DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: CHAOS REIGNS FOR GOP IN PA + NC – DEMS UNITED BEHIND FETTERMAN & BEASLEY – HERSCHEL SLAMMED BY OWN PARTY – DSCC OUTRAISES NRSC

DSCC CHAIR PETERS: REPUBLICANS ARE “JUST BEATING THE HECK OUT OF EACH OTHER” IN NASTY PRIMARIES. Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Sen. Gary Peters joined MSNBC’s PoliticsNation with Rev. Al Sharpton to discuss the nasty, expensive GOP primaries playing out across the country.

“We’re seeing it around the country – we’re seeing Republican primaries where these candidates are just beating the heck out of each other, trying to be the Trumpiest of the Trumpsters, and making statements and taking positions that I think will come back to cost them dearly in the general election.”

“COULD BRUISE REPUBLICAN UNITY” – WHILE DEMS UNITE, CHAOS REIGNS FOR GOP AFTER NASTY PA AND NC AND PRIMARIES. Democrats are unified around John Fetterman and Cheri Beasley in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, while Republicans remain locked in chaos: Pat McCrory is refusing to endorse NC GOP nominee Ted Budd,  and “it’s too close to call in Pennsylvania’s jam-packed, combative, and extremely expensive GOP Senate primary.”

• McClatchy: Deadlocked Oz and McCormick could bruise Republican unity in Pennsylvania Senate race. “The unresolved Republican primary contest between celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund manager Dave McCormick – who remain separated on Thursday by just over 1,000 votes with thousands left to count – could threaten to undermine party unity no matter which candidate is ultimately declared the victor.”

• Business Insider: Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate primary is likely headed for a recount with Trump adding to the chaos. “The looming — possibly weeks-long — recount will extend an already expensive, tumultuous, and high-stakes primary election.”

• The Hill: McCrory mum on endorsing Budd in North Carolina. “Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R), who lost Tuesday’s GOP Senate primary in the state, would not say whether he would be endorsing his rival and the winner, Rep. Ted Budd.”

• Charlotte Observer: ‘McCarthyism within my own party.’ Pat McCrory speaks out after US Senate race loss. “McCrory said he isn’t sure whether he’ll endorse Budd. But the congressman’s treatment of him made the former governor wonder whether Republicans can pull off a victory against former state Supreme Court chief justice Cheri Beasley in November.”

TAR HEEL TOUGH – CHERI BEASLEY ENTERS GENERAL ELECTION IN COMMANDING POSITION. While Ted Budd limps out of a bruising primary, Cheri Beasley is entering the general election in a strong position – read more from her campaign’s state-of-the-race memo:

• MEMO: In Top Senate Battleground, Beasley Well-Positioned to Win North Carolina’s Senate Seat.

“THIS BUDD IS NOT FOR NORTH CAROLINA” – NCDP LAUNCHES TOUR HIGHLIGHTING HOW TED BUDD IS WRONG FOR THE TAR HEEL STATE. Throughout Budd’s time in Congress, Budd has consistently put his own politics ahead of North Carolina’s working families – and North Carolina Democrats are putting his record front and center for voters in a series of events across the state. Read more about the North Carolina Democratic Party’s tour HERE.

… AND DSCC LAUNCHES NEW VIDEO ON TED BUDD, “WASHINGTON INSIDER.” Budd represents everything North Carolinians hate about Washington – he’s a D.C. insider with no accomplishments for his state, and he’s spent his career looking out for himself at the expense of working families. Read what to know about Budd here, and watch the DSCC’s video below:

FETTERMAN WILL FIGHT FOR EVERY PENNSYLVANIAN. While his GOP opponents remain divided and in chaos, John Fetterman is sprinting into the general election with momentum..

• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: John Fetterman… raises $1.6M within 24 hours of primary victory. “Mr. Fetterman’s campaign raised more than $1.6 million in the first 24 hours after he clinched the Democratic nomination, officials said.”

• Gisele Fetterman on CNN (WATCH): “He’s someone who listens, he’s someone who wants to understand your issues, whether you voted for him now or not. He wants to be a Senator for all of Pennsylvania. So he really cares about people and he wants to understand what your needs are, what your priorities are.”
  

• Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey: “Proud to endorse my friend, Lt. Governor John Fetterman.”

 💰💰 💰  NEW FROM ROLL CALL: SENATE DEMOCRATS OUTRAISE NRSC IN APRIL, HAVE MORE CASH ON HAND 💰 💰 💰

FINNEY HIGHLIGHTS STAKES FOR BLACK VOTERS IN PA & NC SENATE RATES. On the first day of the general election in the Pennsylvania and North Carolina Senate races, Democratic strategist Karen Finney joined Reality Check with Charles Ellison on WURD Radio and Keepin’ It Real With Rev. Al Sharpton to talk about what’s at stake for Black voters in these races and in the 2022 midterm.

• WURD Reality Check with Charles Ellison: “I think it’s important that we remind Pennsylvania voters, particularly Black voters in Pennsylvania, you have the power, you have the opportunity to help make sure we take that Senate seat and take control of the Senate, so that we can keep getting done – the things that voters have told us they want.”

• Keepin’ It Real With Rev. Al Sharpton: “The key issues that I think we have to be talking about… is how are we going to lower costs, and that’s why you hear me talk about childcare and keeping prescription drug costs low and continuing to bring down the cost of health care, affordable housing. But the reality is, in this midterm election… We have to help turnout and give Democrats the clear majority in the Senate, so that we can continue to do the things that we all came out in record numbers and voted for in 2020.”

DSCC GREETS RICK SCOTT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE WITH BILLBOARD CALLING OUT GOP PLAN TO CRIMINALIZE ABORTION. Ahead of Rick Scott’s visit to New Hampshire, the DSCC launched a digital billboard in downtown Manchester highlighting how the NH GOP Senate candidates would stand in lockstep with Mitch McConnell and Rick Scott’s push for a nationwide abortion ban if they retake the Senate.See more here.

OFF THE AIR…NRSC AD PULLED DOWN IN NEW HAMPSHIRE OVER LIES. An ad from the National Republican Senatorial Committee lying about Sen. Maggie Hassan’s record on the gas tax was pulled from local cable stations Thursday.

• Union Leader: National GOP committee pulls NH ad critical of Hassan over semantic mistake. “An ad from the National Republican Senatorial Committee slamming Sen. Maggie Hassan’s record on the gas tax was pulled from local cable stations Thursday, over a misstatement.”

CORTEZ MASTO CAMPAIGN CALLS OUT LAXALT’S FOR CELEBRATING END OF ROE V. WADE. The Cortez Masto campaign released a new video calling out Adam Laxalt for standing with fellow anti-choice Republicans who are pushing cruel legislation that restricts abortion access with no exceptions for rape, incest, or human trafficking. WATCH:

… AND LAXALT CAUGHT HIDING HIS ANTI-CHOICE ENDORSEMENTS. Laxalt has spent his entire career trying to rip away abortion access from Nevada women – and new reporting reveals how  he’s now trying to hide his record.

• American Independent: Nevada GOP candidate Adam Laxalt omits anti-abortion groups’ endorsements from website. “Nevada Republican Adam Laxalt has been endorsed by at least two prominent anti-abortion groups in his campaign for U.S. Senate. His campaign endorsements page omits any mention of this.”

TOP-ED – SEN. CORTEZ MASTO WRITING FOR RENO GAZETTE JOURNAL: LOWERING PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS FOR NEVADANS. ⬇️

• No one should have to ration lifesaving medicine. I vividly remember how my grandmother struggled to afford her prescriptions. When I was in college, I’d sit with her at her kitchen table and help her with her bills. Too often, we’d worry that there wouldn’t be enough left for prescriptions after she paid for bills and groceries.

• She should never have had to choose between her medicine and putting food on the table. I’m working in the Senate so other Nevadans don’t have to make that same wrenching choice for themselves or their family.

• “I know how important this is for so many others across the Silver State. That’s why I’m dedicated to bringing down prices for all Nevadans — especially at the pharmacy counter. We must act now, and I’ll keep working every day in the Senate to get this done.

RESTAURATEURS CALL OUT RON. Ron Johnson was called out by his restaurant owners  after he voted against legislation this week that would have helped Wisconsin small businesses and restaurants.

• UpNorthNews: Wisconsin Restaurateurs’ Personal Appeals Fail to Sway Ron Johnson as Republicans Kill the Restaurant Revitalization Fund. “Among the restaurateurs who came to the nation’s capital to seek Johnson’s support was Dave Heide, owner of several Madison area restaurants and a recent recipient of national recognition from the SBA. ‘When he [Johnson] was coming to say how grateful he was for me winning the small business person of the year from Wisconsin, all we could talk about was how much he loved small business and appreciated it,’ Heide said on Wednesday… Dan Jacobs, owner of three Milwaukee area restaurants said Johnson’s support would have helped ‘save the jobs of 3,000-plus restaurants in the state of Wisconsin.’”

AHEAD OF TUESDAY’S PRIMARY, HERE’S HERSCHEL’S GOP OPPONENTS IN THEIR OWN WORDS: “HE CAN’T WIN,” “DOESN’T KNOW THE ISSUES,” “WE ARE GOING TO LOSE.” With Georgia’s Senate primary coming up this Tuesday, the entire Georgia GOP Senate field has kept up a stream of scathing attacks on Walker – going after him for his problematic past, avoiding Georgia voters, stumbling over basic policy issues in “a string of gaffes, even with conservative interviewers,” and showing he isn’t up for the job.

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Jolt: Republicans running against Herschel warn: ‘He can’t win.’ “At a meeting of the Young Republicans of Atlanta at the Bold Monk Brewing Company Thursday night, former Navy SEAL Latham Saddler said Warnock ‘would mop the floor with Herschel Walker.’ … Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black took it a step further saying he won’t support Walker if he wins the nomination.”

• ABC News: GOP alarms sound on Herschel Walker in Georgia. “‘There’s a pattern of deflect, defer, run, hide, twist,’ Gary Black, the Georgia agriculture commissioner and Walker’s highest-polling Republican challenger, told ABC News… ‘It’s unacceptable for service in the United States Senate. In my opinion, I think most Georgians are going to agree.”

• Georgia Democratic Party: GOP Senate Candidates Haven’t Responded to Walker’s Call for A Unity Celebration — Here’s What They’ve Said Instead

MEAN MUPPETS: LAMON AND MASTERS DIAL UP THE ATTACKS ON EACH OTHER. Jim Lamon turned up the temperature in this already heated GOP Senate primary, releasing a new-muppet-themed-ad calling Blake Masters, “the puppet of California Big Tech.”

→ Blake Masters responded with a temper tantrum tweet thread, calling Lamon “desperate” and “lame” and trolling the self-funded multi-millionaire for “getting rich from Chinese solar” and “giv[ing] hundreds of thousands of dollars” to buy up endorsements “like a mob hit or something.” Read more from the Arizona Democratic Party HERE.

ICYMI – ASSOCIATED PRESS: REPUBLICAN SENATE CANDIDATES PROMOTE ‘REPLACEMENT’ THEORY. “Several mainstream Republican Senate candidates are drawing on the “great replacement” conspiracy theory once confined to the far-right fringes of U.S. politics to court voters this campaign season, promoting the baseless notion that there is a plot to diminish the influence of white people in America.”

JUST THIS WEEK, THANKS TO SENATE DEMOCRATS

• WSBTV: ‘If you need insulin…it’s not optional’: New push for $35 insulin price cap.

“Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock is working on a bill that would lower the cost per month to $35. He sat with healthcare professionals, including a doctor at Grady Hospital. People with Medicaid get insulin for about $2 a month, but people with insurance have to pay full price–and that price has gone up to $200 to $300, or more, a month.”

IN THE STATES

GA – Atlanta Voice: Senator Warnock urges President Biden to cancel student loan debt.“U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock met with President Biden in the Oval Office to urge the President to address the student debt crisis as he makes a push for the President to immediately issue strong debt relief.”

NC – 13 News Now: Cheri Beasley wins Democratic nomination, could become NC’s first Black US senator. “‘As your Senator, I will fight to lower costs – from prices at the pump to prescription drugs. I will work to expand the Affordable Care Act and Medicare to ensure that people in every part of North Carolina have access to the care they need,’ Beasley said.”

NH – Manchester Link: Chuck Morse: The most anti-choice Senate President in New Hampshire’s modern history.“Chuck Morse’s opposition to codifying abortion rights is not surprising. Morse was the “key architect” and loudest advocate for the abortion ban bill that became law last summer. The bill’s lack of exceptions for rape, incest, or fatal fetal anomaly was not by mistake, it was Morse’s intent.”

NV – Las Vegas Review-Journal: Laxalt, Brown fighting it out in GOP Senate primary.

NV – Nevada Appeal (Opinion): With malice toward all. “Republican Adam Laxalt is running on the fact that he was endorsed by Trump. He has no platform. He claims to be a ‘Trump conservative,’ whatever that means, with no achievements to declare. Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s ads are very different. Each one has a real Nevadan, talking about how Cortez Masto’s policies have helped him or her.”

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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