SCORCHED-EARTH SPRING: GOP Senate Candidates “Thrash Each Other” & “Punch Each Other Out” With “Unprecedented TV Spending”

POLITICO: “GOP candidates are already pummeling each other in monthslong advertising free-for-alls, fights intensified by unprecedented television spending”

Associated Press: “Republican missteps that include intense infighting are threatening the GOP”

Across the Senate battlegrounds, GOP infighting continues to escalate as Republican ‘Winter Wars’ have turned into ‘Scorched-Earth Spring.’

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 that are “threatening the GOP” as their candidates “punch each other out” with “increasingly intense lines of attack.”

See for yourself:

In 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.”

• And POLITICO reported the candidates are “using Trump’s words to hammer” each other – and with Trump “holding back on an endorsement in the race,” infighting will continue to escalate.

In 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.”

• POLITICO reported that “Walker’s primary opponent [is] out for blood,” adding that “Black’s campaign has no plans to step back, pointing to research suggesting the more voters learn about Walker’s past, the more they turn on him.”

• And NBC News declared “a brutal Senate primary is heating up in Georgia” – stating that “the clash is all a reminder of the severity of the accusations against Walker.”

In 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.”

• The race could become even more unsettled as reporters note that “the filing deadline to run in the September primary isn’t until June 10, meaning there’s a lot of time to play with here.”

In 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.”

In Ohio:

• The Toledo Blade detailed how 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.”

• Timken, Vance, and Gibbons are also getting “pilloried” with ads slamming their ties to “Russia business deals.” And as Gibbons moves up in the polls, “the rivals he’s surpassed are expected to make him their prime target with their own late-primary ad buys.”

And in 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.”

• The race continues to be the most expensive in the country: the “campaigns and the Super PACs supporting them have spent more than $30 million on ads so far” as they continue “framing [each]other as a ‘liberal RINO’ and ‘Wall Street insider,’ respectively.”

• McCormick has attacked Oz “by raising doubts about his loyalties and financial interests because of his dual citizenship” – forcing Oz into saying he would renounce his Turkish citizenship if elected. Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jonathan Tamari commented that “the daily tit-for-tat is already head-spinning.”

Read more about escalating and expensive infighting in GOP Senate primaries:

POLITICO: GOP Senate candidates thrash each other ahead of fight for majority; Associated Press: Republican ‘unforced errors’ threaten path to Senate control; NBC News: Republican primaries are already intense, while Democrats hold their fire; Bloomberg: Arizona Republicans Face Pricey Primary With Governor Opting Out; POLITICO: The Arizona Republican Caught in a Vise by Trump’s Big Lie; Associated Press: Walker’s past could let Warnock keep Senate seat, rivals say; Atlanta Journal Constitution: The Jolt (March 16, 2022); The Hill: Herschel Walker GOP opponent rolls out ad, website devoted to abuse allegations; POLITICO: Trump’s man in North Carolina struggles in Senate primary; Washington Post: NC GOP Senate candidate Pat McCrory accuses Trump-backed rival of being too ‘friendly’ toward Russia’s Putin; Associated Press: In campaign ad, McCrory calls out Budd on Putin, sanctions; News & Observer: In his first ad of Senate campaign, McCrory hits Budd over Putin comments; Carolina Journal: McCrory shells Budd on Putin, Russia; Spectrum News: Republican Senate primary in NC heats up; The North State Journal: Club for Growth launches $10 million in ad spending for US Senate primary; WNCN: ​​New ads highlight NC Senate candidates’ comments on Putin; The Hill: Ohio’s Jane Timken hits male rivals ‘who overcompensate for their inadequacies’; The Hill: Gibbons rolls out ad hitting Vance, Timken over Trump; Associated Press: Russia business deals muddy GOP US Senate primary in Ohio; CNN: Trump remains undecided on whether he should endorse in Ohio’s crowded GOP Senate primary; Bloomberg: Dr. Oz, David McCormick Spend Millions to Woo Trump Voters for PA Senate Primary; Philadelphia Inquirer: Mehmet Oz campaigns in Pa. Senate race as David McCormick airs TV ads against him; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: David McCormick hawkish on China, punches back at Mehmet Oz in visit to suburban Pittsburgh; New York Times: McCormick Faces Scrutiny Over Hedge Fund’s Handling of Teacher Pensions; Philadelphia Inquirer: GOP Senate candidate Mehmet Oz says his opponent’s hedge fund cost Pa. taxpayers; PennLive: Dr. Mehmet Oz opens a new line of attack against Pa. Senate rival David McCormick: Money; Philadelphia Inquirer: Mehmet Oz says he’d renounce dual Turkish citizenship if elected to the Senate, answering GOP primary attacks.

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