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New: Republican Groups Distance Themselves From Loeffler As Stock Selloff Scandal Spirals

Loeffler’s Scandal “Looks Really Bad,” Inflames “Ugly Fight” Within GOP for Senate Seat

Unelected “political mega-donor” Senator Kelly Loeffler continues to face fallout from her stock trade scandal as more Republicans distance themselves from her indefensible stock selloff in the midst of a crisis. A new report from McClatchy today shows that deep-pocketed Republican groups who have already pledged millions to beat back an intraparty challenge from top Trump ally Congressman Doug Collins are now “turning their attention elsewhere at a pivotal moment in [Loeffler’s] campaign.”

Mitch McConnell’s super PAC Senate Leadership Fund has “no current plans” to keep spending for Loeffler on Georgia airwaves, but this week announced a $67 million ad buy in several states where they’re playing defense — except Georgia. The conservative Club For Growth, which had pledged millions to attack Collins and boost Loeffler “signaled this week that it could hold off on making further investments in the Georgia race.” And the chairman of the American Conservative Union, which earlier this year snubbed Senator Loeffler and instead invited Congressman Collins to speak at its annual CPAC gathering, told McClatchy that “voters will seriously have to wrestle with” whether or not Loeffler’s suspiciously timed transactions were “the right thing to do.”

This comes at the end of a rough week for Senator Loeffler, with her erupting scandal leading to bipartisan backlash, calls for investigations, and concerns about down-ticket damage from Georgia Republicans as the GOP’s decision to appoint Loeffler is looking more and more like a “major strategic miscalculation for Republicans.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

McClatchy: Georgia senator’s stock sales could cause trouble for Republicans in special election

By Francesca Chambers and Emma Dumain

Key Points:

  • U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler was initially the favorite to win a special election in Georgia for the seat she was appointed to in December, having consolidated the support of powerful Republicans and conservative groups.
  • A challenge from Georgia Rep. Doug Collins was met with disdain from the national party establishment that sought to frame the four-term congressman and former member of House Republican leadership as an insurgent disrupter who would spoil the election for the GOP.
  • However, the revelation last week that Loeffler sold more than $1 million in stocks after she attended a Jan. 24 congressional briefing on the coronavirus has given Collins an unexpected opening. 
  • If the contest between the two Republican lawmakers becomes more competitive, it would mean a bigger headache for the GOP establishment that has worked hard to give Loeffler the edge after failing to push Collins out of the race.
  • Republicans in Washington fear that an ugly fight between Loeffler and Collins could cause the party to lose the Senate seat in a special election in November, in which Republicans and Democrats will compete against each other on a single ballot. 
  • And should it come down to a Republican and a Democrat, a run-off election would pose a significant risk for the GOP given that Democratic groups see Georgia as a top target this election year and would pour extensive resources into winning there.
  • Whether Collins can gain new momentum and sustain it through to the November election will depend on Loeffler’s ability to explain the stock sale and Collins’ ability to make his attacks resonate, political operatives told McClatchy.
  • American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp told McClatchy this week that the accusations against Loeffler are “very relevant” and something that “voters will seriously have to wrestle with” in the months ahead.
  • “She has to make her case that what she did was above board,” Schlapp said. “It’s not just whether or not it was legal, it was whether or not it was the right thing to do.”  
  • But government watchdogs are calling for an investigation and questioning whether Loeffler used nonpublic information about the coronavirus to inform her financial decisions in the days before the public was aware of the severity of the crisis, which grew into a pandemic. Those groups argue that Loeffler does not have her stocks in a blind trust and has not offered proof that she was unaware of the sale.
  • The situation “looks really bad” for Loeffler, said University of West Georgia political science chair Chapman Rackaway.  
  • CREW last week filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee about Loeffler and Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., who is facing similar fallout after selling stocks following the closed-door coronavirus briefing. 
  • As Loeffler’s detractors amp up their efforts, supporters who have run ads on her behalf in the past are now turning their attention elsewhere at a pivotal moment in her campaign. 
  • The Senate Leadership Fund, however, has no current plans to renew anti-Collins, pro-Loeffler spending on advertisements. The super PAC’s initial ad buy was largely intended to force Collins out of the race before the filing deadline, and it expired roughly one week before the revelations about Loeffler’s stock sale. Now, the group is prioritizing spending on other key races across the country where the GOP worries incumbent senators will lose to Democrats.
  • The Club for Growth, which advocates for fiscal conservatism, also signaled this week that it could hold off on making further investments in the Georgia race.
  • Earlier this year, the group said it would spend $3 million on ads that directly attacked Collins’ voting record. A Club for Growth spokesman said the group bought online ads on conservative news sites such as Breitbart, Fox News, Townhall, Hot Air, Red State and on the streaming service Hulu.
  • Reached by text message on Monday, spokesman Joe Kildea reiterated that Club for Growth has not made an endorsement, and does not plan to, in the Georgia senate race.
  • Some Republicans are still holding out hope that Trump will resolve the intraparty drama.
  • The White House declined to comment.

Read the full story here.

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