SENATE REPUBLICANS LEAVE FOR VACATION AFTER FAILING TO EXTEND RELIEF. Senate Republicans are taking a month-long vacation after creating “an urgent crisis” for millions of families by blocking emergency unemployment relief. Despite reports that revealed how millions of Americans will have “a very difficult time meeting basic needs,” including providing food and shelter for their families, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his caucus wasted months and refused to take action to extend emergency unemployment relief, which ran out at the end of July. President Trump made matters worse with executive orders that threaten Social Security and Medicare funding, will “create confusion” and “are rife with so much complexity and legal murkiness that they’re unlikely…to bring fast relief — if any.” What’s clear from this week is that Senate Republicans are failing hardworking families across the country.
GOP DELIBERATELY UNDERCUTS POSTAL SERVICE. Republicans are blocking emergency funding to the U.S. Postal Service, delaying prescription drug deliveries and hurting small businesses, all because President Trump wants to make it more difficult to process mail ballots in the November election. Senate Republicans are allowing the White House to put the integrity of our election at risk, and they’re hurting millions of Americans across the country in the process. While Democrats have prioritized USPS funding, Senate Republicans refuse to stand up to the president’s political games that are causing critical mail delays across the country and threaten Americans’ ability to vote safely in this election.
TRUMP THREATENS GOP SENATORS: EMBRACE ME OR YOU WILL LOSE. Mitch McConnell has signaled to his vulnerable GOP incumbents that they should “distance from Trump if necessary” — but the president is singing a very different tune. Earlier this week, President Trump told Republicans facing tough races that any GOP senator who doesn’t “embrace him will ‘lose their elections.’” Trump said on Fox News: “We have a couple of people that aren’t as supportive of Trump as they should be, and those people are going to lose their elections… you have a few people that want to be cute, and those people are going to lose their elections.” The Hill: Trump: GOP senators who don’t embrace him will ‘lose their elections’
“DEMOCRATS HAVE AN EDGE” AS GOP GROUPS “RETRENCH” FURTHER ON DEFENSE. Another piece of evidence that Republicans are getting increasingly worried about holding on to their Senate majority? A POLITICO report that reveals that Republican outside groups are pouring more than $100 million – “nearly all of its Senate war chest” – into paid media to defend eight senators, “all but abandoning new offensive investments in Democratic-held seats.” We wrote about how Republican outside groups had spent nearly all of the resources on defense this cycle, and that posture is getting more defensive in the final three months of the election. The New York Times also took a closer look at how our primary endorsement strategy has put more seats in play and given Democrats “a solid chance to take control of the Senate next year.”
GARDNER RUNNING PRO-TRUMP FACEBOOK AD — EXCEPT IN COLORADO. A new HuffPost report reveals that Senator Cory Gardner is running Facebook ads touting his close relationship with President Trump across the country – except in the one state he’s running in. Senator Gardner’s deliberate attempt to deceive Coloradans about his relationship with the increasingly unpopular president is notable considering that “every other Facebook ad Gardner is running is being seen in Colorado.” Unfortunately for the vulnerable incumbent, Coloradans will see right through his desperate ploys – Gardner has shown no daylight between himself and Trump, and he “doesn’t go out of his way to forcefully denounce the president.” HuffPost: Cory Gardner Runs Pro-Trump Facebook Ad Being Seen Everywhere — Except In Colorado
JON OSSOFF RELEASES NEW HEALTH CARE PLAN TO LOWER COSTS FOR GEORGIANS. Jon Ossoff unveiled his health care plan today to help ensure affordable, accessible health care for all Georgians. The plan includes steps to crack down on price gouging by insurance companies, expand Medicaid to make insurance affordable for all, and create a public option that is universally affordable and accessible. Read more about the plan here. Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Senate: Ossoff’s healthcare policy features ‘public option’ plan
REVEREND WARNOCK JOINS CROOKED MEDIA PODCAST TO DISCUSS HIS FAITH & CAMPAIGN. Reverend Raphael Warnock joined Crooked Media for a podcast conversation this week where he discussed how faith informs his politics and the growing momentum around his campaign. The discussion comes as Warnock has emerged as the candidate ready to meet the moment in Georgia’s special election and his candidacy presents the opportunity to become “a political disaster for Republicans and a boon for Democrats.” Listen to Warnock’s conversation here.
NEW POLLS SPELL BAD NEWS FOR REPUBLICANS IN #GASEN, #KSSEN, #MESEN, #MSSEN. A series of polls released this week showed how strong Democratic challengers are performing across the map, as weak Reppublican incumbents and candidates struggle.
DEM CHALLENGERS CONTINUE TO ANNOUNCE EYE-POPPING FUNDRAISING NUMBERS. Democratic candidates are continuing to announce stunning July fundraising numbers, following a monster Q2 where 13 Democratic challengers outraised their vulnerable Republican opponents.
DSCC POSTS BEST ONLINE FUNDRAISING DAY *EVER* — THREE DAYS IN A ROW. Need more evidence that grassroots donors are fired up to elect a Democratic Senate? The DSCC had its best online fundraising day ever on Tuesday — and then we beat our own record on Wednesday, and then we beat it again on Thursday. The surge of enthusiasm from our grassroots supporters delivering our strongest daily online fundraising totals in committee history three days in a row this week is the latest example of how small-dollar donors are fueling our resource advantage across the Senate map this cycle.
#AZSEN LIKELY TO HINGE ON MARICOPA COUNTY’S SUBURBAN VOTERS (AGAIN). A report this week in the Arizona Republic put it bluntly for unelected Senator Martha McSally: “if 2018 was treacherous for Republican Senate candidate Martha McSally, 2020 could be even more so.” The Arizona Senate race looks likely to “come down to a growing Democratic electorate” as well as “the suburbs of Maricopa County — the voters who split their ballots in 2018 between Republican candidates and Democratic candidates” and already rejected McSally in 2018. Nonpartisan election analyst Larry Sabato says McSally “is in trouble” as she faces “an excellent candidate” in retired NASA astronaut and Navy combat veteran Mark Kelly.
ROGER MARSHALL PLAGIARIZES “ECONOMIC PLAN” FROM SENATOR EMBROILED IN STOCK TRADING SCANDAL. We were right when we said Congressman Roger Marshall is stumbling into the general election. This week, the self-serving Washington politician was caught plagiarizing economic plans from scandal-plagued Senator Kelly Loeffler, and his campaign’s blatant copy-paste job made the Kansas City Star front page. It’s just the latest sign that Republicans have their work cut out for them in this race, as Mitch McConnell’s dark money group dumps $4.2 million and counting onto Kansas airwaves to try to bail out Marshall’s weak campaign.
“CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SOUGHT” INTO MESSNER’S CHARITY FRAUD. After a Washington Post fact check found that New Hampshire Senate candidate “Colorado” Corky Messner lied about his foundation scam that claimed to help low-income students, a former chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court requested a criminal investigation into the charity fraud this week. Messner has touted the “Messner Foundation” on the campaign trail in New Hampshire, claiming he funded it himself to provide students in need with scholarships to obtain higher education. However, there are no records of Messner ever personally contributing to the Messner Foundation and, even worse, it has provided almost no underprivileged students with scholarships.
IN THE STATES
AL – Alabama Political Reporter: Jones hosts roundtable with minority business owners, entrepreneurs
CO – E&E News: Gardner campaigns on conservation but skirts wilderness bill
GA – Gwinnett Daily News: Union workers protest Loeffler over unemployment benefits in Atlanta
IA – KTIV: Theresa Greenfield visits Siouxland farmer to discuss her plans if elected to Senate
IA – Iowa Starting Line: How Joni Ernst’s ‘Make ‘Em Squeal’ Pledge Holds Up 6 Years Later
GA – Washington Post: A confluence of events has created a moment for a Georgia pastor to take a Senate seat away from warring Republicans
ME – Portland Press Herald: Our View: Sen. Collins, fellow Republicans need to get serious on COVID bill
ME – USA Today: ‘The political challenge of her life’: Maine Sen. Susan Collins trailing in bid for 5th term, polls find
MI – Michigan Radio: Senator Gary Peters investigating delays in mail delivery
MS – Mississippi Today: Mike Espy campaign poll shows he’s within 5 points of Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith
MT – AP: Montana allocates $50M to bolster child care amid pandemic
NC – WLOS: One-on-one with Cal Cunningham: From UNC Chapel Hill graduate to U.S. Senate candidate
SC – Charleston Post & Courier: What You Missed: Polls show Graham, Harrison locked in tight Senate race
SC – POLITICO Magazine: Is Lindsey Graham Actually in Trouble in South Carolina?
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Stewart Boss
Helen Kalla
Shea Necheles
Regina Anderson
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