2018, including illegally funneling donations to then-Republican gubernatorial hopeful Adam Laxalt.”

Read more from the Nevada Democratic Victory Party HERE

“THE FROZEN HELLSCAPE THAT IS THE GOP SENATE PRIMARY IN OHIO” EXTENDED AS ATTACKS FLY. After the Ohio Supreme Court this week tossed out the state’s legislative maps, the nasty GOP Senate primary is set to last even longer as the candidates ratchet up attacks and are now slamming each other over ties to Russia business deals.

National Journal (Hotline): Like Punxsutawney Phil seeing his shadow, we’ll now likely have eight more weeks of winter as it appears the frozen hellscape that is the GOP Senate primary in Ohio will drag on into the summer. Yesterday, the Ohio Supreme Court threw out the state’s legislative maps for a third time, all but guaranteeing the May 3 primary will be delayed until later this summer and prolong the largely undecided race on the GOP side.

Associated Press: Russia business deals muddy GOP US Senate primary in Ohio. “Much of the attention has focused on former Ohio Republican Party Chair Jane Timken, whose husband’s family founded a company that does business in Russia. But other candidates in the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman, including J.D. Vance and Mike Gibbons, also have links to business deals in Russia that could become vulnerabilities in the May 3 primary.”

JUST THIS WEEK, THANKS TO SENATE DEMOCRATS

→ Senate Dems fight to lower costs. Senate Democrats are fighting to address working families’ most important priorities: lowering costs and holding big corporations accountable for spiking prices. Coverage from this week:

WALB: Sen. Raphael Warnock introduces proposal for tax-free holiday. “Today I introduced the Relief For Families Act, which will enable state and local leaders to give the people of Georgia, the people of the Albany area, a tax holiday. said Warnock.”

KJZZ: Sen. Mark Kelly pushing legislation to remove federal tax on gas. “We gotta do our best to make sure that we can help the American people with the rise in gas prices and food prices,” Kelly said. The proposed bill would use money from the general fund to offset losses so road projects can continue.”

IN THE STATES:

AZ – Arizona Republic (Opinion): Attorney General Mark Brnovich has abused his office. Why not impeach him? “There’s a long list of public outcries over Brnovich shamelessly using his official position to gain the support of hard-core Trump Republicans who are still promoting the false idea that the 2020 election was stolen from the former president.”

FL – West Side Gazette: Val Demings for U.S. Senate meets with the Sistrunk Area Community. “As a former Social Worker and Chief of Police in Orange County Florida, U.S. Congresswoman Val Demings(D-FL), is a more than qualified candidate to take the Florida U.S. Senate seat from Marco Rubio.”

NH – WCAX: Hassan bill supporting youth mental health signed into law. “A bill sponsored by New Hampshire Senator Maggie Hassan to give support to young people in need of mental health services, has been signed into law by the president.”

NV – Reno Gazette Journal: Catherine Cortez Masto: ‘This campaign is about one thing … the people of Nevada’. “’This campaign is about one thing,’ she said to cheers. ‘It is about the people of Nevada.’”

OH – Cleveland.com (Opinion): Ohio GOP Senate race exemplifies depth of our nation’s political rupture. “Ohioans have been tortured long enough by the cavalcade of clowns in hot pursuit of Rob Portman’s U.S. Senate seat.”

WI – Cap Times (Opinion): Republicans are not on your side.“I commend Scott and Johnson for their bravery. It takes guts to proudly display how out of touch the GOP truly is. But if they ever decide to descend from their ivory tower, I think they will find these ideas are incredibly unpopular with everyday folks.”

TWEET OF THE WEEK: