WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee said Tuesday that his top priority in November is defending incumbent senators in tough races — placing Jon Tester of Montana and Sherrod Brown of Ohio at the top of his list of fundraising candidates.
Gary Peters, a U.S. senator from Michigan, said he saw some opportunities for Democrats to also pick up seats, though he stressed the campaigns were too close to predict at this point.
“My number one priority, frankly, is to get all the incumbents back,” Peters said. “But we also want to go on the offensive, and the offensive is going to be very important. And right now, our focus is on Texas and Florida.”
Peters said Democrats have seen positive trends in polls in those two states over the past few weeks, which could raise the likelihood they will flip from red to blue.
Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz faces a challenge from Democratic Rep. Colin Allred, and Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott is running against former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
According to Peters, continued gains in Democratic support in those two states could impact how much money Democrats spend on those campaigns.
“When making decisions about resources, we play to win,” he said. “And when we see opportunities like Texas, we will invest accordingly.”
Cook Political Report with Amy Walter rates Senate campaigns in Michigan, Montana and Ohio are “upside down” races, while Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are in the “Democratic leaning” category.
All seven seats are currently held by Democrats, making the map an extremely challenging challenge for Peters.
Florida and Texas fall into the “likely Republican” category, meaning the Democrats’ chances are rather slim, though not completely out of reach.
Peters said during a panel interview with the Regional Reporters Association at the DSCC headquarters in Washington that he believes the GOP Senate candidates range from “flawed to very flawed,” potentially improving the Democrats’ chances.
In Montana defending Tester
Peters argued that in Montana, the temperament of Republican Party candidate Tim Sheehy is one reason Tester falls within the margin of error in the expansive majority of polls, even though voters favor the GOP presidential candidate by double digits.
“Sheehy’s list of flaws is long,” Peters said. “And that’s why people in Montana are rejecting him, even in a state that will vote en masse for Donald Trump.”
Peters said some of Sheehy’s problems stem from calling himself a farmer even though I live on a “dude ranch” and owning a business or “money leakage”.
Because of Montana’s relatively diminutive population, personal conversations with voters and a candidate’s reputation can have a significant impact on the outcome of a campaign, Peters said.
“Retail policy can make a huge difference,” Peter said. “Think about Maine with Susan Collins when she won. That’s because it’s a small state. Retail policy makes a difference. People knew Susan Collins.”
Collins, a Republican, defeated her Democratic rival in 2020 despite being considered one of the most vulnerable senators that year.
Tester has similar ties to Montana voters, potentially giving him an advantage over Sheehy, who came to the state relatively recently, he said.
“People know Jon Tester in Montana,” Peters said. “He’s a lifelong Montana resident, a third-generation farmer. His roots are there. He’s had the opportunity to get to know a lot of people in Montana on a personal level. He can do that in a much more effective way than I can in Michigan, where there are 10 million people.”
Montana Republican Senator Steve Daines, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said: this summer during a panel interview with RRA reporters that his home state offers the Republican Party the best chance to recruit up-to-date members.
And just last week, the Sabato Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics moved Montana from the “uncertain” category to the “Republican-leaning” category.
“As a result of this rating change, there are now 51 Senate seats rated as safe, probable or Republican-leaning, solidifying Republicans as the clear favorites in the fight for control of the Senate in November,” wrote Kyle Kondik, the publication’s managing editor.
Kondik later emphasized that “Montana is a tough state to poll, and both parties remain heavily engaged there.”
Shortly after the ratings change, NRSC spokeswoman Maggie Abboud released a written statement criticizing Tester, saying he was the wrong person to represent Montana in the Senate.
“Jon Tester is a die-hard liberal who hates Donald Trump and votes for the Harris-Biden agenda 95 percent of the time,” Abboud wrote. “That’s why poll after poll shows him rapidly losing ground to Tim Sheehy. Montanans are no longer buying Tester’s moderate ploys.”
“Candidate Quality” in Ohio
In Ohio, where Brown is hoping to secure re-election against Republican candidate Bernie Moreno, the DSCC is counting on getting ahead of the swing to Republicans because of the “quality of candidates.”
“Sherrod was able to win the state election because of the kind of person he is, and that’s very important,” Peters said, noting that voters often view Senate elections differently than presidential elections.
Moreno is a flawed candidate and a fraud, Peters said.
“The stories that he has, stories about coming to Ohio and starting a business as an immigrant with no means, turned out to be false. That he actually comes from a family, one of the wealthiest families in Columbia,” Peters said, referring to article in the New York Times that Moreno has overthrown.
Moreno also was sued by workers at his car dealership for failing to pay overtime, a “pretty stark contrast” to Brown, who supported unions throughout his career, Peters said.
The DSCC is “investing significant resources in Ohio” to support Brown win, he said.
Around the battlefields
In other battleground states, the race will likely go down to the final minute, with many Democrats expected to be neck and neck with their Republican rivals until the polls close.
Peters said this should come as no surprise to anyone who followed the events of the last election.
“Just because you have a really good candidate doesn’t mean you win,” he said. “You also have to run a really good campaign to win, especially on the ground.”
That’s one reason DSCC is devoting significant resources to ensuring voters have the opportunity to go to the polls this fall.
“Last cycle, for the first time in history, we spent more money on the ground than on the air, mobilizing voters,” Peters said. “That was something I thought was incredibly important.”
The DSCC plans to exploit the same strategy again this year to ensure Democratic supporters in key battleground states have a chance to cast their ballots.
