Good Morning,
Hope you are having a happy and healthy summer. This month, we launched billboards in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, digital ads in Ohio and web videos in Missouri and Illinois.
The best defense is a good offense and we are working hard to highlight our opponents dangerous backgrounds and positions.
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Thank you for all that you do to help us protect our New Majority.
Ward Baker
NRSC Executive Director
To The States…
Alaska
Alaska Dispatch News reported that Senator Lisa Murkowski, with a daunting war chest, is in excellent shape for 2016. Fifteen months before she’s up for re-election, she’s sitting on a $2.3 million campaign bank account with no announced credible challenger or, really, even a rumored one — from her own Republican Party or elsewhere…All of which seems to point toward Murkowski, who will also have the backing of her national party, coasting toward an easy re-election.
Colorado
Colorado Peak Politics noted that Senator Michael Bennet is silent on President Obama’s negotiations with Iran
USA Today reported that Senator Michael Bennet is "facing some ugly early numbers in his home state." A late July Quinnipiac University poll gave the incumbent a 41% approval rating and voters said 40%-32% that he does not deserve re-election.
The Colorado Springs Gazette editorial board urged Senator Michael Bennet to vote against President Obama’s Iran deal.
The Washington Times reported that Senator Michael Bennet is in serious trouble, citing an analysis showing him in worse shape than was Mark Udall at this point in the cycle.
Florida
As WMFE added, the NRSC held Patrick Murphy and Alan Grayson accountable for their broken promises on ObamaCare: The National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out an email saying that the increases go against what Democrats running for the Senate have said. “Unsurprisingly, the announced rate hikes fly in the face of promises made by Patrick Murphy and Alan Grayson, who both falsely claimed that Obamacare would cut costs for Florida families,” the email reads.
TC Palm reported on the embarrassing hypocrisy surrounding Patrick Murphy, who has benefited from super PACs throughout his career.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that Patrick Murphy ranks among the least-effective members of Congress. InsideGov also found that Murphy’s effectiveness score is 0%.
The Palm Beach Post reported that the messy primary continues to get ugly with the release of Alan Grayson’s web ad hammering Patrick Murphy’s ineffectiveness in Congress.
CBS Miami reported that President Obama’s negotiations with Iran have Patrick Murphy in a tough bind.
The Sun Sentinel reported that Florida voters strongly oppose President Obama’s Iran deal.
Georgia
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the DSCC suffered yet another embarrassing recruitment fail. State Rep. Stacey Evans, a Smyrna Democrat considered a rising star in her party, said she turned down overtures from leaders to challenge Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson. Evans said in an interview she was “sitting here minding my own business” when she got a call from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee over the summer urging her to consider a run…“I ultimately decided it was not something I could do…"
Illinois
Democrats are in disarray as the divide grows over Tammy Duckworth’s candidacy. The DSCC’s endorsement suffered another embarrassing setback as NBC Chicago reported that the Cook County Democratic Party recommended an open primary between Andrea Zopp and Duckworth. The decision followed Illinois House Speaker and state Democratic Party chairman Michael Madigan’s refusal to endorse Duckworth.
InsideGov listed Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth as one of the least-effective members of Congress.
The Daily Herald reported that Tammy Duckworth’s whistle-blower hearing has already begun to collide with her campaign. The lawsuit stems from a 2009 complaint filed against Duckworth by two employees at the downstate Anna Veterans Home. They say Duckworth harassed them and caused them "emotional distress" after they reported ethics complaints against their boss.
Politico’s Morning Score reported that ahead of Duckworth’s pre-trial hearing, the NRSC launched a new web video, "Duckworth on Trial."
The Chicago Tribune reported that Tammy Duckworth is set for another primary challenger as Cook County Commissioner Richard Boykin launched an exploratory committee. Boykin was also quick to blast the DSCC for endorsing Duckworth.
The Belleville News-Democrat reported that Senator Mark Kirk co-founded the bipartisan Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Caucus to speed up VA reforms.
Iowa
Following Medicare’s 50th anniversary, Senator Chuck Grassley penned an op-ed in The Iowa Statesman on his efforts to ensure the sustainability of the program.
Missouri
The New York Times reported that the NRSC launched Snapchat ads highlighting Jason Kander’s pandering to big money Democrats and lobbyists. The ads were declared "the best performing political ads ever aired on Snapchat."
Roll Call reported that the NRSC also ramped up the Kander Pander campaign, and launched the website KanderPander.com
The Associated Press reported that several state agriculture groups are supporting Senator Roy Blunt.
The St. Joseph News-Press noted that Senator Roy Blunt is holding President Obama accountable for his Clean Power Grab.
KSMU reported that Senator Roy Blunt met with community leaders in Springfield to discuss mental health successes and concerns.
The Southeast Missourian reported that Blunt stopped in Cape Girardeau to meet with veterans about their physical and mental health needs.
The Jefferson City News Tribune reported that Senator Roy Blunt visited with and listened to local Jefferson City health professionals at a health care town hall.
St. Louis Public Radio reported that Senator Roy Blunt spoke about efforts to improve veterans’ health care during a visit to Jefferson Barracks.
Nevada
As Catherine Cortez Masto fundraised with President Obama, Roll Call reported that the NRSC held her accountable for evading a position on his nuclear deal with Iran. …the National Republican Senatorial Committee has been hammering the Reid-backed Cortez Masto to take a position on the agreement with Iran. “Catherine Cortez Masto has nothing to offer but silence on a nuclear deal that threatens our national security,” NRSC spokesman Greg Blair said in an Aug. 20 statement. “Either she’s waiting for marching orders from Harry Reid or she’s refusing to come clean with Nevadans about where she stands.”
Jon Ralston wrote that "Catherine Cortez Masto really, really doesn’t want to say anything about the Iran deal."
The Elko Daily Free Press reported that Dr. Joe Heck visited Elko on his Joe Knows Jobs Tour.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Nevada’s ObamaCare insurer has failed and is going out of business.
New Hampshire
The Concord Monitor reported that Governor Maggie Hassan’s irresponsible budget veto continues to have serious consequences for Granite Staters, as it caused a delay for a new crisis unit at New Hampshire hospital.
Politico Pro reported that Americans for Prosperity highlighted Governor Maggie Hassan’s anti-business agenda with new TV ads.
Forbes analyzed the economic impact of Governor Maggie Hassan’s budget veto. Live free or . . . move to another state? That’s the question with which New Hampshire companies are grappling, as Democratic Governor Maggie Hassan vetoed a change to the state’s business tax structure that would’ve made New Hampshire friendlier to both large corporations and start-ups alike…Placing unnecessary roadblocks in front of job-creating businesses is just bad policy. Rather than take this step backward by vetoing the bill, the Governor should want to continue the forward momentum that makes New Hampshire such an appealing place for workers, families, and innovators
New Hampshire Public Radio also reported that Governor Maggie Hassan’s budget veto is having serious consequences throughout the state. Agencies across state government are struggling to do business as usual under the six-month spending plan now in place. This half-year budget, based on last year’s spending levels, has been in effect since Gov. Maggie Hassan vetoed the Legislature’s budget plan at the end of June…affecting schools, road projects, local governments and clinics, where it’s having human impacts, too. Many substance abuse treatment facilities, for instance, would have received significantly more money to treat addicts in the vetoed budget than they’re now getting.
Amid a heroin crisis, a scathing New Hampshire Union Leader editorial asked where Governor Maggie Hassan and her drug czar have been.
WMUR-TV reported that Senator Kelly Ayotte attended a roundtable discussion on the ongoing heroin and opioid abuse epidemic.
Senator Kelly Ayotte penned an op-ed in the Brattleboro Reformer on her efforts to fight the heroin epidemic on all fronts.
The Citizen reported that Senator Kelly Ayotte is taking action to help overcome the drug epidemic. U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) has weighed in on the drug epidemic gripping the state and vows to do whatever she can to eradicate substance abuse in New Hampshire…"In the Senate, I’m pushing numerous pieces if bipartisan legislation I’ve helped introduce aimed at improving prevention and treatment, better supporting individuals in recovery, making sure first responders have the tools and resources they need, and boosting anti-drug trafficking programs," she said. "I’ll continue to work with members of both parties to advance this legislation."
The Daily Beast also noted Ayotte’s efforts to combat the heroin epidemic. …the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, a piece of legislation co-sponsored by New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte and a number of other senators on both sides of the aisle…The bill would authorize the federal government to award grants to address the opioid and heroin use epidemic. “We’re facing a public health crisis in our state. We’ve had a dramatic increase in heroin and opioid deaths,” Ayotte told The Daily Beast. “This is a very big issue, and that’s why I think you see the presidential candidates who are campaigning in New Hampshire mentioning it, on both sides of the aisle."
The New Hampshire Union Leader reported that Ayotte led a field hearing on tax-related identity theft. Ayotte held IRS Commissioner John Koskinen accountable for his promise to change IRS rules and provide tax fraud victims with copies of fraudulent returns.
North Carolina
Following the DSCC’s failure to recruit former Senator Kay Hagan, the Associated Press reported that even Democrats are getting worried about their chances.
The Daily News reported that Senator Richard Burr toured Camp Lejeune’s Intrepid Spirit Concussion Recovery Center and visited with injured Marines.
Ohio
The NRSC launched digital ads – and flushstrickland.com, to highlight retread Ted Strickland’s history of flushing Ohio jobs down the toilet.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that P.G. Sittenfeld blasted Ted Strickland for evading a position on the Keystone XL pipeline.
WLWT reported that Sittenfeld also renewed his call for a series of 6 debates with Strickland.
The Hill reported that Senator Rob Portman released a trio of new digital ads highlighting retread Ted Strickland’s failed record as governor. “There’s no debate in Ohio’s race for U.S. Senate,” the narrator in one of the ads says. “Ted Strickland’s failed record is bad for Ohio. Under Ted Strickland, Ohio lost over 350,000 jobs and ranked 48th in the country in job creation.”…“There’s no debate, retread Ted is bad for Ohio,” the 30-second ads conclude.
The Weekly Standard reported that Senator Rob Portman launched a new set of online ads targeting retread Ted Strickland’s support for President Obama’s deal with Iran.
Meanwhile, Strickland found himself at odds with Ohioans on President Obama’s deal. The Blade reported that Obama’s deal is not popular in Ohio. President Obama’s deal with Iran to stop its production of nuclear weapons is not popular in Ohio, a new poll out today by Quinnipiac University shows. According to the poll, voters in Ohio oppose the deal by 58-24 percent, and say by 56-26 percent that the deal would make the world less safe rather than safer.
The Associated Press reported that Americans for Prosperity launched a $1.4 million television advertising campaign against retread Ted Strickland.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that Senator Rob Portman launched a jobs tour across Ohio. Portman traveled more than 1,500 miles to meet with and address the concerns of workers.
The Columbus Dispatch also reported that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has hit the ground running in its support for Senator Rob Portman. The chamber presented Portman with the Spirit of Enterprise Award.
Ted Strickland finally made clear that he stands with President Obama and his dream employer – the Center for American Progress, by supporting the Iran nuclear deal. As The Columbus Dispatch reported: Former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland said if he were in the U.S. Senate, he would support the proposed nuclear deal with Iran.
As infighting among Democrats continued over retread Ted Strickland’s candidacy, The Plain Dealer’s former editorial director wrote that "Ohio Democrats have lost the knack of winning." Ohio Democrats should have thought long and hard about the wisdom of endorsing a 75-year-old freshman (Ted Strickland) for election to the seniority-conscious U.S. Senate next November…Many of the people who have figured out that Democrats made a gigantic mistake in endorsing Strickland come from the party’s senior citizen wing.
The Blade editorial board called for a series of Sittenfeld/Strickland debates.
WVXU analyzed the continued infighting among Ohio Democrats over retread Ted Strickland’s candidacy. There are many odd things about this battle within the ranks of Ohio Democrats over the U.S. Senate seat, with 30-year-old P.G. Sittenfeld, the council member from Cincinnati, taking on the 74-year-old former governor and congressman, Ted Strickland…And whoever comes out of this Democratic primary…will have to take on incumbent Republican Rob Portman, who has far more campaign money that both Democrats combined.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that retread Ted Strickland made a quarter of a million dollars lobbying for the ultra-liberal special interest group Center for American Progress.
The Columbus Dispatch also reported that Senator Rob Portman launched a Veterans Leadership Council to advise on issues impacting veterans.
The Associated Press reported that Senator Rob Portman held a human trafficking roundtable in Columbus.
Pennsylvania
The Morning Call reported that the NRSC launched a month-long billboard campaign targeting Joe Sestak’s mileage tax. National Republicans are taking aim at Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Joe Sestak with a month-long billboard campaign in Philadelphia targeting his plan for road and bridge funding. The billboard, which the National Republican Senatorial Committee is launching today along the east-bound Schuylkill Expressway at 20th Street, shows a photo of Sestak and asks: "What is Joe Sestak’s plan for your summer road trip? Tax the number of miles you drive."
Politico Pro’s Morning Score that a recent Quinnipiac poll showed Senator Pat Toomey with commanding leads over both Joe Sestak and Katie McGinty. There isn’t much difference between the two: Toomey leads the two by similar margins (48-33 over Sestak, 48-32 over McGinty). Toomey led Sestak by 11 points in June, 13 points in March and 10 points in February.
Meanwhile, unlike Katie McGinty, PoliticsPA reported that Pennsylvanians have taken a firm position on President Obama’s negotiations with Iran. A new Quinnipiac survey finds that an extraordinary 61% of Keystone State residents oppose the American nuclear deal with Iran. Just 26% support the accord. By a nearly identical margin, 60% to 27%, respondents feel the Iranian nuclear deal would make the world less safe.
The Times Observer reported that Senator Pat Toomey held a town hall meeting in Warren, where he discussed his legislation to protect children from sexual predators in schools, the Iran deal, and veterans affairs.
PoliticsPA reported that Concerned Veterans for America launched new ads touting Senator Pat Toomey’s support of veterans.
Senator Pat Toomey penned an op-ed in PennLive detailing the dangers of President Obama’s Iran deal.
Toomey also penned an op-ed in The York Dispatch on his fight against child predators.
Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association president David N. Taylor touted Senator Pat Toomey as "the clear choice" in a York Dispatch op-ed.
Michael Markarian, president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund, penned a letter in The York Daily Record thanking Senator Pat Toomey for sponsoring an anti-cruelty act.
The Jewish Exponent reported that Senator Pat Toomey has pledged his full support to defeating President Obama’s Iran deal.
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that Joe Sestak received an ethics challenge for violating Department of Defense ethics guidelines. A former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Iowa has filed a complaint with the Department of Defense to investigate Joe Sestak’s violation of a military ethics directive…The complaint documents a dozen examples of Sestak’s use of Admiral in politicking, including a fundraising email sent from “Admiral Joe Sestak.”
The Delaware County Daily Times editorial board wrote that as Senator Pat Toomey continues to build his war chest, Democrats are set for a very expensive primary war between Joe Sestak and Katie McGinty. Democrats are now looking at a very expensive primary war. That doesn’t necessarily bode well for Sestak, who has lagged a bit in terms of fundraising. In fact, Toomey raised more in the last quarter than Sestak has in his entire war chest. Toomey now will sit back and watch as Sestak and McGinty engage in a high stakes – and very expensive primary battle. Whoever emerges from this Dem donnybrook will then face an uphill fiscal fight to raise money to tangle with the incumbent Toomey.
Wisconsin
Gannett reported that the NRSC launched a billboard in Green Bay targeting Russ Feingold’s campaign finance hypocrisy. Republicans are renting billboard space outside Lambeau Field and sending out thousands of flyers to Green Bay residents accusing former Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold of “campaign finance hypocrisy.”… [Feingold] set up a political action committee that paid him and his former staffers salaries and consulting fees and gave only a fraction of what it raised to support other candidates, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report. The billboard ad, funded by the National Republican Senatorial Committee and set to go up Monday, capitalizes on that report, calling the committee a “slush fund” and featuring a picture of a slushy machine gushing a blue frozen drink.
Gannett also reported that the Club for Growth is set to spend $2.5 million in support of Senator Ron Johnson’s re-election.
Politico Pro reported on the hypocrisy surrounding Russ Feingold, who used his PAC as a slush fund and received nearly $36,000 from the lobbying group J Street.
Politico Pro also reported that the NRSC and the WISGOP teamed up to hand out free slushies to families at Lambeau Field to highlight Russ Feingold’s slush fund scandal. The free frozen treats aim to remind voters about controversy surrounding a PAC Feingold set up while out of office, Progressives United. The PAC spent less than 10 percent of its money directly supporting candidates and paid salaries to several longtime Feingold aides and allies, including the former senator himself.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revealed that 57% of Russ Feingold’s campaign fundraising came from donors outside of Wisconsin. Feingold also said that he’s not going to abide by his garage door promises anymore because he thinks they are outdated. Democratic