Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Sen. Gary Peters joined MSNBC’s The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart to discuss the DSCC’s new multi-million dollar TV investment in Texas and Florida, highlighting how Senate Democrats are “playing offense” in these states and building “momentum” with “very strong Democratic challengers against weak [Republican] incumbents.” Chair Peters also discussed how Republican Senate candidates are “on a continuum from flawed to seriously flawed — and most of them are pushing the envelope on the seriously flawed part of that spectrum.”
MSNBC: The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart
September 29, 2024
Jonathan Capehart: In the race for control of the United States Senate, Democrats are shifting their focus beyond swing states. Most notably they now have their eyes on flipping the Republican-held seats in Texas and Florida, where Democrats Congressman Colin Allred and former Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell are running, respectively. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee announced a multi-million dollar investment in television advertising in the Sunshine State and the Lone Star State that target Republican incumbents Ted Cruz and Rick Scott, each of whom won reelection by single digits. This is significant because the Texas and Florida Senate seats were once considered safe.
I’ve heard you say before that you are confident that Democrats will hold on to the 50 seats that they currently have. Why are you so confident?
Sen. Peters: Well, I am confident for a couple of reasons, one is candidate quality which is absolutely essential to have on your side, and we do, we have incredibly strong incumbents and challengers who have consistently been able to run above the margins against their Republican opponents. And the Republican candidates as I’ve been saying and if you look at their records and what they’ve been doing on the campaign trail — I say you can probably put them on a continuum from flawed to seriously flawed — and most of them are pushing the envelope on the seriously flawed part of that spectrum. And so, we can paint that contrast.
Jonathan Capehart: What are you seeing on the ground in Texas and Florida that precipitated this move?
Sen. Peters: If you look at what’s happening both in Texas and Florida — again, we have very strong Democratic challengers against weak incumbents. Ted Cruz won by a little over 2% in his last race. Rick Scott has never won by more than roughly 1% in those races. We see these numbers now in the margin of error, sometimes at the top end. That is momentum. We don’t want to leave anything behind. We want to make sure that we’re playing offense as well as defense and I always believe the best defense is a good offense. And when you’ve got momentum you have to put resources in.
See also: DSCC Announces New Multi-Million Dollar TV Investment in TX and FL; WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “Senate Democrats Go On Offense In Texas And Florida.”
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