DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: DSCC OUTRAISES NRSC – GOP SENATE CANDIDATES FLOP – LAXALT TOP AIDE ATTENDED JAN 6 – MASTERS’ EXTREMISM SCARES GOP

💰TRY TO KEEP UP: DSCC OUTRAISES NRSC FOR THIRD STRAIGHT MONTH 💰

ABC News: Senate Democrats’ campaign arm sees Roe surge, outraises GOP counterpart in second quarter. “In numbers shared first with ABC News, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) said Tuesday it drew $33.5 million in donations from April to June, of which $12.5 million was raised in June alone. The group finished June with more than $53.5 million in the bank and has no debt, it said.”

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER – FLAWED CANDIDATES, FUNDRAISING FLOPS ARE BIG WOOF FOR SENATE GOP. News coverage is highlighting how there is “a growing fear among top Republicans that the party’s nomination of deeply flawed candidates in key Senate races” will be a major issue – all while “Democratic Senate candidates are posting blockbuster hauls” and “are outraising their Republican rivals.”

• MSNBC (WATCH): DSCC Chair Gary Peters Discusses Flawed GOP Candidates in Senate races across the country. “The midterms will be about candidate choice. Voters are going to go into the voting booth this fall and they’re going to have very clear choices between the Democratic candidate for the Senate and Republicans.”

• HuffPost: The GOP Candidates Who Could Blow The Midterms. “‘They’ve had such brutal primaries, been spending a fortune,’ said Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who chairs the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. ‘That means you’re going to have a flawed candidate who’s been weakened by a really tough primary, which puts us in a great place.’”

• Axios: Senate GOP fundraising flop. “Top Senate Republican candidates turned in poor fundraising numbers in key races from Arizona to New Hampshire.”

• Washington Post: GOP’s 2022 small-dollar fundraising sputters as Democrats’ lead grows. “Democratic Senate candidates as a whole are far outpacing Republicans in many key races when it comes to campaign money”

• CNN: Democratic Senate contenders smash fundraising records as Donald Trump’s cash pace slows. “Democratic Senate candidates across the battlegrounds are smashing fundraising records — and they’re powered by energized, grassroots supporters who are committed to protecting and expanding our Senate Majority that is fighting to address working families’ most pressing priorities,’ Eli Cousin, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement.”

• Bloomberg: Democrats Rack Up Big Cash Advantage in Top Senate Battlegrounds. “Democratic candidates started July with a huge financial advantage in four…US Senate battlegrounds that could determine which party controls the chamber next January.”

YOU ARE THE COMPANY YOU KEEP – LAXALT TOP AIDE MARCHED AT JANUARY 6TH INSURRECTION WITH OATH KEEPERS. A shocking new report from CNN reveals that Adam Laxalt’s senior campaign operative,Courtney Holland, attended the insurrection on the Capitol on Jan. 6. Laxalt led the effort to overturn the 2020 election for Trump in Nevada.

• CNN: Top spokeswoman for Nevada Republican Senate nominee marched on Jan. 6 with Oath Keepers, including one charged with sedition. “The new communications director for the Republican Senate nominee in Nevada… marched to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, with two members of the far-right extremist group the Oath Keepers.”

• Las Vegas Review Journal: Laxalt campaign aide confirms attending Jan. 6 insurrection at Capitol. “The communications director for Adam Laxalt’s U.S. Senate campaign confirmed Wednesday that she was at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.”

→ DSCC STATEMENT ON BOMBSHELL REPORT THAT LEADING LAXALT STAFFER MARCHED WITH OATH KEEPERS ON JANUARY 6TH

MASTERING EXTREMISM – BLAKE MASTERS “HAS ADOPTED SOME OF THE FARTHEST-RIGHT STANCES AND RHETORIC.” As the Arizona primary enters final stretch, Washington Post and CNN are highlighting how GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters “has adopted some of the farthest-right stances and rhetoric,” including “questioning whether the 2022 midterm election will be legitimate” – leaving Republicans “flummoxed by certain positions taken by Masters and other leading GOP candidates, fearing they will alienate centrist voters.”

• Washington Post: Arizona Senate candidate embraces Trump’s extreme style. “With calls for a nationwide abortion ban and a campaign ad declaration that ‘Trump won’ in 2020, Masters has adopted some of the farthest-right stances and rhetoric in a staunchly conservative field — fueling some concerns among GOP strategists that his embrace of extremes could imperil their efforts to regain control of the narrowly divided Senate.”

• CNN: Trump-backed Arizona Senate candidate escalates election fears ahead of GOP primary. “Arizona Republican Blake Masters, who earned Donald Trump’s endorsement for the Senate race by embracing the former President’s lies that he won the 2020 election, has turned to questioning whether the 2022 midterm election will be legitimate.”

→ ICYMI: KTAR: Multiple GOP mayors, business owners backing Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly

DOC, WE’VE STRUCK A NERVE – OZ “GETS DEFENSIVE” OVER HALL-OF-FAME LEVEL CALL OUT ABOUT HIS NEW JERSEY TIES. As Oz continues to take heat for his Jersey ties, he’s getting defensive – saying this week “I know all these celebrities. I could actually have celebrities do my campaign for me” and that it shouldn’t matter “if I happen to have a house here or there.”

• HuffPost: ‘I’m From New Jersey’: Dr. Oz Showed Jersey Pride At 2019 New Jersey Hall Of Fame Awards. “Oz also gave an interview at the event in which he played up his New Jersey ties, saying, ‘I’m from New Jersey. I appreciate all that our state offers, and we can take folks who made big coming from the state, you want to celebrate them.’”

• Vanity Fair: Dr. Oz Gets Defensive About Fetterman Using Snooki to Point Out His New Jersey Ties. “The celebrity doctor turned Republican Senate candidate says Snooki has been on his show and downplays having a bunch of properties around the world, after a Cameo video paid for by John Fetterman’s campaign of the Jersey Shore star went viral.”

• The Hill: Fetterman starts petition to add Oz to New Jersey Hall of Fame. “‘We all know Dr. Oz is soooooo proud to be Jersey Strong… He’s a huge New Jersey celebrity who’s lived there for three decades. The dude is even registered to vote in NJ and voted there as recently as 2020,’ the petition continues.”

RESET BUTTON ISN’T WORKING: WALKER’S WEEKLY STUMBLES INCLUDE CALLING FOR “NATIONAL ABORTION BAN,” WON’T COMMIT TO DEBATE. Herschel Walker started off his ‘campaign reset’ this week by telling reporters “there’s not a national ban on abortion right now and I think that’s a problem” and refusing to commit to a debate.

• Atlanta Journal Constituion: The Jolt: Republicans will ‘pay the price’ for anti-abortion law, Democrats vow.“Pressed on whether he would vote for a federal ban if it came up Walker replied this way: ‘Well, I think that’s an ‘if’ and I think that’s not what we don’t we need to worry about. We need to worry about right now there’s not a national ban on abortion.’” Hershel Walker continues to keep Georgia voters in the dark with head scratching remarks on whether he will or won’t debate Senator Warnock. Walker stated that he is “ready to debate” Warnock, but refuses to commit to a date and has several terms that must be agreed upon.

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Why Georgia Republicans are tiptoeing around new abortion law. “Walker is no moderate when it comes to abortion restrictions. He supports a total ban on the procedure, even in cases of rape or incest. And this week he lamented that there was no federal legislation outlawing abortion.”

• CBS 46: Debate over dates | Walker has not confirmed Oct. 16 U.S. Senate debate with Warnock. “One day after he seemingly agreed to an Oct. 16 Atlanta Press Club-hosted debate with U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, Republican Herschel Walker’s campaign attempted to clarify their candidate’s commitment.”

ROJO TELLS WISCONSIN WOMEN TO TAKE A HIKE… AGAIN. In a new interview, Ron Johnson once again callously dismissed the reality now facing Wisconsinites who need to access abortion services, saying “abortions are still legal in Illinois.” Johnson then called the overturning of Roe v. Wade a thing of “beauty.” Read more from WisDems HERE.

GETTING BUDDY-BUDDY WITH SPECIAL INTERESTS: BUDD TAKES BIG OIL & PAC CASH, VOTES TO AID HIS DONORS. Two new reports from The American Independent this week reveal Ted Budd “repeatedly sided with payday lenders” and in return, they “repeatedly filled his campaign coffers,”and that Budd voted in favor of big oil companies just one day after he took the “maximum contribution from a major fossil fuel company.”

• American Independent: GOP Senate nominee Ted Budd sided with payday lenders as he took their PAC donations. “North Carolina Republican Rep. Ted Budd opposed consumer protections against predatory lending, despite his own state prohibiting the practice.”

• American Independent: Ted Budd took oil company donation one day before voting against gas price-gouging ban. “Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC), … voted in May against a bill to prohibit price gouging by oil and gas companies. Just one day earlier, he took the legal maximum contribution from a major fossil fuel company’s political action committee.”

→ MEMO: After Outraising Congressman Budd Three-To-One, Beasley’s Momentum in #NCSEN Grows

J.D. IS M.I.A – VANCE CAN’T KEEP UP IN BUCKEYE STATE AS REPUBLICANS SOUND THE ALARM OVER FLOUNDERING CAMPAIGN. A new report from the Washington Examiner highlights how “complaints about JD Vance and his Senate campaign are rising among Ohio Republicans.”

• Washington Examiner: Ohio Republicans want more action, effort from JD Vance in key fall Senate race. “Complaints about JD Vance and his Senate campaign are rising among Ohio Republicans after the conservative populist posted an anemic second-quarter fundraising report.”

“WASTE OF TIME” MARCO RUBIO WON’T FIGHT TO PROTECT FLORIDIANS’ FREEDOM. GOP Senator Marco Rubio called the Marriage Equality Vote, that would protect same-sex marriage, a ‘stupid waste of time.’ Floridians will send Rubio on a permanent vacation in November.

• Florida Politics: Marco Rubio drags marriage equality vote as ‘waste of time,’ but six Florida Republicans support it. “Rubio, a Miami Republican up for re-election this year, told CNN’s Manu Raju that he won’t support the bill when it reaches the Senate floor and called it a ‘stupid waste of time.’ That presents a stark difference with Rep. Val Demings, his Democratic opponent in November. She voted in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act (HR 8404) when the House passed it.”

• Newsweek: ​​Marco Rubio Slammed for Calling Same-Sex Marriage Bill ‘Waste of Time‘. “Republican Senator Marco Rubio faced social media backlash Wednesday for reportedly calling a House bill that would codify protections for same-sex marriage into federal law a ‘stupid waste of time.’”

MCCONNELL CONFIRMS O’DEA WOULD BE “HIS GUY” IN WASHINGTON. GOP Senate candidate Joe O’Dea bent the knee to Mitch McConnell and pledged to be another vote to enact the Republican agenda which would hurt Coloradans.

• Axios: Scoop: McConnell pledges he’s “all in” on Colorado Senate race. “Calling O’Dea “the perfect candidate for the nature of your state,’ McConnell emphasized”

• 9 News (WATCH): Mitch McConnell confirms that GOP Senate candidate Joe O’Dea will be “his guy” to help him pass the MAGA Republican agenda

ROUGH LANDSCAPE: MORSE’S IMMIGRATION HYPOCRISY EXPOSED BY UNION LEADER.  Republican GOP candidate Chuck Morse has spoken out against illegal immigration – yet the New Hampshire Union Leader reported this week that Morses’ own landscaping businesses do not use “E-Verify, the 26-year-old free and voluntary federal program widely viewed as the best way private employers can detect undocumented workers.”

• NH Union Leader: Senate candidate, illegal immigration foe, doesn’t use E-Verify for his companies’ hires.“Republican U.S. Senate candidate Chuck Morse is adamant about ending illegal immigration and calls for “closing the border right away,” but his landscaping firms have never joined the federal program required in nearly half the states to track whether their employees are in the country legally.”

→ ICYMI: Misleading GOP ads blame Senate Democrats for Iowa ski area project funded by Republicans

JUST THIS WEEK, THANKS TO SENATE DEMOCRATS.

→ Senate Democrats Vote To Advance Chips Legislation. Johnson & Rubio Vote No. Senate Democrats this week voted to advance chips legislation – a no brainer, bipartisan bill that will lower costs, improve supply chains, and ensure that America can out-compete countries like China. But Republican Senators Ron Johnson and Marco Rubio voted against advancing the legislation – showing they represent everything voters hate about Washington.

• DSCC: Statement On Sens. Johnson & Rubio Voting Against Advancing Chips

IN THE STATES

AZ – Arizona Republic (Editorial): Blake Masters is surging in Senate primary. Why do Republican voters seem discomforted? “Each of us should vote for a candidate who best represents our personal values but without setting aside the collective good. That makes this Senate Republican primary particularly challenging. Is winning at any cost worth it? Arizona would be best served if we reflect about the kind of country we want for each other and our children – and vote accordingly.”

GA – Savannah Morning News (Opinion): Herschel Walker is pushing away voters the way he once did tacklers.“Walker’s status as a football icon won’t be enough to offset his dumbfounding ignorance and bizarre public comments. Walker is losing support with swing voters every time he opens his mouth to speak about climate change, gun rights, Juneteenth, abortion, the number of children he’s fathered … and on and on.”

NV – Elko Daily Free Press (Opinion): Cortez Masto is a champion for rural Nevada. “Winnemucca is my home, and I will always do what I think is best for our City. For rural Nevadans, whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican like me, that means re-electing Senator Catherine Cortez Masto.”

OH – WOSU: Where have you gone J.D. Vance?“Vance, the Trump-endorsed venture capitalist and best-selling author, has basically disappeared from public view since his May primary win. There have been no big campaign events, no TV commercials and hardly a media appearance.”

TWEET OF THE WEEK

David Bergstein
@DavidABergstein

Amanda Sherman
@asherman89

Pat Burgwinkle
@Burgwinkle

Nora Keefe
@norakatekeefe

Freedom Murphy
@F_AlexanderM

Eli Cousin
@elicousin

Claire Berry
@claireliseberry

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