January 21, 2022 Press Releases

DSCC FRIDAY TAKEAWAYS: ONE-YEAR OF DEM MAJORITY DELIVERING – WHAT IS HERSCHEL HIDING? – PA GOP SENATE CANDIDATES “TRADE SHOTS OVER CHINA” & NASTY NC GOP PRIMARY GETS LONGER

ONE YEAR OF DEM SENATE MAJORITY DELIVERING. A 3,000% increase in vaccinations; a record 6.4 million jobs added to the U.S. economy; lowering costs like health care; infrastructure investments that will grow millions of good paying jobs – and much more. Senate Democrats will continue to deliver:

DSCC CHAIRMAN SEN. GARY PETERS:

“One year into our Senate Majority, Democrats are keeping our promises and addressing Americans’ most pressing priorities: delivering vaccines to get Americans back to work safely, lowering costs like health care, cutting taxes for working families, and growing millions of good-paying jobs by rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure. Unlike Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans, who used their time in charge to push the agenda of big corporations and the wealthiest few, we are focused on helping working families get ahead – and that’s exactly why Democrats will protect and expand our Senate Majority in 2022.”

HIDING HERSCHEL – AJC REPORTS WALKER GIVING “LUCRATIVE” SPEECHES “BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.” New reporting from The Atlanta-Journal Constitution revealed that Herschel Walker “has spurned press conferences, avoided media interviews and held only a handful of public events… But he’s kept a busy slate of lucrative paid speaking engagements behind closed doors.”

Key points from the article:

“Walker has spurned press conferences, avoided media interviews and held only a handful of public events since launching his U.S. Senate campaign. But he’s kept a busy slate of lucrative paid speaking engagements behind closed doors even after he entered the race.”

An AJC review of his personal financial disclosure showed the former football star collected $415,000 for paid speeches between July 2020 and December 2021, including about $172,000 from six appearances since he announced his campaign in August.

Walker’s appearance at a Cobb County GOP event in November left some attendees scratching their heads. “He came in through the back door, gave a short talk about his football career and how he met Trump,” said Paul Brower, an east Cobb real estate agent and GOP volunteer. “He didn’t really say what he stood for, and then he zipped out the back door. I was stunned.”

“Herschel Walker needs to tell Georgians what he’s saying to get paid at closed-door events across the country,” said Dan Gottlieb of the Democratic Party of Georgia.

“A NAME NOT SUITABLE FOR A FAMILY NEWSLETTER.” Republican infighting continued this week in Georgia as Gary Black’s campaign went after Walker for “conduct unbecoming of a candidate for elected office” and said that nominating Walker would be “handing the Senate to the Democrats.”

KEYSTONE CHAOS: PA GOP SENATE CANDIDATES CONTINUE TO “TRADE SHOTS OVER CHINA.” New reporting from Fox News this week highlighted how Pennsylvania’s “crowded and combustible” GOP Senate primary continues to get nastier, as out-of-state candidates David McCormick and Mehmet Oz “trade shots over China.” The chaotic primary is already seeing millions in spending on attack ads:

Fox News: Dr. Oz and McCormick trade shots over China as Pennsylvania GOP Senate battle fires up. “As former hedge fund executive David McCormick jumped into the increasingly crowded and combustible Republican Senate primary in Pennsylvania, his former hedge fund’s considerable investments in China instantly came under scrutiny from one of his top rivals… American Leadership Action, a super PAC supporting well-known celebrity physician Mehmet Oz, fired up ads claiming ‘David McCormick, he’s a friend — of China, with a long record of selling us out.’”

→ Read the latest on the chaotic primary from the PA Dems HERE

COP CALLS OUT LAXALT – “VERY APPALLED” BY FUNDRAISING OFF OF BIG LIE. Former executive director of Nevada’s law enforcement union Rick McCann is “calling out” Adam Laxalt for campaigning on the Big Lie and unfounded claims of voter fraud. McCann said that the election lies that Laxalt and other Republicans continue to push are what led to the Jan. 6th insurrection which injured several police officers.

KLAS: Former head of Nevada law enforcement union slams Laxalt for fundraising off voter fraud claims. “‘When you’re using a situation that has become the catalyst for death and destruction for law enforcement, which I have represented for decades, I take umbrage to that,’ McCann said. ‘I get very appalled when I see that.’”

NH UNION LEADER: UNDERWHELMING FIELD JOCKEYS TO UNSEAT HASSAN (OP-ED).

SULLIVAN: “It is a weak field, and each candidate has significant flaws. If this is the final group of primary candidates, Republicans may find themselves on the wrong side of an enthusiasm gap.”

NASTY NORTH CAROLINA GOP PRIMARY SET TO BECOME “LONGER & LONGER & LONGER.” The Charlotte Observer reported this week that the NC legislature is preparing to push the primary election date back even further into June as the Republican candidates continue “slugging [it] out” in the contested primary. It’s a stark contrast from Democrat Cheri Beasley’s campaign, which “gains momentum after [Gov. Roy] Cooper endorsement.” Read more about the nasty NC GOP infighting from the NCDP here.

DESERT DISASTER FALLOUT: TRUMP’S AZ RALLY ESCALATES CHAOTIC GOP SENATE PRIMARY. As Trump touched down in Arizona this past weekend, a wave of news coverage highlighted how he is escalating the chaos in the AZ Republican Senate primary and in GOP primaries across the Senate battlegrounds – and how Republicans are warning they “risked nominating fringe candidates who would go on to lose in the general.” See for yourself:

CBS: Trump holds first 2022 rally in Arizona as heated GOP Senate primary is underway. “Trump is ‘creating chaos’ in the Republican primaries, ‘elevating deeply flawed GOP candidates, escalating Republicans’ infighting, and forcing their candidates to attack each other over who can suck up to Trump the most,’ said Jazmin Vargas, a spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.”

Associated Press: Some in GOP begin testing party’s lockstep loyalty to Trump. “Barbara Comstock, a Trump critic and former GOP congresswoman from Virginia, warned Republicans risked nominating fringe candidates who would go on to lose in the general.”

The Hill: Trump to make election claims center stage in Arizona. “Trump’s first rally of the midterm year also comes as the Republican Senate primary field in Arizona heats up… a super PAC backing GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters, Saving Arizona PAC, rolled out an ad last year hitting state Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R), who is also running in the primary, for not touting Trump’s election fraud claims enough.”

“IT’S A WILD RIDE.” CATCH UP QUICK ON THE BUCKEYE BRAWL. From the OH Dems: “What They’re Saying: GOP #OHSEN Primary Chaotic, Expensive and Extreme.”

DSCC STATEMENT: GOP SENATE CHOOSES SELF-SERVING AGENDA OVER DEMOCRACY. “By refusing to even debate common sense proposals that will protect Americans’ right to vote and crack down on corruption, Senate Republicans have sent a clear message: they are standing with those who are attacking the fundamental principles of our democracy for the sake of their own self-serving political agenda.“

JUST THIS WEEK, THANKS TO SENATE DEMOCRATS:

→ THERE AIN’T NO RIVER WIDE ENOUGH (to keep Senate Democrats from delivering investments for America’s ports and waterways). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced $14 billion in funding to strengthen our supply chains, lower costs on goods, and grow good paying jobs – all thanks to Senate Democrats’ Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Read more here.

IN THE STATES:

AZ – Arizona Republic: ‘Kind of a centrist but very pragmatic’: After year in Senate, Mark Kelly touts microchips bill, infrastructure, COVID-19 aid. “Kelly used his influence to direct funds to improve Western water systems, ports of entry at the U.S.-Mexico border, wildfire prevention, and upgrades to power grids, which could mean for consumers fewer blackouts, cheaper energy costs and a cleaner environment.”

CO – Colorado Times Recorder: After Falsely Stating Trump Won Prez Election, CO Senate Hopeful Wins Vote at GOP Forum. “In an informal straw poll taken at the Palmer Ridge High School auditorium Saturday, Republicans picked state Rep. Ron Hanks (R-Canon City) as their choice… for U.S. Senate… Hanks points to baseless evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election.”

FL – Tampa Bay Times (Opinion): The expanded Child Tax Credit is a lifeline for working families. “But when I checked my bank account on Jan. 15, that payment wasn’t showing up. That’s because Republicans like Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott are blocking the continuation of this life-changing program for working families across Florida.”

NV – Las Vegas Sun (Opinion): Bipartisan infrastructure bill a big win for Nevadans. “Thanks to Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., the infrastructure bill will help address many of the greatest crises facing our state, from drought to wildfires. She made sure the deal included her bill to fund water-recycling projects in Nevada, which could include a project to help us combat drought and provide water for more than 500,000 households in the region.”

NH – CNN: Here’s why a top GOP recruit didn’t want any part of the Senate. “Sununu said of the Senate Republicans he had talked with: ’They were all, for the most part, content with the speed at which they weren’t doing anything. It was very clear that we just have to hold the line for two years. OK, so I’m just going to be a roadblock for two years. That’s not what I do.’”

PA – Pittsburgh Post Gazette (Opinion): We’re looking at 10 months of TV ads from the Land of Oz. “He’s already burned millions, and we’re still four months out from the primaries. It’s going to cost him a party-sized fortune to convince Pennsylvanians he has anything other than a passing interest in their state.”

WI – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson blames LBJ and Great Society for high percentage of out-of-wedlock births. “The state’s most polarizing politician is already back to offering his often wild and controversial take on things in 2022. Johnson — who last year advised using mouthwash to combat COVID-19 and labeled Social Security a Ponzi scheme — has already roped God into his bizarre take on vaccines and again questioned the seriousness of last year’s Capitol riot. Now he’s taking on a new topic: out-of-wedlock births.”

TWEET OF THE WEEK: