Senate Brief: GOP Primary Candidates Are Taking Off The Gloves Ahead of May’s Primaries

IN BRIEF:  As the first GOP Senate primaries and conventions approach, Republican candidates are taking off the gloves and irreparably damaging their opponents.

• In West Virginia, Republican candidates are tearing each other down, with Attorney General Patrick Morrisey attacking Rep. Evan Jenkins for switching parties, while Jenkins is hammering Morrisey as a New Jersey carpetbagger.
  • But don’t forget: before this primary, Morrisey, Jenkins, and disgraced coal baron Don Blankenship were thick as thieves, supporting one another’s causes.
• In Wisconsin, a debate between Kevin Nicholson and state Sen. Leah Vukmir “turned caustic” as Vukmir questioned Nicholson’s conservative credentials and demanded an apology from Nicholson for his attacks against her. “We know more about Kevin’s track record as a Democrat than we do about his track record as a Republican,” Vukmir said.
  • This debate was hosted by American for Prosperity, so was supposed to be a risk-free zone for the candidates: the moderators were friendly and the questions were strictly softball. So count on this primary to get even nastier as the gloves come off.

• In Montana, “Republicans have said they’ll play nice after the primary,” but with the primary looming, ex-judge Russ Fagg went on offense against state Auditor Matt Rosendale. Fagg didn’t miss a chance to hold Rosendale accountable for his “out of state roots” and for declaring under penalty of perjury that he was a Maryland resident just three years ago.
• In Indiana, the “nation’s nastiest GOP primary” is “growing even more contentious” in its final days, with Reps. Todd Rokita and Luke Messer attacking each other over college indiscretions — a speeding ticket and a DUI, respectively. Meanwhile, walking conflict-of-interest Mike Braun is defending himself over his actions in the legislature that may have benefited his businesses.
  
  • That’s why “some Republicans worry the winner of the May 8 primary could emerge so wounded it could risk the party’s chances” in November, the AP reports.

THREE TO WATCH:

• Josh Hawley: Can Missouri’s embattled attorney general still be considered Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s “top recruit”? Things have gotten so desperate for Hawley, his campaign is circulating a poll in an attempt to reassure donors he is still competitive.
• Rick Scott: His bromance with President Trump has cooled off now that he’s running for Senate — and their relationship was more “transactional” than you knew, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
• Dean Heller: Last week, Nevada’s laziest elected official was caught skipping a Senate Finance Committee hearing about the Republican tax bill — probably because he didn’t want to hear witnesses slam it as an “ill thought-through” and “haphazard” giveaway to big businesses and the wealthy.

THREE NUMBERS:

• 44: Percentage of Americans who report they avoided a visit to the doctor when they were sick or injured because they were worried about the cost, according to a University of Chicago/West Health Institute poll.
• 40: Percentage of Americans who say they are more worried about “medical bills that come with a serious illness than the illness itself,” from the same poll.
• 35: Number of conservative leaders calling for a “revival” of efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

ONE FOR THE ROAD: “The Cave” by Mumford & Sons (2011)

AND HAPPY MONDAY from American Bridge. Follow us at @JoshuaKarp and @EmmaBeckerman1