April 10, 2020 Press Releases

DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: GOP KEEPS SPECIAL ENROLLMENT CLOSED– DAMAGE DONE TO LOEFFLER’S POLITICAL CAREER–IOWA IN PLAY

16 MILLION NEWLY UNEMPLOYED AMERICANS, BUT GOP STILL WON’T MAKE IT EASIER TO GET HEALTH CARE. A staggering 16 million Americans filed unemployment insurance claims and likely lost their employer-provided care, but the Republicans are still standing by the reckless decision to keep enrollment in the Affordable Care Act’s federal health insurance marketplace closed. It’ll cost them: new polling this week from Morning Consult found that voters disapprove by a massive 20-point margin of Washington Republicans’ stance against reopening the federal exchange for millions of uninsured Americans.

DAMAGE DONE TO LOEFFLER’S POLITICAL CAREER. Unelected “political mega-donor” Senator Kelly Loeffler tried to sweep her stock scandal under the rug – but the damage to her political career is done. Here are the three facts the embattled appointee doesn’t want you to know about her liquidation stunt in response to the “scrutiny” and “uproar”:

1. Under Senate rules, Loeffler will not have to disclose mutual fund transactions as they happen, meaning Georgians won’t know about her financial activity until after the election.

2. Loeffler already personally benefited from her “timely” transactions during a pandemic, including investments in a company that “makes COVID-19 protective garments” and a teleworking software firm.

3. Loeffler still hasn’t explained the arrangement with her portfolio managers and whether she’s ever shared information with them or directed transactions. She also told the Washington Post: “I can’t say anything that I would have done differently.”

Overall, it was another rough week: Majority Leader Mitch McConnell initially declined to say whether he still supports Loeffler, his spokesperson was later forced to clarify. Then last night, White House Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow and another vulnerable unelected senator Martha McSally “slammed U.S. senators who allegedly traded stock before a massive coronavirus outbreak.”

PERDUE’S IN ON IT TOO! Another Atlanta Journal-Constitution report found Georgia’s other senator also made a series of well-timed stock trades as “the markets took a turn for the worse” and Georgia unemployment claims skyrocketed. Here’s what they found:

The “heavy trading” was a “nearly threefold” increase in his stock activity compared to the previous 13-month period.

On the same day as the private coronavirus briefing, he purchased stock in a company that “makes COVID-19 protective garments.”

Perdue also bought stock in Netflix, as millions of Americans have been stuck at home under shelter-in-place orders, and sold off shares in Caesars Entertainment while the casino industry has suffered major losses amid the pandemic.

SENATE REPUBLICANS WON’T STAND UP TO TRUMP FOR REMOVING INDEPENDENT WATCHDOG. Most GOP senators haven’t stood up to the President for removing the independent Inspector General tasked with overseeing the $2 trillion coronavirus relief fund. When asked about the issue in an interview this week, spineless Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said: “I’m going to leave it up to the President to make the decisions about the staff.”

REPUBLICANS ON DEFENSE AS DEMOCRATS TARGET IOWA. A new report from The Hill this week shows that Joni Ernst’s reelection chances are no longer “as rock solid as they once appeared to be.” Here’s how Democrats have forced the GOP to defend another vulnerable incumbent:

Democratic candidate Theresa Greenfield “has largely kept pace with Ernst in fundraising and narrowly surpassed her in the second half of 2019.”

A Des Moines Register–Mediacom Iowa poll shows that Ernst’s approval rating has dropped 10 points from where it was a year ago.

The nonpartisan Cook Political report has shifted the race towards the Democrats.

As a result, Mitch McConnell’s super PAC Senate Leadership Fund was forced to book more than $12 million in fall television ads in Iowa, making Iowa the PAC’s second largest investment, an indication that Washington Republicans are increasingly worried about the race.

“GARDNER THANKS TRUMP FOR PROVIDING JUST 20% OF VENTILATORS REQUESTED FOR COLORADO.” That’s the headline on the Colorado Times Recorder report detailing the craven political games Senator Gardner and President Trump played with lifesaving medical equipment. After FEMA interfered in Colorado’s purchase of 500 ventilators, President Trump announced that the state would receive 100 — thanks to Senator Gardner — even though the Democratic governor’s requests to FEMA had been ignored. The Denver Post editorial board summed it up as a “gross display” and “disgusting political game.”

HICKENLOOPER: TIME FOR NATIONAL VOTE BY MAIL. As Wisconsin voters were forced to ignore the advice of public health officials to cast their ballots this week, former Governor John Hickenlooper wrote in the Washington Post about Colorado’s success in implementing vote by mail, which has increased voter participation and made it less expensive for local officials to administer elections. Read it here.

IN THE STATES

AZ – Arizona Republic (Opinion): Laurie Roberts: Sen. Martha McSally has quarantined herself in Trump’s pocket

CO – Colorado Politics: Election forecaster moves Colorado’s US Senate race to ’tilts Democratic’

IA – Ames Tribune: Greenfield talks agriculture, Ernst’s vulnerability virtual town hall with Scholten

ME – Portland Press Herald (Op-Ed): Sara Gideon: Maine’s health care workers need protective equipment, federal action now

ME – Bangor Daily News (Op-Ed): Mainers helping one another ensures we’ll get through the coronavirus pandemic

MT – The Missoulian (Op-Ed): Daines gets dinged for dishonesty

NC – News & Observer: Cal Cunningham: COVID-19 underscores a rural NC need

NC – ABC 11: North Carolina Democrats resurface Sen. Thom Tillis’ 2015 comments against hand-washing requirements as COVID-19 concerns grow

SC – ABC News 4: Jaime Harrison to host virtual mental health town hall on Wednesday

TWEET OF THE WEEK