MAY MADNESS: GOP Senate Primaries Have “Gone Off The Rails” As Rivals “Spend Millions To Tarnish Each Other” & Trump “Breeds More Chaos”

AP on how NRSC Chair Rick Scott sees May: “A brutal sorting period likely to be dominated by Republican infighting”

As Republicans brace for four Senate primaries in the month of May, news coverage is highlighting how “things have truly gone off the rails” for the GOP as their candidates “spend millions to tarnish each other” and are “going for the jugular” – all while Trump “breeds more chaos” with his endorsements.

The Associated Press reported this morning that even “Sen. Rick Scott, who leads the GOP’s effort to retake the Senate, described the month of May as a brutal sorting period likely to be dominated by Republican infighting.”

See for yourself how the May GOP Senate primaries have been defined by nasty and expensive infighting:

In Ohio (May 3):

• CNN: ‘It’s created a bit of chaos’: How Trump’s involvement is shaking up the Ohio Senate race. “Former President Donald Trump’s endorsement of J.D. Vance in Ohio’s Republican Senate contest has shaken up the race, scrambling alliances and flipping rivals’ strategies in the final days before the May 3 primary.”

• NBC News: Trump’s J.D. Vance endorsement breeds more chaos in Ohio’s GOP Senate primary. “He has shaken up what was already the nation’s most chaotic and expensive Senate race in ways that no one — not Vance, not his supporters or his opponents — expected. Rather than clearing the field or creating a unified front of GOP support for Vance, Trump’s endorsement has escalated the tension and nastiness that from the start have served as the race’s hallmarks.”

• Cincinnati Enquirer: What’s in a Trump endorsement? Ahead of Ohio Senate primary, GOP voters split on candidates. “Interviews with voters across the state – before and after Trump announced his decision – showed an electorate divided over candidates who spent months peppering their televisions with ads before the May 3 primary.”

• CNN: Trump unleashes his temper on GOP allies over Ohio Senate primary split.
  

• Fox News: Half of Trump’s 2016 Ohio RNC delegates call Vance endorsement ‘betrayal,’ ask him to ‘reconsider’

In Pennsylvania (May 17):

• Wall Street Journal: It’s ‘Hollywood Liberal’ vs. ‘Wall Street Insider’ in Pennsylvania Negative-Ad Fight. “‘I’ll tell you one person I’d never vote for is Dave McCormick,’ said Ernest Greer, 74, a retired manufacturing worker in York County. ‘He’s a hedge-fund manager, and I think they ought to do away with hedge-fund managers, myself…They buy businesses, close it down and move jobs overseas.’ Mr. Greer cited ads from the Oz campaign in which Mr. McCormick is shown praising China. ‘His outfit did a lot of business in China…If he was the only choice, I wouldn’t vote for U.S. senator.”’

• Fox News: Following Trump endorsement, Oz and McCormick trade jabs in Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary battle. “The narrator in Oz’s new ad charges that ‘Trump endorsed Dr. Oz for Senate because Trump knows who the real conservative is who’s going to shake up Washington. It’s not David McCormick, the liberal, pro-Biden, pro-China, Wall Street Insider.’”

• The Hill: Trump to hold rally for Oz ahead of Pennsylvania Senate primary. “The intra-party contest between Oz and McCormick has turned contentious with attacks being thrown on a number of subjects including Oz’s dual citizenship with Turkey and McCormick’s business ties with China.”

• Associated Press: Trump endorsement hovers over prime-time GOP Senate debate. “[Oz] accused McCormick of lying about his record and repeating Trump’s suggestion that McCormick is ‘pro-China’ because of McCormick’s former hedge fund’s portfolio that catered to Chinese investors investing in China. ‘Dishonest Dave is at it again,’ Oz said. ‘He went groveling to President Trump with — again — these types of allegations. President Trump saw right through him, did not endorse him, and then he endorsed me.’”

In North Carolina (May 17):

• Associated Press: McCrory, Walker attend last N.C. Senate debate; Budd absent. “The final scheduled debate for North Carolina’s Republican Senate primary featured former Gov. Pat McCrory and ex-U.S. Rep. Mark Walker… criticizing rival Rep. Ted Budd for his absence from another television forum.”

• WGHP: McCrory, Walker talk immigration, medical marijuana, Trump’s endorsement in final debate. “Although Budd (R-Advance) was out of the room, he was far from out of the conversation as both McCrory and Walker hammered him for his absence, for what they said was his lack of courage and for feeling ‘entitled but not qualified’ to be a senator.”

• The Hill: GOP scrambles to unify in divisive North Carolina Senate primary. “Budd is still far from a lock for the GOP Senate nod and still faces at least a… possibility of a primary runoff if he’s unable to breach the 30-percent threshold needed to win the nomination outright.”

• WRAL: $1.5M ad campaign touts Robinson’s backing of Budd; McCrory calls claims ‘total deception’. “The campaign is the latest effort by Club for Growth to influence the outcome… Budd has relied on millions of dollars in outside spending—including $14 million pledged from the group.”

And In Georgia (May 24):

• Fox News: Demolition derby in Georgia as Herschel Walker’s GOP primary rivals slam the Senate front-runner. “His rivals appear to be going for the jugular.”

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: It’s not an ‘autograph tour.’ Herschel Walker’s GOP opponents rip their rival.“The gloves are off in the Republican race for U.S. Senate.”

• The Hill: Herschel Walker GOP opponent rolls out ad, website devoted to abuse allegations.

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