DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: Democracy at Stake, Rich Republicans Brawl, Democrats Fight For Workers and Reproductive Freedom

Happy New Year, Happy On Year! Welcome back to Friday Takeaways from the DSCC – your weekly update on news across the Senate battlegrounds.  

“DEMOCRACY IS ON THE BALLOT, THE FUTURE OF THIS COUNTRY IS ON THE BALLOT” → DSCC Chair Sen. Gary Peters laid out the importance of defending Democrats’ Senate majority on MSNBC’s The Last Word. Sen. Peters highlighted the “very clear contrast” between Republican candidates and our Democratic candidates while laying out “opportunities for us on the offense” in Florida and Texas. Watch and see more. 

THREE YEARS LATER: REPUBLICAN SENATE CANDIDATES FAN ELECTION DENIALISM, DOWNPLAY JANUARY 6th ATTACK → As we approach the somber anniversary of the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undermine the peaceful transition of power, American Journal News reported that “Republican candidates for the U.S. senate are downplaying… [and] try[ing] to excuse…that terroristic assault.”

• In Arizona: Kari Lake said January 6th was “a staged riot to cover up the fact that they certified a fraudulent election.” Lake referred to the insurrectionists as “patriots who did nothing wrong.”
  
  
• In Florida: Rick Scott “has implicitly and explicitly pushed the conspiracy theories that spurred violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6,” including being “one of seven senators to vote against certifying Biden’s 2020 victory in the state of Pennsylvania.”
  
  
• In Nevada: Sam Brown “has consistently questioned the validity of the 2020 election and sought to diminish the importance of the insurrection.”
  

• In Pennsylvania: David McCormick hired a fake elector to chair his PAC, paid nearly $40,000 to a political operative for Trump who is also facing charges in Georgia, has been supported by several Pennsylvanians tied to Trump’s fake elector plot and was endorsed by Doug Mastriano, one of Pennsylvania’s biggest election deniers.
  
  
• In Texas: Ted Cruz “walked back” and apologized for characterizing the insurrection as “a violent terrorist attack on the Capitol” and “voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election.”
  

🔥 FROM DSCC ED CHRISTIE ROBERTS IN WAPO ON THIS CYCLE’S UNDER THE RADAR POLITICAL ISSUE: The “amount of GOP Senate candidates who are just rich guys with tenuous connections to the states they are running in.” 

THIS HEADLINE SPEAKS FOR ITSELF: “GOP faces abortion landmines in battle for Senate.”

CRINGE QUOTE: SCOTT DEFENDS ANTI-CHOICE RECORD BY SAYING “IT’S A TOUGH ISSUE FOR WOMEN.” 

WHILE… FL ABORTION MEASURE EARNS ENOUGH SIGNATURES TO GET ON THE 2024 BALLOT→ 

Roll Call reported that Democratic candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is calling Rick Scott out for his toxic agenda on reproductive freedom, noting that “many Hispanic women who came to the United States to escape government repression view strict limits on abortion as an infringement on their civil rights.”

🔃🚪REVOLVING DOOR ROGERS. Punchbowl reported that Mike Rogers made over $1.5 million, going through the revolving door to work for “a long lineup of board seats and consulting clients” after he left Congress and ditched Michigan to move to Florida for “business opportunities.”

 🤺💥🤼BUCKEYE BRAWL HEATS UP → With Donald Trump and Club for Growth backing millionaire Bernie Morneno, Frank LaRose getting a “financial lifeline” from Illinois billionaire Richard Uihlein, and millionaire Matt Dolan continuing to self-fund his campaign, the Republican Senate primary in Ohio is quickly getting expensive and nasty.  

SHE SAID WHAT NOW?!  → Senate Republicans’ now preferred candidate in Arizona, Kari Lake, is continuing her circus tour of spreading conspiracy theories. This week she said in an on air interview that “they unleashed viruses” to stop Trump from getting re-elected.   

VOTED NO, TAKES THE DOUGH → Vulnerable Sen. Ted Cruz was touting investments and semiconductor jobs coming to Texas and the CHIPS and Science Act this week, despite voting against the bill’s passage.

 📺 TESTER TV AD TOUTS HIS MONTANA HERITAGE→ Sen. Jon Tester is out with a new TV ad, “Heritage,” featuring a hunter education teacher praising Tester for protecting the Montana way of life, acting as an independent voice in fighting to protect funding for archery, gun safety, and hunter safety education programs in schools across Montana.

IN THE STATES

• NV – “You had my back then and I’ve got your back now.” Sen. Jacky Rosen rallied with the Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas.
  
  
• OH – WFMJ: Senator Sherrod Brown discusses trade deal bill with Valley steel workers

• PA – Reading Eagle: U.S. Sen. Bob Casey stops in Reading to promote prescription drug savings for older Americans

TWEET OF THE WEEK: 

David Bergstein 
@DavidABergstein

Amanda Sherman Baity
@asherman89 

Maeve Coyle 
@maevemcoyle 

Nora Kate Keefe
@norakatekeefe

Tommy Garcia 
@Tommy_D_Garcia

Katarina Flicker 
@KatarinaFlicker

Jissel Aceves 
@JisselMAceves

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