American Bridge 21st Century Weekly Recap: August 14, 2023
Our top moments of the week
Let’s be Frank … the GOP is a mess. Republican candidates (looking at you, LaRose) keep backing extreme abortion bans — and losing elections.
Here are our biggest moments of the week:
1. Frank LaRose: The Losing Face of Issue 1
Ohio Secretary of State and candidate for U.S. Senate Frank LaRose made himself “the face” of Issue 1, putting in “sweat equity” to support the measure that failed by 14 points. When the writing was on the wall, LaRose tried “to spread the blame in the event of a defeat” by saying his primary opponents didn’t do enough to help the “Yes on Issue 1” campaign (as a reminder, Bernie Moreno donated his own money to support the initiative and Matt Dolan voted for Issue 1 in the Ohio legislature).
LaRose faced “scrutiny — on the right and the left — for emphasizing the abortion angle” on Tuesday’s vote. At a fundraiser, LaRose said Issue 1 was “100%” about abortion. As one Ohio GOP Senate operative put it, “If the issue fails, LaRose will have spent the vital early days of his campaign as the face of a losing effort and he will be open to criticism from the already-skeptical conservative base.”
2. Messy GOP Senate Primaries are on Full Display
After sitting out primaries under Rick Scott’s leadership, Steven Daines and the “new” NRSC are going “all-out to avoid another Senate primary mess”…but it’s not working. The messy primaries will leave the handpicked, so-called star candidates battered and broke before costly general elections. So grab your popcorn and check out the chaotic state of the GOP:
Montana
“Top Republicans went all out to avoid a contentious primary in Montana’s Senate race by urging GOP Rep. Matt Rosendale to stay in the House. It’s not working. Rosendale, who lost a Senate bid in 2018, is moving closer toward another statewide run, hiring a well-connected fundraiser and working to lock up support from top conservatives.”
Nevada
“While Senate Republicans landed their top recruit to take on Rosen — retired Army Capt. Sam Brown — that has not dissuaded several other GOP candidates from throwing their hat in the ring, with two doing so this week: Jeff Gunter, the former U.S. ambassador to Iceland, and retired Air Force Lt. Col. Tony Grady, who lost a primary bid for lieutenant governor in 2022. Former Nevada Secretary of State candidate Jim Marchant launched his campaign in May. The growing number of candidates is complicating Senate Republicans’ efforts to avoid a messy GOP primary that would risk leaving the eventual nominee bruised going into next fall.”
Ohio
“A car dealership guru. A state legislator whose family owns the Cleveland Guardians. An active Secretary of State. All of them have all hopped into Ohio’s Senate Republican primary, and a campaign brawl is brewing…But with no outright insider-favorite, and polls showing a plurality of undecided voters, it’s a free-for-all. And with a free-for-all, the candidates aren’t wasting time trying to knock each other out.”
West Virginia
“But any hope of Mooney exiting quietly is now meeting reality. And surprisingly, the 52-year-old Freedom Caucus stalwart argues he should have been the party’s guy all along…Which makes Mooney a major obstacle to his own party leaders, with backing from pugnacious conservative groups and senators. If he manages to catch fire, he could force the GOP to spend money on a race that party leaders think could be a cakewalk with Justice as the nominee. “There is no scenario by which I won’t be on the ballot on May 14,” Mooney vowed, referring to the date of the state’s GOP primary.”
3. Frank Edelblut Recommends Unaccredited PragerU Course
According to a new report from the Boston Globe, current New Hampshire Education Commissioner and potential gubernatorial candidate Frank Edelblut is pushing unaccredited Prager University Foundation (PragerU) courses.
“PragerU isn’t an accredited school. It’s a conservative platform that was co-founded by talk show host Dennis Prager to offer ‘a free alternative to the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media, and education,’ with persuasion as a core component of its mission.”
Edelbut is following the lead of Governor Ron DeSantis, whose education department recently approved PragerU as a supplemental curriculum provider.
4. AB21 President Pat Dennis On Trump vs. Biden Rematch
Last week, American Bridge President Pat Dennis discussed Donald Trump’s revamped campaign team and the potential rematch with President Biden next November:
“Looking back at 2020, we do have a playbook that works against the guy. But you can’t rest on your laurels about it,” said Pat Dennis, president of American Bridge 21st Century, a top Dem super PAC. “For us, it is: We know how to beat this guy. Let’s beat him again. Let’s take him extremely seriously. Do not underestimate him for a second.”
