Senate Republicans’ Flawed Candidates on Full Display as GOP Infighting Continues to Escalate

This week, as Senate Republicans’ flawed candidates continued to brawl in “increasingly crowded” and “contested” primaries, their “intraparty rifts” and candidates’ vulnerabilities were once again on full display in races across the map.

• In Arizona, Kari Lake “asked the Arizona Court of Appeals to invalidate the results of the 2022 election and order a revote” on Wednesday. The latest move sparked reporting and commentary from Arizona reporters including KPNX/12 News’ Brahm Resnik and AZ Republic’s Laurie Roberts who noted Kari Lake “bears a remarkable resemblance to the Kari Lake Arizona voters have come to know … and reject, and this development is “just the thing that national Republicans have worried about.” Additionally, new reporting from the Phoenix New Times detailed how Lake has been “campaigning everywhere but the Grand Canyon State.” 

• In Michigan, Peter Meijer slammed Mike Rogers in an interview, saying the biggest difference between them is that he has “more of a record of not just kind of following into a party line” than Rogers, while Rogers dismissed Peter Meijer’s campaign, saying it’s “irrelevant to what we’re trying to do.”
  

• In Montana, Tim Sheehy is again drawing local criticism for his “short sighted” proposal to transfer control of public lands to states and counties, even after “Montanans across the state have already voiced, multiple times, an overwhelming opposition to land transfers.” This follows previous reporting from HuffPost which revealed Sheehy’s toxic stance despite “poll after poll show[ing] that voters in Western states, including Montana, overwhelmingly oppose transferring control or selling off federal lands.”

• In Nevada, GOP candidate Tony Grady accused Sam Brown of being “on the wrong side of history, yet again” for his embrace of Senator Tommy Tuberville’s blockade. Grady attacked Brown for having fundraised “off of putting our military in harm’s way” and for continuing to stand with Tuberville.  

• In Ohio, new reporting details that Frank LaRose is under scrutiny for failing to file his personal financial disclosure form even after he was granted a 90-day extension, which “is particularly notable given a $250,000 personal loan he made to his campaign in September.” Matt Dolan’s campaign attacked LaRose over the issue, saying “LaRose is charged with safeguarding election law, compliance and integrity in Ohio. So there’s that,” and LaRose has responded by “mock[ing] his wealthy opponents…referring to himself as a humble ‘thousandaire.’”
  

• In Wisconsin, new reporting from Heartland Signal revealed that Eric Hovde paid at least $8,000 to have Tucker Carlson come to Wisconsin to “espouse election stealing and anti-abortion rhetoric.” The report highlights Hovde’s history of promoting Tucker Carlson’s conspiracy theories, including Hovde’s endorsement of the “Great Reset” conspiracy.

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