Democrats are preparing for a bitter primary season in key 2016 battleground states. Already states like Florida, Ohio, and most recently Pennsylvania are seeing an influx of candidates vying for the Democratic ticket – and party leadership is struggling to maintain their control.
The National Journal reports:
“Democrats face extra pressure because their margin of error to win back the Senate—a net gain of four seats if the party retains the presidency, five if it doesn’t—is already slim. One errant primary could tip the balance of power.”
Cue the intra-party battles.
Rumors of Pennsylvania Democratic candidate Joe Sestak’s icy relationship with leadership were rekindled in July. His recently announced challenger Katie McGinty joined the DSCC to be wined and dined in Martha’s Vineyard. Noticeably missing on the trip – Sestak.
The former representative said:
"The establishment has let us down—Washington has forgotten that it is about people above party, above type."
It’s not hard to see why the DSCC is frantically searching for alternative candidates, with challengers like Sestak and Rep. Tammy Duckworth’s ethics called into question. The NRSC released an ad highlighting Duckworth’s impending ethics trial in which she is charged with wrongfully firing a whistleblower. Watch it below:
[youtube url = "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nnu2U20gno"]
Now, there seems to be a spreading battle between the national Democrats’ picks and the states’ picks. The National Journal went on to give a run-down of the other primary battlegrounds:
“The Pennsylvania race joins a list of intraparty showdowns that already includes Ohio, where former Gov. Ted Strickland is trying to fend off a young city councilman from Cincinnati, and Illinois, where Rep. Tammy Duckworth faces the former president of the Chicago Urban League. In Florida, the most high-profile fight of all awaits, when outspoken Rep. Alan Grayson takes on Rep. Patrick Murphy.”
While the DSCC is busy chasing its tail, the GOP candidates are focused on the general election and the constituents who want to see them in Washington.