DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: GOP ATTACKS ON ABORTION ESCALATE SENATE STAKES – ATTACKS FLY IN ARIZONA GOP PRIMARY – WALKER & OZ CONTINUE TO FLOUNDER

ORGANIZE. VOTE. DEFENDCHOICE.ORG. After today’s Supreme Court ruling, the stakes of the 2022 Senate campaigns have never been higher. That’s why the DSCC is teaming up with the DNC & DCCC to launch DefendChoice.org – an organizing hub that will help voters channel anger into action and organize with local coordinated field campaigns.  

• POLITICO: Democrats launch organizing hub to channel response to Supreme Court abortion decision. “‘Today’s decision dramatically escalates the stakes of the 2022 elections, and we’re making sure Americans have the tools they need to channel their anger into action,’ DSCC Executive Director Christie Roberts said in a statement shared with POLITICO. ‘This on-the-ground organizing work will help elect Democrats who will fight to protect women’s right to make their own health care decisions and ensure the GOP’s cruel agenda to making abortion illegal and punish women is front and center for voters across the Senate battlegrounds.’”

IN THEIR OWN WORDS: GOP SENATE CANDIDATES OPPOSE WOMEN’S RIGHTS TO MAKE THEIR OWN HEALTH CARE DECISIONS. The DSCC launched a new video highlighting GOP Senate candidates’ own words and records opposing women’s rights to make their own health care decisions.

WATCH: “In Their Own Words: GOP Senate Candidates Oppose Abortion”

“FRONT AND CENTER” – ABORTION RIGHTS RESHAPE THE MIDTERMS, WILL GALVANIZE VOTERS.

• POLITICO: Supreme Court’s Roe reversal reshapes Democrats’ battle to keep Congress. “Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, who chairs Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, said that pro-abortion rights voters had long voted knowing the Supreme Court’s precedent had put guardrails on state abortion restrictions. Now that’s all changed, and he said ‘it will be an incredibly motivating factor for people. There’s no question that this is a central issue that will be on the minds of voters,’ Peters said.”

• CBS News: Abortion rights front and center in the midterms after the Supreme Court decision. “‘Make no mistake: The Republican Party will not stop at overturning Roe. The 2022 election will now determine whether new, cruel, and punishing restrictions will be put in place on women and families,’ read a joint statement from Democratic committees. ‘The stakes of November’s elections could not be higher – and voters will make their voices heard by standing with Democrats up and down the ballot.’”

• The Root: Barack Obama, Sen. Raphael Warnock & Other Black Leaders React to Roe v. Wade Overturning. “Jessica Knight Henry, the deputy executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said in a statement that the decision would almost certainly have a greater impact on nonwhite women. ‘Stripping away a woman’s right to safe, legal abortion and to make our own health care decisions will have especially dire consequences for Black women and women of color across our country,’ the statement read.”

IT’S GETTING HOT IN HERE – ATTACKS FLY IN SCORCHED EARTH ARIZONA GOP PRIMARY. Arizona’s “scorched earth” GOP Senate primary is messier than ever after the crowded field of candidates hammered each other at a Thursday night debate, and new “brutal ads” hit the airwaves: 

• CBS News: Arizona GOP Senate candidates hold debate as negative ads overtake airwaves. “With early voting for the primary set to begin in two weeks, Republicans have already spent nearly $40 million on TV advertising, according to AdImpact, which keeps track of political ad spending. Lamon, who is self-funding his campaign and has pledged to spend $50 million, has poured $7.8 million into TV ads. Masters is backed by Saving Arizona, a super PAC funded by billionaire Peter Thiel that has spent over $8 million on ads this cycle.”

• Arizona Republic: Arizona Republican Senate debate features digs on Blake Masters, Mark Brnovich. “Arizona’s Republican Senate candidates took turns hitting each other’s backgrounds Thursday, but the sharpest blows landed on Blake Masters over his support from billionaire Peter Thiel and his ties to Facebook. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich accused Masters of being ‘beholden to an industry.’ Former solar power executive Jim Lamon alluded to Thiel spending $13 million to help Masters and made a similar point.”

• Breitbart: Exclusive – Ads Hammer Anti-Trump Arizona Senate Candidate Jim Lamon’s Chinese Business Ties. “A pair of brutal ads have hit television airwaves in Arizona exposing the Chinese business ties of businessman Jim Lamon, who is running for U.S. Senate in the GOP primary against former President Donald Trump’s pick Blake Masters.”

HE ADMITTED IT: BLAKE MASTERS SAYS HE WANTS TO PRIVATIZE SOCIAL SECURITY. At Thursday night’s debate Blake Masters admitted he want to put Social Security on the chopping block, ripping away seniors’ hard earned benefits.

• Business Insider: A Trump-backed Arizona Senate candidate suggests he wants to privatize Social Security. “Arizona GOP primary Senate candidate Blake Masters wants to overhaul Social Security. ‘We got to cut the knot at some point,’ he said at a conservative event.”

• NBC News: Trump took entitlements off the table. One of his 2022 candidates just put them back on. “At a candidate forum Thursday in Arizona, a Trump-endorsed Senate candidate — Blake Masters — floated the idea of privatizing Social Security.”

RON “37% APPROVAL” JOHNSON HAS ANOTHER NO GOOD, VERY BAD WEEK.  Self-serving Ron Johnson was in the news again for all the wrong reasons this week – it was reported RoJo has cozied up with big banks, plotted to deliver fake electors on January 6th, and new polling showed his approval rating deeply underwater with Wisconsin voters.   

• UpNorthNews: ​​Ron Johnson Working Overtime for Big Banks Means Many Wisconsin Workers Aren’t Getting Overtime Pay. “If that wasn’t enough, Johnson and bankers also worked together on legislation that would increase the advantage banks have over individuals.”

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Sen. Ron Johnson wanted to hand-deliver fake electors to Mike Pence on Jan. 6, texts reveal. “Minutes before Congress was set to begin certification of the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021, an aide for U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson told former Vice President Mike Pence’s staff that Johnson wanted to hand-deliver to Pence the fake elector votes from Wisconsin and Michigan.”

• Marquette Law School (POLL): “Sen. Johnson’s favorability rating changed little in June, with 37% viewing him favorably, 46% viewing him unfavorably, and 16% saying they haven’t heard enough about him or don’t know how they felt. In April, 36% were favorable, 46% were unfavorable, and 18% lacked an opinion of Johnson.” :

BEWARE OF SCAMMERS: FRAUD MEHMET OZ ISN’T FOOLING PA VOTERS. New reporting this week  continues to expose Mehmet Oz as the carpetbagging, millionaire  fraud that he is: Axios reported that he’s started scrubbing Trump from his branding, Heartland Signal detailed his extensive vacation home properties outside of Pennsylvania, while an analysis by the Philadelphia Inquirer detailed how Oz lost his “new home county.”  

• Axios: Oz drops Trump branding in general election shift. “After the endorsement, Trump was a near-ubiquitous fixture in Oz’s spots — even a series of six-second issue ads on guns, abortion and energy began with “endorsed by President Trump. … The ad Oz’s campaign ran after winning the Republican nomination didn’t mention or include footage of Trump — a stark departure from the tone of his primary ads.”

• Philadelphia Inquirer: Mehmet Oz moved to Pa. to run for Senate. He won the state but lost his new home county. “In a parochial state where long-standing loyalties and regional pride count for a lot, Oz, who long lived in New Jersey, received an onslaught of criticism for being an out-of-state opportunist.”

• Heartland Signal: Dr. Oz has rental properties in Florida, New York City and Turkey. It’s still not certain where he lives in Pennsylvania. “Other assets that belong to Oz include properties in New Jersey, New Hampshire and Turkey that bring him millions every year. Oz also has millions invested in stocks like Amazon, Apple and Microsoft despite calling the big tech industry a cartel.”

THE FAT CAT’S MEOW – COLORADO LABOR UNIONS CALL OUT O’DEA OVER DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT. A group of labor unions criticized Joe O’Dea in front of Denver-based Concrete Express Inc. They want Coloradans to “know the truth about Joe O’Dea’s business history.”

• KWGN (WATCH): Labor Unions Target Republican Senate Candidate Joe O’ Dea. “You can’t get up and with a straight face, say you’re going to be a champion for working Coloradans and fail to keep your own workers safe. And you can’t say with a straight face that you’re going to stand up for working Coloradans, while you allegedly discriminated against them based on age and disability. We need to work to elect candidates who are going to fight for workers. No way to Joe O’Dea.” 

• Colorado Newsline: Labor groups protest Senate candidate O’Dea’s business over discrimination suit, safety violations. “In a lawsuit filed in 2019, Barbara Johnson, who worked as CEI’s human-resources manager for five years beginning in 2011, alleged that O’Dea and other company executives had reduced her bonuses after a cancer diagnosis and retaliated against her for reporting concerns about age discrimination in personnel decisions. The case was settled under undisclosed terms in 2021.”

• KDVR: Labor union rallies outside candidate O’Dea’s business. “You don’t see Ron Hanks going around trying to be something he is not. He owns the fact that he is anti-union. He owns the fact that he’s anti-worker,’ Dougherty said. ‘We have a candidate who I take issue with, and everybody else takes issue with, up here with saying that he is going to go out and fight for workers. That’s just not the case. As the largest advocacy organization for workers in the state, we take issue with that,” Dougherty said.”

ENDORSEMENT WATCH: NEVADA GOP MAYOR BACKS CORTEZ MASTO. The Republican mayor of Ely, Nevada announced his support for Senator Catherine Cortez Masto’s reelection campaign. Mayor Robertson is a fifth generation Nevadan who highlighted  Cortez Masto;s work fighting fora for rural Nevadans.

• Reno Gazette Journal: GOP mayor of rural Nevada town endorses Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto over Adam Laxalt. “’I am a Republican, but Catherine has earned our support in rural Nevada by blocking new taxes on our mining industry and supporting funding for local infrastructure needs,’ Ely Mayor Nathan Robertson said Tuesday. ‘I know she will continue working hard in the Senate to champion issues important to all rural Nevadans.’”

CHARLOTTE OBSERVER ED-BOARD RIPS BUDD: “SILENCE ISN’T A SIGN OF LEADERSHIP — IT’S A SIGN OF COWARDICE.” The Charlotte Observer Editorial Board Editorial Board is taking Budd to task for his efforts to distract voters from his track record as a serial Big Lie promoter.

• News & Observer (Editorial Board): Trump ally Ted Budd is avoiding Jan. 6 and the election lies he once helped spread. “With democracy itself on the ballot in November, Budd should be frank with voters and tell them where he stands. Does he regret peddling lies and attempting to reject the outcome of a completely legitimate election? Or does he still think that what happened on Jan. 6 was ‘nothing’?”

ICYMI → WASHINGTON EXAMINER: These bad candidates threaten Republican Senate success

JUST THIS WEEK, THANKS TO SENATE DEMOCRATS.

→ Fighting To Lower Prescription Drug Costs. Senator Hassan and Warnock continue to fight to address working families’ most pressing priorities, like lowering prescription drug costs and taking on the big corporations who get rich by keeping prices high.

• WTGS: U.S. Senator Warnock creates bill to cap insulin cost at $35. “U. S. Senator Raphael Warnock is pushing for the Senate to vote and pass a bill that would put make insulin no more than $35 for Georgians.”

• WMUR: Hassan-sponsored bill aims to lower prescription drug costs. “A bill co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire, aims to cut the cost of prescription drugs. Hassan said the bill is a bipartisan effort to bring the costs of generic drugs down and get them on the market faster by making generic drug companies better equipped to compete with bigger companies.”.

IN THE STATES

AZ – Arizona Republic: Biden to ask to pause gas tax, an idea pushed by Sen. Mark Kelly, Rep. Tom O’Halleran. “Arizonans are paying some of the highest prices for gas we have seen in years and it’s putting a strain on families who need to fill up the tank to get to work and school,’ Kelly said at the time when he unveiled his bill. The bills also note that Congress wants consumers to immediately see lower prices from the suspension of the federal tax.”

CO – Colorado Politics: Democrats outpace Republicans, unaffiliated voters in Colorado’s early primary returns. “Democrats are so far returning their ballots at a faster clip than Republicans, who are also slightly lagging participation by unaffiliated voters. That’s despite voters in the GOP primary facing more contested races, including statewide primaries for U.S. senator, governor and secretary of state.’”

FL – Local 10 Miami: ‘Cop on the beat’: Rep. Val Demings challenges Sen. Marco Rubio. “With nearly three decades of law enforcement experience, the Democrat reminded voters that she was the first woman to serve as police chief of the Orlando Police Department. ‘Protect and serve Florida, that is what I have done as a police officer and as chief,” Demings said.”

NV – KTVN: Senator Cortez Masto announces historic pay raises for wildland firefighters. “The senator helped secure over $3.4 billion for wildfire prevention, suppression, and restoration activities in the bipartisan infrastructure bill, including $10 million she authored for wildfire detection equipment. Last year, she also introduced her comprehensive Western Wildfire Support Act to help prevent, respond to, and recover from wildfires.”

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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