What to Know About GOP Senate Candidates Speaking at the RNC

From David Bergstein, DSCC communications director: “Republicans’ roster of flawed Senate recruits offers something to repel every kind of voter. Nothing these candidates say on stage will change the fact that their ever-growing list of scandals, baggage and vulnerabilities make them unelectable in their states.” 

Ahead of Senate Republicans’ roster of flawed recruits speaking at the Republican National Convention, here are the facts to know about the candidate quality problems that have emerged about each of these Republicans: 

Eric Hovde (read DPW’s Pre-RNC memo on Hovde HERE):

• An out-of-touch wealthy California bank owner, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote Hovde has been “living large in Laguna Beach.” 

• Hovde looks down on hard-working Wisconsinites: he said farmers don’t work hard anymore, people in nursing homes shouldn’t vote, single-parent homes led to a “direct path to a life of poverty,” and more.

• Hovde is a walking conflict of interest: the Journal Sentinel revealed he is refusing to give up ownership of his bank if elected even while the Heartland Signal reported that his bank is holding millions in deposits from foreign governments and banks. The Daily Beast also uncovered that Hovde’s family tried to do business in China. 

Kari Lake (read ADP’s Pre-RNC press release on Lake HERE): 

• The Arizona Republic’s Laurie Roberts wrote “Lake’s chances of winning Arizona seem dimmer by the day,” and the New York Times wrote Lake “is struggling to walk away from the controversial positions that have turned off independents and alienated potential allies.” 

• Reinforcing her brand as a power-hungry liar, just last week Lake earned local and national attention for “again asking the Arizona Supreme Court to declare her governor and overturn the results of her 2022 failed bid to become the state’s chief executive” just weeks ahead of her Senate primary. 

• One recent example of why her campaign is faltering: over the summer Lake called for Arizona sheriffs to enforce the state’s 1864 abortion ban.

Bernie Moreno (read OH Dems’ Pre-RNC press release on Moreno HERE): 

• A car salesman and a liar: reporting from the New York Times revealed Moreno has engaged in “a calculated process of self-creation,” lying about his upbringing, his immigration story and even his housing. News outlets have also caught Moreno lying about selling Chinese-made cars, lying about fleeing socialism and even lying about how he learned English. 

• Business Insider detailed how Moreno shredded documents while trying to get out of paying his workers overtime wages.  

• And just last week, Moreno doubled down on his support for national legislation banning abortion. 

David McCormick (read PA Dems’ Pre-RNC press release on McCormick HERE): 

• A Wall Street CEO, McCormick has faced scrutiny for his dishonesty since the early days of his campaign when the Associated Press revealed he had been lying about living in Pennsylvania. Recently, the New York Times found he had also been lying about growing up on a family farm under “modest” circumstances. 

• Closer examination of his business record has led to a series of damaging revelations: CNN reported he oversaw a 108,000% increase in Chinese investments, Bloomberg reported he directed investments in Chinese military companies, WHYY revealed he cut and outsourced Pennsylvania jobs, and other outlets have reported McCormick “profited from China trade policies he helped shape” and “invested in Chinese fentanyl.” 

Tim Sheehy:

• Shady Sheehy is a multimillionaire “wannabe cowboy,” who represents everything Montanans hate about rich out-of-staters. HuffPost reported that he supports ending federal protections for public lands, NBC detailed how Sheehy is “a threat to public land access,” and recent reporting revealed he pressured the government to reduce his taxes on his luxury property “as ordinary Montanans are seeing significantly higher property tax obligations.” 

• Sheehy’s business has been the source of scandals: he abruptly resigned amidst reports his company is “deeply in the red,” while NBC and Bloomberg have both detailed how Sheehy’s business is dependent on government contracts, creating “genuine conflicts of interest” as he refuses to divest. 

• Sheehy has also faced reports about his dishonesty: The Washington Post revealed over several investigations that he “offered inconsistent accounts of his war wounds,” The Daily Beast reported Sheehy lied about growing up in rural Minnesota and how he started his business, and that his story of leaving the military is “contradicted by Sheehy’s own written account.”  

Sam Brown (read NV Dems’ Pre-RNC press release on Brown HERE):

• Sam Brown is MAGA, not Nevada. The Nevada Current detailed Brown’s work for an “extreme anti-abortion candidate in Texas,” The Advocate reported on “his deep entrenchment in the anti-LGBTQ+ movement” and other reports exposed how he was caught on tape praising an extreme plan to phase out Social Security and Medicare.

• Brown’s long anti-choice record is a particular liability: The Nevada Independent reported Brown backed a Texas abortion ban without exceptions for rape or incest that was called one of “the toughest restrictions on abortion in the country.” And Newsweek revealed he filled out a questionnaire opposing abortion without exceptions. 

• In a major story, The Los Angeles Times exposed how Brown advocated to open Yucca Mountain for nuclear waste storage, “a third rail in Nevada politics.”   

Mike Rogers (read MDP’s Pre-RNC press release on Rogers HERE): 

• Business Insider reported how Rogers got rich going through “the revolving door,” while The Detroit News examined how he profited through ties to Chinese companies. Other reports have detailed links to Saudi Arabian companies, including “with nuclear ambitions,” and how “Rogers voted against reining in special interests.” 

• Rogers’ legislative record makes him one of the most anti-choice candidates: The Gander reported on his support for federal legislation that would ban abortion nationwide without exceptions, threaten IVF – and even certain forms of birth control. 

• Like other candidates, Rogers’ residency has become a vulnerability after the Michigan Advance revealed he had been living in Florida. 

Ted Cruz: 

• Ted Cruz only cares about Ted Cruz. The Houston Chronicle and Dallas Morning News have reported on Cruz’s ethically questionable podcast deal that has directed hundreds of thousands of dollars in “regular, and growing, payments to a super PAC supporting the Texas Republican’s reelection effort,” raising “unusual campaign finance arrangement that raises legal questions” about the deal. 

• Cruz’s support for Texas’s extreme abortion ban and long record of working to restrict abortion access has taken center stage in the race: Lonestar Live reported on how two Texas women who were forced to leave the state amid health complications “slammed Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz for the state’s current reproductive health care landscape.”

• The most recent polling shows “a tight Senate race,” in Texas as “Allred outraises Cruz” for another consecutive quarter. 

Rick Scott: 

• Rick Scott will face voters for the first time after releasing his infamous plan to phase out Medicare and Social Security along with raising taxes on working families. Even Mitch McConnell said, “It will be a challenge for him to deal with this in his own re-election in Florida, a state with more elderly people than any other state.”  

• As Florida votes on a ballot measure protecting abortion access, Scott’s own anti-choice record will be a major liability. He said he would have signed Florida’s six-week abortion ban into law if he was still governor, belittled abortion as “a tough issue for women,” and Axios reported he urged the Supreme Court to impose restrictions on widely used abortion medication. 

• Scott has never won any election by more than 1.2 percent, and he faces a serious challenge from Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. Polling shows Mucarsel-Powell within two points of Scott, and she has consistently outraised him.