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DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS – GOP BLOCKS COMMONSENSE GUN REFORMS – AYOTTE HURT BY GUN STANCE – TOOMEY’S TRUMP-LIKE FOR-PROFIT COLLEGE FIASCO – BAD WEEK FOR BLUNT – NEW ADS AGAINST PORTMAN – DSCC OUTRASIES NRSC YET AGAIN

REPUBLICANS VOTE AGAINST COMMONSENSE GUN REFORMS. This week, vulnerable Senate Republicans like Rob Portman, Marco Rubio, Richard Burr, John McCain, Roy Blunt, Chuck Grassley and Rand Paul shamefully voted against commonsense legislation that would have closed the dangerous loophole that allows suspected terrorist to purchase firearms. After the tragedy in Orlando, Senators should be doing everything in their power to prevent gun violence in their communities, but Senate Republicans once again put partisan politics ahead of what is best for the country.

AYOTTE’S GUN STANCE HURTING HER IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. A new poll this week in New Hampshire not only shows Maggie Hassan leading Kelly Ayotte 49-45 in a head-to-head matchup, but that Ayotte’s approvals are slipping as more Granite Staters learn of her vote against expanding background checks for gun purchases and her significant contributions from the gun lobby. After seeing her falling poll numbers, Ayotte voted for two opposing gun safety proposals on Monday night in a transparent effort of political posturing, even though she had voted against the same proposal in December. Granite Staters will not be fooled by Ayotte’s election year politics.

NHPR HIGHLIGHTS AYOTTE’S HISTORY OF PLAYING POLITICS ON GUN CONTROL. NHPR detailed how Kelly Ayotte has a long history of playing politics with gun safety measures. Josh Rogers writes, “Ayotte’s posture on gun issues seemed less like that of a prosecutor, and more like that of a politician out to court Second-Amendment activists… In most Senate votes, Ayotte has followed the lead of her party.”

TOOMEY’S TRUMP-LIKE FOR-PROFIT COLLEGE FIASCO. Donald Trump has been taking heat for his for-profit college Trump University, but it turns out, Trump’s not the only Republican on the ballot this Fall with ties to a for-profit college. As reported in TIME, Pat Toomey is an investor in Yorktown University, an online for-profit college “that has been criticized for its lack of accreditation, questionable academic offerings and marketing to veterans who can receive government tuition aid.” Read more about Toomey’s Trump-like business involvement here.

TWO NEW ADS HIT TOOMEY. EMILY’s List’s WOMEN VOTE! and Planned Parenthood released a new ad highlighting how Senator Pat Toomey’s agenda would have harmful consequences for Pennsylvania women. Thousands of Pennsylvania women rely on Planned Parenthood for health care services, but Toomey has repeatedly voted to defund the organization. Watch “Alive” here. Additionally, the McGinty campaign released an ad, “Meet Senator Toomey (R – Elevator)” slamming Toomey’s frequent strategy of ducking into elevators when trying to avoid questions about Donald Trump. Watch here.

 

BAD WEEK OF HEADLINES FOR BLUNT. It was a bad week for Senator Roy Blunt, with recent reports showing his DC insider credentials and deep lobbyist ties. Additionally, Blunt felt the heat for his tweet questioning whether Jason Kander, an Afghanistan War veteran, understood the roots of terrorism. Take a look:

US News & World Report: Roy Blunt Accused Afghan War Vet of Not Understanding Terrorism

The U.S. Senate race in Missouri is heating up as two candidates trade blows on Twitter – though it seems the incumbent may not have done his homework on his competitor.

…Blunt’s tweet initially received eight likes and 10 retweets; Kander’s rejoinder amassed 2,400 likes and 1,400 retweets.

Springfield News-Leader: Blunt packs D.C. schedule with fundraisers

Emails show Blunt spent the past two months shuttling from one fundraiser to the next; a total of 19 events, from May 10 through June 29, were listed on invitations sent to lobbyists and other Blunt supporters in Washington.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Where’s the money coming from? Kander’s from lawyers, Blunt’s from financial world

Blunt depends heavily on the financial industry and lobbyists to finance his re-election effort.

…Blunt, R-Mo., is a 20-year veteran of Congress whose campaign finance profile demonstrates his deep ties to the Washington political establishment. 

NEW ADS AGAINST PORTMAN. This week, three new videos were launched against Senator Rob Portman in Ohio. Senate Majority PAC launched an ad hitting Portman for his support of Social Security privatization, which would risk Americans retirement funds on Wall Street. Watch “Cicada” here. Additionally, the Strickland campaign launched two new web videos – “Shameless,” which slams Portman for his support of job killing trade deals that saw Ohio jobs outsourced to China, and “Rob Portman: The Least Known Man in Ohio,” which highlights Portman’s shocking lack of name familiarity with Ohio voters. A new poll this week highlights just how unknown Portman is, with 34% of Ohioans not knowing enough about Portman to form an opinion of him.

STRICKLAND LAUNCHES “OHIO FAMILIES FIRST.” Meanwhile, Ted Strickland launched his “Ohio Families First Plan” that will help Ohio’s hardworking families. His plan involves ensuring equal pay for equal work, access to affordable childcare and paid sick days, and allowing women to make their own health care decisions.

DSCC RAISES $7.2 MILLION IN MAY, OUTRAISES NRSC YET AGAIN. The DSCC raised $7.2 million in May, outraising the NRSC by $1.9 million despite being in the minority. The DSCC has outraised the NRSC in the first five months of 2016, and in 15 of the last 17 months. The DSCC increased its cash on hand to $23.8 million and has no operational debt.

IN THE STATES

KENTUCKY – This week, Rachel Maddow highlighted how Rand Paul is facing heat on his votes against gun safety and featured Democrat Jim Gray’s recent ad hitting Paul on his votes. Watch the Maddow segment here.

NEVADA – Congressman Joe Heck, in an apparent attempt to out-Trump Trump, falsely claimed that Muslims had tried to implement Sharia Law in Michigan—a view shared by his former primary opponent Sharon Angle. While the claim comes from a 2013 report on a satirical website, Congressman Heck had no problem sharing it on the campaign trail as fact.

ARIZONA – The Phoenix New Times profiled Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, highlighting how she will fight for Arizona in the Senate. Read more here.

ILLINOIS – Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth participated in House Democrats’ sit-in demanding votes on gun safety measures on Wednesday night. Duckworth, who lost both of her legs in combat in Iraq, sat on the floor with her fellow Democrats. See photos of Duckworth at the sit-in here.

NORTH CAROLINA – Yet another poll in North Carolina shows a tight race between Senator Richard Burr and Deborah Ross. A new PPP poll out Thursday showed Burr only leading by three points, and his approvals 10 points underwater. Burr will be hurt by his repeated votes to block any commonsense gun safety measures, with 85% of voters supporting background checks and 81% supporting closing the terrorist gun loophole.

FLORIDA – The Murphy campaign released a new radio ad this week featuring President Barack Obama speaking about why Patrick is the best choice for Florida. President Obama and Vice President Biden have both endorsed and campaigned with Murphy in Florida. Listen to “For What’s Right” here.

COLORADO—Who won the Colorado Republican Senate primary? Senator Michael Bennet, according to one frustrated Colorado GOP operative. Read the full report on the Colorado GOP’s dumpster fire.

 

WISCONSIN—Showing once again how out-of-touch he is with Wisconsinites, Ron Johnson described Social Security as a “legal Ponzi scheme” and voiced support for privatizing the retirement security program relied on by more than 1 million people in Wisconsin. It should come as no surprise that Johnson made this statement at a local branch of the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity, since Johnson has made his career out of peddling the oil billionaires’ policies.

 

MORE WISCONSIN – Senator Ron Johnson’s first two campaign ads of the cycle seem to have forgotten one thing – Johnson is a Senator. Perhaps Johnson is trying so hard to hide from voters that he’s currently a Senator because he can’t name anything he’s accomplished for them while in the Senate.

 

TWEET OF THE WEEK – This week’s Tweet of the Week goes out to Missouri Senate candidate Jason Kander for firing back at Senator Roy Blunt’s thoughtless tweet questioning Kander, an Afghanistan war vet, on his understanding of terrorism: “@JasonKander: I volunteered to serve in Afghanistan to fight radical Islamic terrorism. Think before you tweet.”

kander tweet

Enjoy the weekend!

 

Sadie Weiner
@sadieweiner|

 

Lauren Passalacqua

@laurenvpass |

 

Sam Lau

@samuelrlau |

 

Lara Sisselman

@larasisselman |

 

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