The GOP’s strategy to recruit the wealthy…is creating headaches.
The strategy, as Republican candidates are discovering, comes with real risks: The wealthy often have plentiful baggage opening them up to Democratic attacks, including on their out-of-state homes, rich friends and yearslong business records.
In McCormick’s case, that has meant attacks on the $16 million mansion he rents in Connecticut; his financial ties to Saudi Arabia and China; and his history of outsourcing and laying off workers ― all part of an effort to paint him as an out-of-touch billionaire.
“Republicans’ Senate candidates have enough baggage to fill a bank vault,” said Tommy Garcia, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “Their financial vulnerabilities ― coupled with their numerous other flaws and disqualifying policy positions ― will lead their campaigns to defeat.”
Casey and his allies have shown a particular interest in tying McCormick to the governments of China and Saudi Arabia, two authoritarian regimes McCormick did extensive business with while leading Bridgewater Associates, a massive asset management firm.
“David McCormick’s history of selling out Pennsylvanians to boost his own bottom line has left him entangled with foreign governments like China and Saudi Arabia, and at the beck and call of his billionaire backers,” said TaNisha Cameron, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. “His record of prioritizing the ultra-wealthy and big corporations at the expense of working families is a non-starter with Pennsylvania voters.” McCormick’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Democrats’ plan of attack against other wealthy GOP candidates is similar. Against Sheehy, they plan to note how his family provided money to help get his business off the ground, how his small government rhetoric conflicts with his company’s reliance on federal dollars, and how his roots are outside the state of Montana.
For Bernie Moreno, who has put nearly $4 million into his campaign and is now the front-runner to challenge Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Democrats want to focus on the trappings of his fortune, which is between $25.5 million and $105.5 million, according to financial disclosures. Moreno owns a $2.3 million Aston Martin, a Bahamas home worth at least $5 million and a yacht valued at at least $1 million.
Hovde’s campaign launch on Tuesday showcased the likely back-and-forth. The first major challenger to Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Hovde owns… a bank in California.
“Hovde is an out of touch hedge fund manager who’s built his career catering to millionaires and billionaires,” declared Hannah Menchhoff, a spokeswoman for Senate Majority PAC, the main super PAC backing Senate Democrats.
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