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DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: DSCC DOMINATES NRSC IN Q1 FUNDRAISING – “NIGHTMARE SCENARIO” FOR GOP IN FLSEN – ROY BLUNT LAUNCHES STUDENTS FOR JASON KANDER – COFFMAN FUNDRAISES OFF VA PROBLEMS

DSCC DOMINATES NRSC IN Q1 FUNDRAISING. The DSCC outraised the NRSC for the third consecutive month, pulling in $5.26 million in March. The DSCC had its best off-year Q1 in the history of the committee, raising $14 million and outraising the NRSC by a whopping $3 million.

The Hill: Senate Dems Top GOP In First Quarter Fundraising By $3.1 Million

Roll Call: DSCC Topped $5 Million In March

Washington Examiner: Senate Democrats Outraise Republicans In March

‘NIGHTMARE SCENARIO’ FOR REPUBLICANS IN FLORIDA. This week, Rep. Tom Rooney was the fifth Republican to pass on the Florida Senate race. A recap of the not so fantastic five:

RUBIO OUT, DESPITE NRSC BEGGING. Even after begging Marco Rubio to run for reelection, the NRSC was unable to convince him to run for his seat instead of mounting a presidential bid.

BONDI SAYS NO THANKS. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi performed well in early polling of the GOP field, but she passed on the race in early April.

ATWATER PASSES, SETS UP GOP “NIGHTMARE.” Jeff Atwater was considered a potential frontrunner in the race, but he was quick to dash Republicans’ hopes of avoiding a messy primary in the state. He passed on the race before Marco Rubio launched his presidential campaign. As Politico put it, “The Rubio and Atwater decisions are setting off the very type of nightmare scenarios Republican Party leaders were hoping to avoid in Florida.”

WEATHERFORD OUT. Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford drew interest after likely frontrunner Jeff Atwater passed on the race, but he quickly dashed any Republican hopes and announced he would not run in 2016.

ROONEY PASSES AS GOP SCRAMBLES. This week, Rep. Tom Rooney announced he would not run for the seat. As the Palm Beach Post reported, his announcement comes as Republicans have been scrambling to find a top-tier Senate candidate.”

Last week, a former NRSC senior official called the Florida Senate contest “a problem” for Republicans and this week, a Republican strategist admitted that Republicans are “worried” about finding a competitive candidate for the race.

As the Washington Post noted, Marco Rubio’s presidential ambitions “are dealing a blow to [his] party’s effort to retain a fragile Senate majority in the 2016 election.”

GOP SENATOR BEGS STUDENTS NOT TO VOTE FOR HIM, ROUND TWO. Last month, Ron Johnson made headlines for implying that students are racking up more loan debt because they spend too much time partying. This week, his colleague Roy Blunt joined and blamed rising student loan debt on students’ lavish “living standards.” Here’s what Roy Blunt had to say about why students are to blame for rising college costs:

“We ought to be talking about … the debt problem when you get out of school. How much of that related to the actual cost of going to school and how much it related to what you thought your living standards should be while you went to school, and I’m pretty confident over the years that the student expectations for their personal living standards in school have often increased where they would have been a few just years ago.”

Huffington Post: Senator Blunt Blames College Students For Borrowing

PoliticMO: Kander: Blunt ‘Shaming’ Students With Student Loan Comments

Kansas City Star: Jason Kander Smacks Roy Blunt For Blaming Student ‘Living Standards’ For Increasing Student Loan Debt

Congratulations Senator Blunt on being named Co-Chair of Students for Jason Kander!

 

IN THE STATES:

COLORADO – COFFMAN FUNDRAISES OFF OF VA PROBLEMS. Rep. Mike Coffman kept it classy this week and fundraised off of recent scandals at Veterans Affairs hospitals around the country.

OHIO – PORTMAN BRAGS ABOUT ENDORSEMENT FROM EXTREMIST BEN CARSON. Republican Presidential candidate Ben Carson has lobbed offensive comments about women, slavery and the LGBT community on a regular basis. This week, Rob Portmanproudly touted his endorsement.

WISCONSIN – RON JOHNSON’S LAME BOOK OF EXCUSES. Ron Johnson doubled down on his terrible “staff turnover” excuse and again dodged responsibility on the role his office played in letting whistleblower complaints die in what has been described as “the equivalent of a congressional black hole.”

MISSOURI – KANDER PROTECTS MISSOURIANS FROM SCAMS. While Roy Blunt has been busy blaming students for rising college costs, Jason Kander has been working to protect Missourians as he put an end to an Oklahoma-based ‘oil scheme,’ a scam that could have tricked some Missourians into losing their savings.

NEVADA – NRSC BEGS JOE HECK TO RUN. Eyeing an expensive and damaging primary in Nevada, the NRSC is begging Rep. Joe Heck to enter the race.

TWEET OF THE WEEK: This week’s tweet of the week goes to Buzzfeed’s Andrew Kaczynski for simply quoting the hilariously bad response from Mike Coffman’s spox after revelations that Coffman was fundraising off the VA problems: “.@BuzzFeedAndrew: ‘Sleazy attacks don’t work on Mike Coffman, people. They just don’t.’”

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