ICYMI: DSCC Chair Sen. Gary Peters Discusses Flawed GOP Senate Recruits Whose “Stories Fall Apart Under Scrutiny” on SiriusXM Radio

As reports continue highlighting that Senate Republicans are “elevating untested candidates who might not be prepared for the scrutiny,” Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Sen. Gary Peters joined SiriusXM’s “The Laura Coates Show” to discuss Republican candidates’ lies about their biographies, vulnerabilities stemming from their finances, tenuous ties to the states they are running in, unvetted policy positions, and other issues of “candidate quality.” 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

SiriusXM: The Laura Coates Show
May 9, 2024

• Laura Coates: You have spoken out about the idea of the quality of Senate candidates when it comes to the GOP.
   
• Sen. Peters: Similar to what we saw last cycle when we were able to win and hold our majority and make history, the same thing is happening again this cycle with deeply flawed Republican candidates running against Democrats who have been there fighting for the people of their state.
   
• Sen. Peters: You just can’t trust these Republicans – what they have said about their biographies has raised a lot of questions, for example, and if they’re lying about that, can you trust them on all of the other things that matter to people? 
   
• Laura Coates: One of the things that there have been accusations about has been this idea of being a carpetbagger. 
   
• Sen. Peters: That seems to be a model of who has been recruited to run for the Senate from the Republican side: they tend to be wealthy folks who bring a lot of money to the campaign, but they don’t have real contact with the state.
   
• Sen. Peters: Senator Tester who’s been a multi-generation farmer and rancher in Montana, running against a guy who recently moved to the state and does not have any context there. Mr. Sheehy talks about being a rancher, but it turns out, he just is a wealthy guy who bought a ranch. And, it’s a dude ranch where people can come and get pictures next to cattle. It’s not the kind of background that people in Montana would consider as a rancher and a local person. 
   
• Sen. Peters: Senator Casey is running against a guy named McCormick who really lives in Connecticut. After he does events in Pennsylvania, he gets on his private jet and flies back to his mansion in Connecticut. 
   
• Sen. Peters: We’ve got folks like Sherrod Brown, who spent a career in Ohio, fighting for the people in his state, particularly working folks to make sure that they have a fair shake in life, running against the guy who has repeatedly had questions about the statements that he has made and whether or not they are real. And in fact, he’s also a guy who owns auto dealerships and refused to pay his employees overtime that they were due.
   
• Sen Peters: What we’re seeing time and time again with the Republican candidates for the US Senate is that their stories fall apart under scrutiny.
   

Listen to the full interview here.

See also: AP: Money isn’t enough to smooth the path for Republican candidates hoping to retake the Senate; Roll Call: Republicans banking on the road less traveled to Senate majority; MSNBC: In Senate races, GOP haunted anew with ‘candidate quality’ issues; DSCC: WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: “Untested” Republican Senate Candidates “Feeling the Heat” Over “Candidate Quality.”

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