April 17, 2020 Press Releases

DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: DEMS DOMINATE FUNDRAISING — COLLINS APPROVAL SINKS — GOP KEEP HEALTH CARE MARKETS CLOSED

DEMOCRATS DOMINATE Q1. Here’s what you need to know:

→ 10 Democratic challengers outraised Republican incumbents or GOP fields in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, North Carolina and South Carolina.

→ Democratic candidates in top battleground races like Iowa also set new records, while Democratic incumbents continued to stockpile resources for the general election.

→ The DSCC also had its best-ever Q1 fundraising haul with more than $28 million raised, after bringing in nearly $11 million in March and outraising the NRSC for the month. More than half of the DSCC’s fundraising came in from grassroots donations online, on the phones, and in the mail last quarter.

What they’re saying:

Cook Political: “With the Senate firmly in play, Democrats showed their fundraising mettle during the first quarter of 2020 as GOP incumbents lagged behind their likely challengers in many top contests. The disparity is only further evidence that political momentum is largely on the side of Democrats as they continue to expand the battlefield of competitive races.”

CBS: “As Democrats set their sights on flipping the Senate from red to blue in 2020, a number of their candidates gearing up in battleground races are showing strong fundraising support starting out the election year.”

Bloomberg: “Democratic Senate candidates raised more money than Republicans in eight of the 10 most competitive races during the first three months of 2020, another sign that the chamber’s majority is in play.”

New York Times: Democrats Show Fund-Raising Energy in Key Senate Races

Wall Street Journal: “Democrats have raised more money than their Republican opponents in eight of the 2020 cycle’s most competitive Senate races, as left-leaning candidates saw a surge in fundraising in the first quarter of the year that narrowed the GOP’s campaign-cash advantage in the crucial contests.”

CNN: “Democrats outpaced all four Republican incumbents in Senate contests rated as pure “toss-ups”… In other key races, Democrats posted big numbers.”

Reuters: “Democrats’ current momentum could be a positive sign for the party’s fortunes, with larger war chests helping challengers reach out to voters through ads, phone calls and online.”

Roll Call: “Nearly all the [Democratic] party’s Senate contenders hauled in more campaign money than their opponents in pivotal battleground states that in November will determine control of the chamber.”

Open Secrets: Incumbent Republicans losing fundraising advantage in toss-up Senate races

See the local coverage highlights here.

22 MILLION NEWLY UNEMPLOYED BUT GOP WON’T MAKE IT EASIER TO GET HEALTH CARE. Republicans continue to stand by their reckless decision to keep special enrollment in the Affordable Care Act’s federal health insurance marketplace closed even as unemployment insurance claims spike, leaving millions of Americans struggling to get health care coverage during a public health crisis. This harmful policy choice by Republicans is both wrong and a “political loser”: voters disapprove of the GOP’s stance by a massive 20-point margin. Meanwhile, Republican senators are still refusing to take meaningful action to stop the dangerous GOP lawsuit that would overturn the ACA and wipe away all of its protections.

COLLINS APPROVAL FALLS. AGAIN. A new poll released this week from the Bangor Daily News and Critical Insights shows that Senator Susan Collins’ standing among Maine voters continues to plummet. Collins’ approval rating now sits at just 37%, down from 42% last fall, while the share of voters who disapprove of her performance has spiked to 52%. This stunning 15-point deficit comes as Collins faces her toughest re-election yet — for the first time in any re-election Collins has faced over the past two decades, all three of the major nonpartisan election analysts have moved this race in Maine to a toss-up rating:

Sabato’s Crystal Ball: “it’s become apparent to us that Collins is in for a very close race”
Inside Elections: Collins is “more vulnerable than she’s been in years”
Cook Political Report: “few are sounding optimistic” about Collins as she faces “her toughest reelection race yet”

Collins’ increasingly poor standing among Maine voters has made her one of the most vulnerable incumbents of the cycle and yet another growing defensive liability on the Senate map for Washington Republicans — especially when she’s outraised nearly THREE-TO-ONE by Sara Gideon, a development the Cook Political Report called “the most shocking development” of the Q1.

THIS WON’T HELP – COLLINS: “PRESIDENT DID A LOT THAT WAS RIGHT.” Senator Collins told Bangor Daily News that, “the president did a lot that was right in the beginning” even though the facts tell a different story of ignored warnings, wasted months and broken promises. Watch our new video: A Lot Right?

DAINES CAUGHT LYING. AGAIN. Senator Steve Daines has been under fire for deceptively bragging to Montanans about the increased unemployment benefits that he actively opposed. This week he took his brazenness a step further by lying that he “fought to secure” the additional $600 in unemployment benefits that he voted against. The truth? He joined Mitch McConnelll and Washington Republicans in voting to cap unemployment benefits and prevent some people from getting the extra $600. Here’s the HuffPost headline: Republicans Are Bragging About An Unemployment Boost They Voted Against.

FACT CHECK: TRUE – ERNST IS “LOYAL TO SPECIAL INTEREST BACKERS.” An ad from the Iowa Democratic Party highlighted senator Ernst’s failed record and independent analysis confirmed, it’s all true:

The Iowa Democratic Party accurately stated the Iowa senator’s votes in favor of the tax bill that benefited wealthy corporations

The ad accurately portrays how Ernst’s support of repealing the Affordable Care Act would impact those with preexisting conditions, including thousands of Iowans.

The ad also accurately stated “experts accuse her of breaking the law,” although no official ruling has been made on whether election campaign violations occurred.

Overall, Fact Checker gives these specific claims contained in the ad an A.

Watch the Iowa Democratic Party ad here.

GOP GROUP AIMS TO “ANONYMOUSLY BRING DOWN” LOEFFLER. Republicans are so worried about “political mega-donor” Senator Kelly Loeffler and her spiraling stock trade scandal they’re launching a new dark money group to “anonymously bring down” the Republican who has put the Georgia Senate seat at risk. As her GOP challenger Congressman Doug Collins continues to pick up endorsements, including from the pro-Trump Great America PAC, Loeffler is “fighting for her political life” after her stock scandal became a “major political liability” and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was forced to clairfy he still supported her.

LOEFFLER’S LIST — WILL GOP SENATORS KEEP HER MONEY? New Federal Election Commission filings show that at the same time she was making “timely trades” in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic’s effect on the stock market, unelected “political mega-donor” Senator Kelly Loeffler was spreading her wealth among nine fellow vulnerable GOP senators. Senators Joni Ernst (IA), John Cornyn (TX), Thom Tillis (NC), Lindsey Graham (SC), Susan Collins (ME), Martha McSally (AZ), Cory Gardner (CO), Steve Daines (MT) and David Perdue (GA) all accepted donations from their colleague with a “major political liability.”

Read more about the maxed out donations from the scandal-embroiled Loeffler here.

IN THE STATES

AZ – KTAR: Mark Kelly widens lead over Sen. Martha McSally in Arizona poll

CO – Colorado Times Recorder (Opinion): Gardner and Trump: Risking American Lives

CO – Denver Business Journal: Exclusive: John Hickenlooper shares details of his plan to help small businesses

MI – Herald-Palladium (LTE): Sen. Gary Peters is an exceptional leader

NC – Spectrum News: Cunningham Calls for Oversight of Federal Coronavirus Response

NC – CBS 17: CBS 17’s Russ Bowen speaks 1-on-1 with Democratic Senate nominee Cal Cunningham

SC – ABC 4: Jaime Harrison purchases six-figure radio ad

TX – Austin Chronicle: Opinion: U.S. Sen. John Cornyn’s Comments Scapegoat, Endanger, and Distract

TX – Mother Jones: A Texas Judge Just Greenlit Democrats’ Effort to Increase Vote-By-Mail

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