GOP Summer of Chaos: Infighting Continues to Escalate in GOP Senate Primaries

This week, Senate Republicans’ “intraparty rifts that defined the 2022 cycle and contributed to the GOP’s loss[es]” were once again on full display in races across the map. 

• In Montana, new reporting details Tim Sheehy’s “shameless opportunism on climate” after he was caught again trying to rewrite his record on climate change, while his potential primary opponent Matt Rosendale continues to “secure coveted GOP endorsements” from Montana’s top Republican legislators. Rosendale’s endorsements threaten to “ruin GOP plans” to avoid a “brutal GOP primary battle.” In recent interviews, Rosendale has taken swipes at Sheehy, attacking him for being the puppet of “Mitch McConnell and the D.C. cartel.”

• In Ohio, new reports highlighted how Frank LaRose’s primary opponents are ensuring “LaRose’s Issue 1 failure isn’t going away.” Moreno called LaRose’s role in the Issue One campaign “pathetic,” and attacked him for using the election to “build his name ID” and “advance his Senate campaign,” saying “this is what career politicians do. They’re always putting themselves above the greater cause.” LaRose shot back, attacking Matt Dolan for “play[ing] by his own rules … while Ohioans struggle to secure affordable home loans,” citing a new report exposing multimillionaire Dolan for using a “cheap loan” to avoid paying taxes as he funds his Senate campaign. 

• In West Virginia, Alex Mooney leapt on new reports detailing that Jim Justice and his coal companies owe $124,000 in unpaid taxes and are facing $1.3 billion in Virginia fines for violating a deal to clean up oil spills. Mooney called Justice a “deadbeat,” and said “the only thing rising faster than the U.S. debt clock is the Jim Justice debt clock.” Justice is also “drawing fire from the influential conservative group Club For Growth,” which launched a new ad buy in West Virginia that “slams” Justice for his ties to Mitch McConnell and “the Washington ‘swamp.’” This follows previous reporting that West Virginia is a “major front” in the multi-million dollar “looming proxy war” between national Republicans — who are backing Justice — and the Club for Growth — who endorsed Mooney and raised $13.55 million to support Mooney’s campaign.

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