What They’re Saying: Senate “Republicans Are Struggling On Candidate Recruitment,” “Have Suffered A String Of Disappointments”

New reporting from The Hill and CNN continues to highlight how Senate Republicans “are struggling on candidate recruitment” and have “suffered a string of disappointments” – a humiliating failure that has “left Republicans with lesser-known GOP candidates.”

See for yourself:

The Hill: GOP falters in effort to recruit star governors for Senate

By Julia Manchester
February 10, 2022

• Republicans looking to recruit high-profile, establishment governors to run for Democratic-held Senate seats have suffered a string of disappointments in recent months as the midterm primary season approaches.

• On Tuesday, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) became the latest GOP governor to announce he would not pursue a run for Senate in November.

• Last year New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) announced he would instead run for reelection, a much safer option in the Granite State. In neighboring Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott (R) said he will not run to replace retiring Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). Meanwhile, in Arizona, Gov. Doug Ducey (R) has maintained that he is “100% focused on my day job.”

• The decisions have left Republicans with lesser-known GOP candidates.
  
• Democrats jumped on news of Hogan’s decision on Tuesday, calling it one of “a series of humiliating recruitment failures.”

• “While Senate Democrats are fighting for working families, Republicans are prioritizing the interests of the ultra-wealthy and big corporations that are raising prices on consumers, and potential GOP candidates know this is a contrast that will lead their campaigns to defeat in 2022,” said David Bergstein, communications director at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

• Democrats have also pointed to Senate races in Georgia and Nevada as examples of a broader recruiting issue within the party. In Georgia, former Sens. David Perdue (R) and Kelly Loeffler met with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), but ultimately did not seek Senate bids for 2022. In Nevada, former Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) was floated by some as a potential Senate candidate.

• Ducey has been at the receiving end of the former president’s attacks for not going along with his election fraud claims. Trump has also pressured Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R), who’s running in the state’s crowded GOP Senate primary, over the issue.

• In other states, like New Hampshire, Republicans have yet to recruit a major GOP figure to run for Senate.

• It will be an uphill climb against a figure like Hassan, who formerly served as governor and has had a recent series of impressive fundraising hauls.

CNN: Republicans just tried — and failed — to expand the Senate map
By Chris Cillizza
February 9, 2022

• Senate Republicans’ best chance of expanding the current 2022 map just disappeared.

• Republicans are struggling on candidate recruitment… Republicans have a harder climb than they would have if Gov. Chris Sununu had run. Ditto Colorado, where the GOP seems to be nowhere in terms of recruiting a top-tier candidate… Now, add Maryland to that list.

• Republicans would desperately like to give themselves a few more scenarios to get to the majority — and that requires an expansion of the current playing field of competitive races… Maryland is officially off the board.

Read more about Senate Republicans’ recruitment failures here.

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